<p>I'm interested in becoming an actuary and I've found a lot of information about the field in general. I'm curious about the classes for the minor at UF. Do any of the classes correlate well enough to the exams to significantly reduce study time for the exams? Specifically STA 4321 and FIN 3403 which I am thinking may help with P and FM respectively? Is the minor at all helpful toward the eventual goal of becoming an actuary given the opportunity cost of taking easier stuff to boost my GPA and leave more time for major classes ECs and study for exams?</p>
<p>IIRC, the minor substitutes for the first professional exam you have to take. not sure exactly though. i know that the courses you take count for some professional somethingorother</p>
<p>I would like to know what you think about the minor in Actuarial Science program at UF. My son (who was accepted into FSU Honors and waiting one more month for UF) will be starting in the fall and was convinced he would attend UF if accepted, but now is seriously considering FSU Honors since they have the Actuarial Science major. I am thinking he will be prepared better for the first 2 or 3 exams if he attends FSU, but is recruitment better at UF? Thanks for any insight into the UF program.</p>
<p>i am not involved with the actuary program at UF directly, so don’t take my word as absolute truth.</p>
<p>i’m not aware of many actuary specific recruiting. there is a statistics club and an actuarial science club which i expect would be fairly good at increasing value and recruitment.</p>
<p>my impression is that certified actuaries are so uncommon that being one will get you a job one way or another. the only advantage of an actuary major would be to give you professional certifications beyond what would be offered through an actuarial science minor.</p>
<p>word of warning: from conversations i’ve had with people, having an actuarial specific degree or academic certification is not very value adding. because the professional organization of that career is so ridged with certifications and whatnot, you’re not going to have a very significant advantage over a general stats major, or really anyone else who took the time to take the tests. on the other hand, being an actuarial sciences major would sort of pigeonhole you away from other positions.</p>
<p>i think what i really mean to say is that it doesn’t really matter what your son’s major is as long as its mathematical. i would not recommend picking a school because they have a very specific specialized major unless you’re extremely passionate about the topic–especially when there is a very strong more generalized major that is almost identical to it.</p>
<p>Thank you for your insight. I had read somewhere that it could be better to major in math and minor in actuarial science. We will be visiting UF next month, and will definitely make an appt with an advisor in the mathematics department.</p>
<p>i would say that a math degree is at least as valuable, and several times more flexible.</p>