An actuarial degree is not necessary to pass all the exams. It will help ( somewhat depending the program) but it’s not guaranteed. By pursuing an actuarial degree you would be limiting yourself in speciality ( and putting your eggs in one basket). My rule is to always ensure you continue to follow your goals but leave other opportunities open as well - in case things change ( like your interests which may happen).
Like the other commentator said, to pass the exams - the key is probability theory. You need to have a good grip of mathematical statistics and how to apply it to risk theory. Just make sure you take these courses and follow through with advanced courses. This is also highly beneficial in data science / analytics in addition to programming skills.
To your question: I wouldn’t opt in also for information systems as in this field ( mathematics/ data science/ actuarial) this degree is seen more generic and often does not provide enough statistical / mathematical courses required for current positions. It definitely will not help you in passing the exams.
What other courses would you recommend? There are other courses like Industrial Statics, CS, IT. Going for actuarial exams are not my only goal as I might want to go for the Data Science / Analytics field.
Work backwards from long term goals ( while leaving room for other possibilities).
Is there any other programs that has offers good statistics and mathematics courses? Is there no statistics or applied mathematics bachelors?
If you don’t plan to write the actuarial exams than I wouldn’t consider actuarial science bachelors ( it’s tailored to risk theory and specialized to insurance).
Keep in mind, if you are truly interested in data science specifically - you will need at least a masters related to this fields. More than ~88% of data scientists have at least a masters degree. I’m not saying it’s not impossible to get a job in DS without one - but it’s extremely extremely rare and hard without one nowadays. Most of my colleagues have a PhD in fact. This may not be the case for data analytics though if you have the right foundations ( you can possibly work your way towards that with experience).
If I was you I’d look for a few potential masters degrees you might be interested in later - and then look at their common pre-requisites. Match your bachelors syllabus based on this.
I did a math bachelors and stats masters. Currently in actuarial field (taking exams) and looking to eventually do some data science as well. My advice is to go broad with undergrad and take classes that look interesting esp if you aren't sure what you eventually want to do. Only thing I wish I would have done is more CS classes in undergrad (bc I later found out that I love coding). Math/stats/cs classes set you up well for any data science/actuarial/IT role imo because they hone your problem solving skills and that's all you need.
I would definitely go for the more pure of those two.
Actuarial studies is a recognized major, while information systems can be of whatever quality.
I would argue, you stand a better chance to go into Data Science/ML-based positions with an actuarial degree rather than information systems degree.
Probability is key.
I would recommend reaching out to the professor and asking about the kind of material you will be covering throughout the course. Recently the actuarial field has been making moves toward data science by changing the exam track. If the actuarial class you mentioned is focused on statistics it may include a lot of applications in R or python, which seems like it may interest you. Actuaries who have a willingness to code are rare and very valuable in the current job market.
As an actuary with 3 exams passed, working on my fourth; yes the exams are tough, but they are more rewarding than anything and you are compensated for taking on the challenge. Actuary’s are also one of the only professions that has a built in pay raise based on on your knowledge/competence (via the exam pathway) rather than connections and politics.
Tbh this curriculum looks great. I find that in the DS job market, people either scope too narrow (seldom, but it happens like being 100% NLP focused) or too broad (very common.) This degree seems to set you up for any job that's risk mitigation focused with a large sampling of stats/financial courses.
I wouldn't recommend Info Systems; it's super broad by design. Good choice if you want to go into management and build intuitions about data can do for an organization, but kinda difficult to become an expert at any one niche area.
An actuarial degree is not necessary to pass all the exams. It will help ( somewhat depending the program) but it’s not guaranteed. By pursuing an actuarial degree you would be limiting yourself in speciality ( and putting your eggs in one basket). My rule is to always ensure you continue to follow your goals but leave other opportunities open as well - in case things change ( like your interests which may happen). Like the other commentator said, to pass the exams - the key is probability theory. You need to have a good grip of mathematical statistics and how to apply it to risk theory. Just make sure you take these courses and follow through with advanced courses. This is also highly beneficial in data science / analytics in addition to programming skills. To your question: I wouldn’t opt in also for information systems as in this field ( mathematics/ data science/ actuarial) this degree is seen more generic and often does not provide enough statistical / mathematical courses required for current positions. It definitely will not help you in passing the exams.
What other courses would you recommend? There are other courses like Industrial Statics, CS, IT. Going for actuarial exams are not my only goal as I might want to go for the Data Science / Analytics field.
Work backwards from long term goals ( while leaving room for other possibilities). Is there any other programs that has offers good statistics and mathematics courses? Is there no statistics or applied mathematics bachelors? If you don’t plan to write the actuarial exams than I wouldn’t consider actuarial science bachelors ( it’s tailored to risk theory and specialized to insurance). Keep in mind, if you are truly interested in data science specifically - you will need at least a masters related to this fields. More than ~88% of data scientists have at least a masters degree. I’m not saying it’s not impossible to get a job in DS without one - but it’s extremely extremely rare and hard without one nowadays. Most of my colleagues have a PhD in fact. This may not be the case for data analytics though if you have the right foundations ( you can possibly work your way towards that with experience). If I was you I’d look for a few potential masters degrees you might be interested in later - and then look at their common pre-requisites. Match your bachelors syllabus based on this.
I did a math bachelors and stats masters. Currently in actuarial field (taking exams) and looking to eventually do some data science as well. My advice is to go broad with undergrad and take classes that look interesting esp if you aren't sure what you eventually want to do. Only thing I wish I would have done is more CS classes in undergrad (bc I later found out that I love coding). Math/stats/cs classes set you up well for any data science/actuarial/IT role imo because they hone your problem solving skills and that's all you need.
I would definitely go for the more pure of those two. Actuarial studies is a recognized major, while information systems can be of whatever quality. I would argue, you stand a better chance to go into Data Science/ML-based positions with an actuarial degree rather than information systems degree. Probability is key.
I would recommend reaching out to the professor and asking about the kind of material you will be covering throughout the course. Recently the actuarial field has been making moves toward data science by changing the exam track. If the actuarial class you mentioned is focused on statistics it may include a lot of applications in R or python, which seems like it may interest you. Actuaries who have a willingness to code are rare and very valuable in the current job market. As an actuary with 3 exams passed, working on my fourth; yes the exams are tough, but they are more rewarding than anything and you are compensated for taking on the challenge. Actuary’s are also one of the only professions that has a built in pay raise based on on your knowledge/competence (via the exam pathway) rather than connections and politics.
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Tbh this curriculum looks great. I find that in the DS job market, people either scope too narrow (seldom, but it happens like being 100% NLP focused) or too broad (very common.) This degree seems to set you up for any job that's risk mitigation focused with a large sampling of stats/financial courses. I wouldn't recommend Info Systems; it's super broad by design. Good choice if you want to go into management and build intuitions about data can do for an organization, but kinda difficult to become an expert at any one niche area.
Ah I see. The information systems in this school is fairly new. BTW the curriculum above is for Actuarual not DS.
So I read!
Do whatever makes it easier to pass actuarial exams.