If I may say, my fave new master’s program is Berkeley’s School of Information. Check it out. A lot of haas undergrads go there (or some, maybe not a lot).
This is just bias from SoCal natives, lol. Again it’s either SF vs. LA if the city life matters to one. And I like Bay Area weather more than LA weather, so that’s debatable too (and I’m from SoCal!)
I’m in the same boat of having to pick between these two schools. I got in as a Financial Actuarial for UCLA and as an Applied Math for Cal.
These schools aren’t making it any easier by having all the transfer events on the same weekend. All the UCLA transfer networking events are on May 8th and then Transfer Bruin day is on the 9th. Cal transfer weekend is from May 8th to the 10th.
As a SoCal person I’ll probably head over to SF for that weekend, anyone know any other events lined up to help me gauge UCLA?
A graduating senior from the UCLA math department did say that, on average, they graduate about 60 Actuary track students a year and that there is way less than 60 open jobs for that track in all of LA county so competition is very cutthroat for relevant internships and work experience.
@bizmlover same! My love is split. If anything I feel like I’ve become even more undecided since I started this thread.
@ActuaryorBust oh cool another prospective actuary! I didn’t know how competitive jobs were for actuaries–I always had this idea of “high need, low supply” so that actuaries had an easier time landing jobs (provided they completed a decent number of exams/had relevant experience). Have you heard anything about what the job outlook for actuaries is like in SF/bay area?
@Bearly I think overall it isn’t too bad with at least 3 exams and a decent GPA, but it’s just there aren’t a lot of jobs for it in SoCal. That senior said that most grads end up moving to New England or Canada where there are much more actuarial jobs: especially for most UCLA grads who often have minimal work experience in the field due to lack of opportunities nearby. Apparently, if your ultimate goal is to stay in SoCal and don’t want to relocate, even temporarily, to the east, then it might be more beneficial to take UCSB’s BS/MS programme that has better networking opportunities.
As far as SF, I don’t have solid numbers but I wouldn’t doubt that there are more opportunities there as most of the major insurance agencies use SF as their regional hub. Cal’s career center lists “actuary” track jobs as one of the most placed careers in their exit surveys. However, those surveys also show a fairly high initial unemployment rate which I find worrisome: I’m willing to bet it’s still the same problem of few opportunities to get initial work experience. I’ll definitely grill the career center when I go up there in a couple of weeks though.
If you find out any other info, please share it though.
@Bearly at this point of time I’m 80% leaning toward cal. I’m just waiting to visit the campus and talk w students in my major. If nothing dramatic happens my choice is confirm. I favor cal over UCLA because:
- cal has more flexibility on my major as well as other programs. The stats programs gives student more options to explore other fields where stats can be applied. I absolutely love to work on consulting fields where stats and applied math are ways to go. I can even declare minor in some engineering programs, which definitely makes my degree more marketable after graduation. Meanwhile, UCLA only has four tracks and doesn’t allow to minor in engineering (except environment science).
- cal offers me more scholarship opportunities than UCLA. I don’t want to stress too much over financial issues when I transfer there. It’s going to be a crucial 2-year period where I need put all focus and energy on my degree and career.
- I’m highly inspired by my math professor after the conversation with her yesterday. She did her master at Berkeley. Though the environment was extremely competitive and stressful, she never regrets choosing cal bc it opened lot of opportunities for her. She did consulting services too after graduating so she has lots of experience of what I should and need to do. I and her share few common things so I hope to follow her footsteps.
I have to admit that I’ll miss lots of social activities and networking at UCLA but it’s up to each person to make it happen. Opportunities are everywhere and they won’t come if I just wait for someone to show me.
UCLA maybe the best choices for somebody but everybody has different background. Only you know what you want to go and what you need assist with. Good luck with your decision, you can’t go wrong with either school!
@Ocnative, no bias at all. SF is nice little city(compared to LA) but LA is LA. The energy of both cities are drastically different. Every time I visit SF, I tell myself, I can’t really live here, it does not fit me. I know those that moved from LA to SF and love it, and I know people that did not enjoy it
My point was comparing school’s, in terms of overall prestige they are equals.
Plus you’re an OC native, that’s not really LA… B-)
JK of course.
@ActuaryorBust thanks for the information, I’ll definitely be looking more deeply into specific career-oriented factors for deciding, and I’ll post (or maybe PM you).
@bizmlover that’s good to hear! I’m glad you’re getting closer to deciding too. To be honest I fluctuate from 60/40 Berkeley-LA to 50/50 Berkeley-LA; sometimes I lean to Berkeley but sometimes I land back to on the fence. I’ll definitely visit the campuses (which I know I’ve said like a bajillion times). Best of luck to you too!!