ACTUARIAL SCIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR.

INTRODUCTION

• has a number of courses that prepare students directly for actuarial professional examinations,
• is an official exam site of the Society of Actuaries (SOA),
• has SOA approval for University of Windsor courses for all three VEE (Validation by Educational Equivalent) subjects,
• has annual informational visits to the Department of Mathematics and Statistics by Willis Towers Watson, a nearby major actuarial consulting company, and by Canada Life
• has very strong relations with several major actuarial consulting companies in Michigan,
• has preparation seminars for the first two SOA actuarial examinations,
• has a long history of placing University of Windsor
graduates in careers as actuaries,
• has two upper level courses taught by a practicing actuary
• has opportunities for strong undergraduate students to receive actuarial summer internships (at the end of second or third year).

PREPARATION FOR A CAREER AS AN ACTUARY

1. A student should register as a Mathematics and Statistics or Actuarial Sceince major.
2. • Recommended courses for first year - term 1
     Math 1720 (Differential Calculus), Math 1250 (Linear Algebra), Econ 1100 (micro Economics), Comp 1400 (Programming I), Stat 2910 (Statistics for the Sciences);
   • Recommended courses for first year - term 2
     Math 1730 (Integral Calculus), Math 1020 (Mathematical Foundations), Econ 1110 (macro Economics), Comp 1410 (Programming II), ACCT 1510 (Accounting) ;
Stat 2910 will not count as a math course, but is useful as it includes material that is not covered later in Stat 2950, and Stat 2910 must be taken before Stat 2920 or it will not count at all. ACCT 1510 is part of Society of Actuaries VEE requirements.
3. • Recommended courses for second year - term 1
     Math 2780 (Vector Calculus), Math 2250 (Linear Algebra II), Stat 2920 (Probability), Math 3980 (Theory of Interest); FINA 2700 (Business Finance I, may need special permission from Business prof)
   • Recommended courses for second year - term 2
     Math 2790 (Differential Equations), Math 2251 (Linear Algebra III), Stat 2950 (Statistics), Math 4980 (Actuarial Math I), one option
4. By the end of the second year, students should have all courses needed for all 3 VEE requirements of the SOA. During the second year, students should attend Exam P and Exam FM preparation sessions. Students should attempt SOA exam FM in February after taking the Thoery of Interest course in the previous term. Students should attempt exam P in summer term after finishing Stat 2950. Students should apply for summer internships in Fall term (hopefully with some passed SOA exams).
5. At the beginning of their third year, if students have not yet passed FM exam, they should attempt Exam FM in November. They should apply for a summer internship with Willis Towers Watson in November of their third year (especially if they have passed 2 SOA exams).
6. • Recommended courses for third year - term 1
     Math 3580 (Analysis I), Stat 3920 (Probability), Math 3981 (Actuarial Math II), Math 3200 (Algebra), one option
   • Recommended courses for third year - term 2
     Math 3581 (Analysis II), Math 3590 (Complex Variables), Stat 3950 (Statistics), Stat 3960 (Stochastic Operational Research), one option (Regression if available)
7. Students should attempt SOA Exam LTAM in May after their third year.
8. • Recommended courses for fourth year - term 1
     2 courses in economics to complete Arts requirements, (IFM topics, see Dr. Hlynka to see if an independent study course can be arranged), take Stat Learning course (if offered), more math (math programming is good)
   • Recommended courses for fourth year - term 2
     (Regression/ Time Series) if offered, Regression (if available), more math or stat courses (especially statistical learning), options. Note: (Regr/Time Series or Regr) plus Stat Learning should be enough prep for exam SRM.
9. For optional courses, math students need a total of 4 courses from the Faculty of Arts and Social Science (This allows Economics courses, although Economics courses are now listed as Science courses). (The Economics courses Econ 1100 and Econ 1110 meet two of those requirements.) The recommended list of Math & Stat courses totals 22. Students may wish to take additional Math and Stat courses in order to leave other options open (e.g. grad school in Math or Stat, Faculty of Education, Grad School in Industrial Engineering). The total number of courses required for a B. Math degree is 40.
10. Other valuable courses for a future actuary include Math 3960 (Linear Programming), Regression, Survival Analysis, Time Series, Stochastic Processes, Functional Analysis and Measure Theory, Computer Science courses (anything involving programming is good) .
11. The course selection as listed above provides the earliest reasonable prospect for passing SOA actuarial exams. As these examinations are very challenging, it may be necessary to take some of them more than once. There is a fair amount of flexibility possible and some of the courses listed can be delayed for a year in order to allow room of other courses of interest to the student.

VEE INFORMATION

COURSES and SOA EXAM CONNECTIONS:

EXAM SITE

WEB SITE REFERENCES

CONTACT