I am a senior in high school. I originally planned on majoring in MechE or ChemE and working as an engineer or whichever discipline. Today I was doing some research on bachelor degrees and I read about the well-paying job, an actuary. I’d never heard of an actuary, so I looked into it. I loved every bit of what I found. It seems to be everything I could ask for from a job.
I’m not going to list the pros and cons of engineering nor actuarial mathematics, as that is not what this thread is about. I read that a person becomes an actuary by passing qualifying exams, regardless of major (within reason). I also read that these exams are among the hardest across all professions, which is intimidating. What I am thinking is since I have no way of knowing how tough the exams will be until I am to that point, I’ll major in engineering. While in school, I’ll try the first 2 actuary exams to see how they are. If I think I can do it, my degree will allow me to take the actuary route, but if I do not think I can do it, I will have an engineering degree to fall back on. Is this common? Is this even possible?
I recommend you look into industrial engineering, perhaps with the intention of pursuing an actuary degree. It’s more along the lines of the mathematically-oriented business work that actuarial science is. It’s considered a somewhat easier (and more relevant) engineering major, which should work better for you.
Be sure to look into the , 7 I believe, exams that you will have to take to be an actuary. You can work as an actuary after passing the first 2, but it takes 6-10 years to pass them all.
So this could work? Me going to LSU to major in engineering, whether it be industrial, mechanical, or chemical, but not have any plans on actually being employed as an engineer. And while getting my degree, taking exams completely unrelated to engineering to be an actuary. If I cannot pass exams or do not like actuarial science, I would focus on engineering as a career. It seems crazy, but if I can pull it off, I see it being very lucrative with a backup plan into nearly any industry. It is like the perfect plan on paper.
Sure, it could work. The exams are pretty tough though, and most people fail them at least a few times. Keep in mind that studying for one exam is probably the workload of multiple classes.
I will say that number crunching for an insurance company is less interesting than most make it out to be, but I think it would help to try it for yourself if that’s what sounds like a good career path to you.
Would majoring in engineering and minoring in math be wise if I take this route? I have a newfound love for math, which only reinforces my desire to be an actuary, but I’m worried that pure engineering will not cover the things needed. I’m not saying a minor in math will cover everything, but it will help, right?
That’s not entirely true. It doesn’t give you a leg up for jobs, necessarily, but by being forced to take a few extra math classes, it can benefit you strictly from the better math skills. There are definitely a few math classes I wish I had taken as an undergraduate, and had I taken them, I would have been eligible for the minor.
It’s not that more math wouldn’t help; just that a math minor tends to cover the same material that an engineering major already covers. That said, statistics or coding are very useful skills for any engineer, that will certainly increase your job prospects.
My son is an applied math major. He has failed the first actuarial exam once, even though he makes mostly As in college. It’s hard! I would think you’d need advanced statistics and probability classes before trying to take it. He’s going to study more this summer and try again in the fall.
Math 3355 Probability
Math 4050 Interest Theory
Math 4058 Stochastic Processes
Math 2085 Linear Algebra
COURSES FOR VEE AND OTHERS OF INTEREST:
ECON 2030 Economic Principles (VEE)
MATH 4056 Mathematical Statistics (VEE)
EXST 2201 Statistical Analysis (prerequisite for EXST 3201)
EXST 3201 Statistical Analysis (VEE)
ACCT 2001 Intro to Financial Accounting (prerequisite for FIN 3715)
FIN 3715 Business Finance (VEE)
LSU also offers an Industrial Engineering program. Many of the above classes are core or elective classes for IE, and math is one of the offered Minors.
