<p>Does anyone know of any colleges that have really good actuarial programs.
I know a few already:
Illinois State University
University of Illinois - Urbana
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Ohio State University</p>
<p>Are there anymore that anyone would reccommend?</p>
<p>The University of Texas has a strong program. There are prep courses for the first five exams.</p>
<p>I think U of Pennsylvania has a program…not sure.</p>
<p>NYU- Stern. But, I’m not too sure…you should check it out though…</p>
<p>I’ve read it doesn’t make that big of difference where you go for actuarial science. Great major, good luck with it.</p>
<p>[SOA</a> - Society of Actuaries](<a href=“http://www.soa.org/education/resources/cae/edu-cae-school.aspx]SOA”>http://www.soa.org/education/resources/cae/edu-cae-school.aspx)</p>
<p>Fall 2009 Centers of Actuarial Excellence</p>
<p>Centers of Actuarial Excellence (Fall 2009)</p>
<pre><code>* University of Connecticut
<p>Gordon- you are definitely right. The university you go to doesn’t matter as much as the exams you have to take to get in. Thank you Treetopleaf</p>
<p>Most big, well known publics have strong actuarial programs. The stronger schools will have stronger students, which might be motivation for you to work harder and learn more. The stronger schools with more students in the actuarial programs will also be targets for recruiters, allowing you more job opportunities. </p>
<p>But in the end, PASS THOSE EXAMS.</p>
<p>ActSci is one of our specialties at Temple. We have people who have transferred from schools like Carnegie Mellon for our program.</p>
<p>canderson11,</p>
<p>I hope this doesn’t come off as rude, because that’s not my intent at all, but I’m curious about how a 17 or 18 year old knows he or she wants to become an actuary. I don’t think I had even heard the term at that age, and had no idea what it meant for many years after that. Is someone in your family in the biz? Is this just an area that those who are exceedingly strong in math (definitely not me) always find out about early on in connection with their math endeavors? Since I had no clue what I wanted to do for a living (or even what the possibilities were) when I entered college, I’m always fascinated when I read about someone who is so committed to a field at such a young age–even more so when the field is relatively obscure.</p>
<p>Actuaries have, in my opinion, a relatively interesting job. However, you probably shouldn’t go to a school specifically for actuarial science: most students switch majors at least once. However, what you should be looking at are schools with very strong math or applied math departments (which it would seem schools strong in actuarial science should have), and good support for actuarial prospectees (i.e. test prep). However, you should make sure you have other great departments as well.</p>
<p>LOL, MommaJ! I was about to type the very same response you did. I have a son who’s strong in math, but I don’t know that he’ll want to pursue pure math as a field - he’s good at it, but it doesn’t dominate his world. So I’m interested in how a traditional-age student might have gravitated to such a specific, quantitative pre-professional field.</p>
<p>Bear in mind, canderson, it’s very typical for students to change majors more than once in college. If you head to a college specifically for ActSci, be sure that it’s one you’d also be glad to be at should you ultimately choose to pursue a different major.</p>
<p>I have the same thing going on in my house. My son is a junior and has a keen interest in engineering (aero or mech). This year he is taking AP Stat and the teacher has been going on and on about actuaries since the start of the school year. The teacher is young and full of personality the kids really like him. My son is now looking at schools for eng and actuary science. Go figure. He is a great student with good ecs but yet to take the SAT. Any advice?</p>
<p>I don’t know how canderson11 discovered the field, but I’ve been working in a related field (pensions) for 17 years. </p>
<p>Even back when I was in undegrad Actuarial Science was proclaimed a great field and often teachers pushed those good in math towards it. For 2 decades it has been listed as a field with above average growth and low stress/hours for the comp earned. It is one of the highest comps in any of the Money/PayScale surveys, esp when you take into consideration the only other fields higher require Medical School, etc. I also thought the growth was directly related to the aging baby Boomers and need to calculate insurance risk and/or pension.</p>
<p>There are scholarships available from Insurance groups and professional organizations for those in college. Usually the student must have completed an Exam.</p>
<p>Most folks I know fell into the profession by accident. On the surface it sounds very boring and doesn’t attract high school students.</p>
<p>I definitely found this career on accident. I was checking my email (during class lol) and was reading the news box on yahoo. It said something like “Top 10 Jobs” “Highest Paying Jobs” “Best Jobs Ever”, something of that sort; and actuary was one of the jobs and it sounded amazing. I fell in love. I’ve done so much research on the profession. I’ve talked to practicing actuaries, alum of a few of the schools I mentioned, and I am really excited to participate in ths one week actuarial summer program at ISU. I know there is still a chance that I might change my career path so I am heavily researching schools that have strong actuarial programs but will also have other strong oppurtunities for me if I decided to change.</p>
<p>Oh and MommaJ I’m 16 </p>
<p>17 in 30 days :D</p>
<p>Canderson11, I’m like you and learned about the Actuary career by clicking on a link like the ones you mentioned. I find the career path to be interesting and while I’m not dead set on it I think it is something to consider. Cool to see other high schoolers interested in something like that.</p>
<p>I thought I was the only one. Everytime I tell someone I know I want to be an actuary they just go blank. Then they want me to explain. And then they go blank.</p>
<p>Haha I think actuarial science seems really fun! Although I only heard about it by reading all of the career profiles on the collegeboard website… 
It’s definitely something I would consider doing if I weren’t already more interested in other careers…
But you never know! One day I might wake up and say, “You know what, I think I’ll be an actuary!”
I actually have no idea about what schools are good for it, but definitely go with the suggestion about good math schools… I believe NYU has the best applied math program, but I’m not sure.
Good luck!</p>