Would appreciate any help here. My daughter teaches HS and has a student interested in being an Actuary. Currently a junior.
Are there programs for kids that age? Internships?
I am too far removed, so would appreciate commentary from those more involved
thank you
Be An Actuary website might be a good start: Be An Actuary
Actuarial Foundation has some good resources to also explore:
Free virtual event: Formula 2024 (actuarialfoundation.org)
Scholarship Program: STEM Stars - The Actuarial Foundation
My company does a virtual job shadow/info session once a year in the fall. It’s called the Actuarial Career Exploration day, and it’s through Nationwide. I can pass along the information when it is released later this year. It’s also marketed on LinkedIn pretty heavily.
In general, a job shadow would probably be an option for a high schooler, especially virtually. I would recommend the student reach out to actuaries local to them or companies they are interested (start with the actuarial directory) to see if that’s something they would be willing to do for them.
Is there a local actuarial club? They might have access to local programs and opportunities.
i looked, she is outside Albany, NY. Boston or NYC would be the closest
NY’s has nothing i feel would inspire an aspiring Actuary. Went to SEAC and ACSW , and they seem to have more. But multi-day, NYC just one day
Pass an exam and get back to us.
I, too, am too far removed.
As the student is a junior, they should start looking at colleges that have ActSci as a Major or Minor.
Not necessarily to major in ActSci, but to know that there is a community of like-minded students, for study groups, for passing exams.
Student should major in a topic that is difficult for (and thus impressive to) the average actuary.
The ones who hire entry-level, I mean.
Question of the first: is the student taking Calculus and the AP exam next year (or already taking the course and planning to take the test this year)?
I second the parts about going to a college with a large actuarial program and making sure to take calculus as soon as possible. Then maybe an exam.
I don’t second the part about picking an impressive major, I never really paid attention to what major applicants had other than to make sure the student had some kind of quantitative major. A good college GPA is probably much more important. And a reasonably decent college.
They should probably learn to code a little in one or two of the following: VBA, SQL, Python, R, SAS. And maybe learn how to get around Excel more than the average high schooler. Hopefully their high school offers coding in some language.
CAGNY and I’m sure other local clubs have scholarships. The CAS has a program for college students.
You can start looking at that stuff now as you probably can apply starting the year before you actually attend college. So, next year.
I mention act sci.
I mentioned being up to date on software, but wasn’t specific, because who knows in 5 years, what will be used
There’s this in Connecticut:
Yep. Start studying for exam p or fm
If you hate it, this profession ain’t for you
Plenty of other avenues to pursue math/tech/science outside of being an actuary
Yeah the languages might change… though some have had pretty good longevity… but coding skills are sometimes translatable if you are flexible.
I don’t think an act sci degree from a small college is worth it if there are no resources that come along with it. Better get a dual purpose degree in STEM so if you change your mind you can do that other thing (math, computers, whatever)
Passing an exam is a prereq to at least one actuarial scholarship so it seems a good idea.
Would you be impressed with a philosophy major having passed 3 or 4 exams?
If an EL candidate has passed 3-4 exams, I don’t really care what they’ve majored in.
i am also more impressed w the student with a couple exams from a school that isn’t a known actsci factory than I am with someone with 4 from the known factory.
i spoke w some HS students recently about the career. all kinds of stuff came up
Hey! I resemble that comment!
Yeah, uwaterloo is a factory. They have a masters designed just to get you an asa.
i don’t value the factory background at zero. but I respect the person who had to find the career track and exam support from outside the system a touch more for having done it with less infrastructure around them.