Constip8edSkunk said:
actuarial studies is way over hyped by high school students....
back in the last century, even when theres only 1 uni offering it, the market was getting stagnant, now with 4 unis offering it in aust. theres definitely an oversupply, i think only ~30% of current graduates actually get employed in the actuarial field in australia, most working in other areas in commerce or going overseas. A significant proportion of Fellows (those who gained part III) are not working in aust. btw that's assuming you pass the course and get your exemptions(15% failed an introductory 1st yr actuarial course at unsw) However if you get through all that your wage increases really fast(but you have to work pretty hard too)
as for combining maths and commerce, besides majoring in actuarial studies, or actuarial/maths, quite a few people are also choosing to major in finance/maths for their Bcom/BSci. UNSW also offers a financial maths program for those doing just a Science degree majoring in maths.
the actuarial graduate labour market can be expected to get worse in the coming yrs. many companies are considering outsourcing the entry-level ish analytical work to Indian actuaries for cheap. Also, IAA branching out and setting exams in more Asian countries will most likely be to the detriment of Australian students as it will increase competition.
the advanced science program in maths and finance is crap compared to the double degree BCom/BSc (Finance & Maths) at unsw.
1) u waste time doing extra science subjects and gen eds
2) less choice in finance and maths subjects
3) u cant do a proper Honours yr
4) u cant graduate with a Stats major
A lot of ppl in the advanced science degree often underperform compared to the double degree students.
compared to usyd, there isnt as many financial maths subjects to do at the undergrad level in the maths degree. but if you have performed relatively well u can take the postgrad ones but they often require a fairly good working knowledge of pure maths - especially in Analysis, probability and stochastic processes.
The actuarial profession is open to ppl from all numerate disciplines.