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As a math major, what is the best area to minor into become an actuary?

I am a math major looking to become an actuary. Related minors at my univeristy are limited to accounting, business managment, marketing, economics, maybe computer science. Which combination would be most appealing to an employer looking for an entry level hire?

Actuarial science has more to do with Prob. and Stat, and applied mathematics.
Since they all use computers these days, I’d say Computer Science.
The others sound more like business type degrees.

Check out the Actuarial Exams (google) and see what they look for. I believe there are 4 levels of exams to take. You might want to switch schools to somewhere that will give you more of the background you need.

These two sites might help you:
www.bls.gov/oco/ocos041.htm

and the Society of Actuaries
www.soa.org

This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 7:54 pm and is filed under major area. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “As a math major, what is the best area to minor into become an actuary?”

  1. Actuarial science has more to do with Prob. and Stat, and applied mathematics.
    Since they all use computers these days, I’d say Computer Science.
    The others sound more like business type degrees.

    Check out the Actuarial Exams (google) and see what they look for. I believe there are 4 levels of exams to take. You might want to switch schools to somewhere that will give you more of the background you need.

    These two sites might help you:
    http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos041.htm

    and the Society of Actuaries
    http://www.soa.org
    References :

  2. I point my students to the careers section on whenwilliusemath.com when they have question about a job (math or non-math). I glanced at their entry for actuary (http://www.whenwilliusemath.com/careers/actuary). They have a little blurb from an actual actuary (how about that alliteration :) ). In it he says, "…Actuaries use skills in mathematics, economics, finance, probability and statistics, and business…" Under the required math they have listed as optional: "substantial training in computer science" From this source it looks like the best combo might be computer science + (accounting or business or economics). You might go to the page and post a comment asking this same question for a more specific answer though. Hope this helps.
    References :
    http://www.whenwilliusemath.com/careers/actuary

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