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 (Verification by Educational Equivalent) subjects,
• has annual informational visits to the Department of Mathematics and Statistics by Towers Watson, a nearby major actuarial consulting company,
• 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 who is an FSA (FSA=Fellow of the Society of Actuaries),
• has opportunities for strong undergraduate students to receive actuarial summer internships (at the end of third year).

PREPARATION FOR A CAREER AS AN ACTUARY

1. A student should register as a Mathematics and Statistics major.
2. • Recommended courses for first year - term 1
     62-140 (Differential Calculus), 62-120 (Linear Algebra), 41-110 (Economics I), 60-140 (Programming I), one option;
   • Recommended courses for first year - term 2
     62-141 (Integral Calculus), 62-190 (Mathematical Foundations), 41-111 (Economics II), 60-141 (Programming II) , one option;
3. • Recommended courses for second year - term 1
     62-215 (Vector Calculus), 62-220 (Linear Algebra II), 65-250 (Probability), two options ;
   • Recommended courses for second year - term 2
     62-216 (Differential Equations), 62-221 (Linear Algebra III), 65-251 (Statistics), Theory of Interest 62-392, 70-151 (Accounting I)
4. During the second year, students should attend Exam P and Exam FM preparation sessions. Students should attempt SOA exam P in May after completing their second year.
5. At the beginning of their third year, students should study the remaining topics (beyond those of 62-392) for SOA Exam FM. Students should attend (more) Exam FM preparation sessions. Students should attempt Exam FM in November, early in their third year.
6. • Recommended courses for third year - term 1
     72-270 (Business Finance I), 62-314 (Analysis I), 65-350 (Probability), 65-376 (Stochastic Operational Research), 62-490 (Actuarial Modeling I)
   • Recommended courses for third year - term 2
     72-271 (Business Finance II), 62-315 (Analysis II), 62-318 (Complex Variables), 62-321 (Algebra), 65-351 (Statistics), 62-492 (Actuarial Modeling II)
7. Students should attempt SOA Exam MLC in May after their third year.
8. • Recommended courses for fourth year - term 1
     65-455.09 (Regression/ Time Series), four options
   • Recommended courses for fourth year - term 2
     62-321 (Algebra), 65-455.22 (MFE topics), four options
9. For the optional courses, students need a total of 4 courses from the Faculty of Arts and Social Science (This includes Economics courses, although Economics courses are now listed as Science courses). (The Economics courses 41-110 and 41-111 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 62-374 (Linear Programming), 65-340 (Applied Probability), 65-456 (Regression), 65.455.07 (Survival Analysis), 65-455.07 (Time Series), 65-455.08 (Stochastic Processes).
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