<p>Hi. Im a recent high school graduate looking on advice on majors.</p>
<p>Two of my interests are math and business, so i've pretty much narrowed myself down to two choices...</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Finance/Acct double major. At the school I plan on attending, this can be done relatively easy in 4 years.</p></li>
<li><p>Applied Mathematics. I'd want to go the actuarial route here.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Becoming an actuary sounds like it would be a very lucrative job, but it sounds like actuarial jobs are really hard to come by, and I really dont feel like having to stress over finding a job very much coming out of college. Also, this pretty much narrows down my career choices to only the actuarial field.</p>
<p>Is the actuarial path worth the risk and stress?</p>
<p>I don’t know what school you want to go to, but some schools have business concentrations in risk management and insurance, which is good for people who want to be actuaries since most actuaries work for insurance companies to determine the risk and cost of covering someone and how much it should cost to cover someone.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to study 2-3 hours a day until you’re 30, then I would go with Finance/Accounting. You will likely make the same amount of money with much less stress early in your career.</p>
<p>Actually actuaries are said to have the least stressful jobs of any profession. The caveat is that you have to really like number computation, not just number analysis.</p>
<p>Since I am a fully credentialed actuary myself, I can safely say this is not true. It is true that the job isn’t overly stressful <em>once you pass all of the exams</em> which can take 10 years and is extremely stressful. Not only do you have to work 40-45 hours a week (50-55 if you’re in consulting) but you also have to study ~15-20 hours a week. I don’t know about you, but 55-65 hours a week of work and studying doesn’t sound easy. I don’t know a single colleague who would say their job lacks stress. However, I will say it is a great career if you have the stamina for it. I will also say that most of my college classmates with finance and accounting degrees are doing just as well financially as I am.</p>
<p>What kind of jobs could I get with a pure/applied math major with a business minor? Does this open more doors to more lucrative jobs? Or should I just stick with business school…</p>
<p>You can get most analyst-type positions for businesses, but if I were you, I would major in finance and get a minor in math. That way, you stand out from the rest of the finance pack and you still will have the background needed for the actuarial profession if you decide to go that route.</p>