Hey there, I'm a 3rd year student in actuarial studies at UNSW with some industry experience, so I can probably give a reasonable go at your questions
Macquarie vs UNSW? and reasons
If your choosing base on prestige/quality of degree, nowadays it is about the same. I wouldn't put one over the other really. Choose the one that is closer to you or what not, I chose UNSW because most of my friends went there and I liked the idea of going to uni in the city, also it was a bit more convenient. You come out with the same qualifications so there really isn't a difference. MAYBE, if working overseas is something you wanna do then I'd say UNSW since it is more well known internationally.
How hard is it?
Quite hard, you need to have very good at quantitative in general, much more than what is required for other commerce disciplines such as accounting or finance. Ideally you should have done 4 unit math at high school, and you will need to study consistently to keep up with the workload.
What are the job prospects like? (not necessarily the pay)
Total grads from both mcq and UNSW combined is about 150 a year roughly, and there is maybe 60-80 actuarial grad jobs around Australia. Keep in mind that actuarial grads often go into other areas such as banking or data analytics. By actuarial jobs I mean insurance related work, so that is either working for a corporate insurer, or a consultant which is just doing insurance work for other companies. Pay is about 60-70k when you grad, 100k+ after 3-4 years when you have your full qualifications
Is it stressful?
For the level of pay you get, it isn't really that stressful. Just like any other finance related jobs, there are busy periods where you have to work overtime. When I worked in the industry everyone in my office pretty much went home by 7 latest even on a busy day, and I haven't seen much severe stress. Couple of friends at PwC Actuarial is working extremely long hours these days (10-12hr range sometimes) but that's a special circumstance going on at the moment. Generally expect 9-6 working hours.
What types of jobs can u do with the degree?
I mentioned actuarial jobs above, but a lot go into other fields, from what I know these range from superannuation & wealth management, data analytics, management consulting, corporate banking and investment banking. Pretty much any job that a finance grad can do, actuarial grads can probably apply for too. Most people who drop out of actuarial turn to finance/accounting, and they say it becomes a lot easier.
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