How about choosing actuarial major for studying in Australia?

I always see some experts on the Internet who want to take actuarial as their career and dream of coming back from studying in Australia with an annual salary of one million. I'm here to give you some help, let the cattle people find their feelings, and at the same time let the hot-headed people calm down. I have studied the possibility of becoming an actuary for a long time, but I haven't achieved my goal yet. Of course, people in Australia know more about Australia, followed by Britain, not the United States. This article only talks about Australia.

2. Overview of Australian actuarial profession

Searching for related articles in Chinese on the Internet, you can always see the words "golden collar" and "annual salary of one million" jumping in front of your eyes, which makes you feel flustered and eager to become an actuary immediately. In fact, an article boasting about actuaries may have been reprinted many times. China people have the problem of rushing to do everything. Haven't you found that actuarial majors in major universities in China have mushroomed? I'm really worried about actuarial students in China. There are only a few insurance companies that need actuaries in China, but not many, because the level has not reached that level. Hundreds of graduates across the country can find professional jobs every year? As far as I know, a master's degree from a school (Cai Zhong, Shangcai, Nantah, etc.). ) It's better to find an ideal job in the domestic actuarial field, but it costs about 6,000 yuan. This is a very good situation.

At present, there are about 1500- 1800 actuaries in Australia (I estimate that there were more than 1400 in 2006 at 5438+0). Associate professors and analysts can't say clearly. There are not many graduates hired every year, like 3200. This is not an exaggeration. Actuaries have a small circle and strong professionalism, and they must pass a long and arduous exam. The starting salary of undergraduate graduates (in fact, most newcomers are undergraduates, and masters are all going for further study) ranges from 30,000 to 70,000 or 80,000. Fellow's average annual salary is 90 thousand. The average time to become a researcher is about 6 to 9 years.

In fact, this is not the golden belt that many people imagine. In fact, in Australia (even in many western countries), the best profession is always a doctor, and the top ten occupations are doctors every year. If you are young, have money at home and study well, you can come to study medicine, stay in a big hospital for a few years after your master's degree, and come out to open your own clinic or be a community doctor to make a lot of money. Not to mention doctors, everyone knows that the salary of IT jobs in Australia or around the world is not as good as before. I think this is only relative. For example, you have a DBA certificate from ORACLE (admitted to Australia), have 3 years of relevant experience (Australia), and the annual salary is 70,000 to 80,000. If you have more than five years of DBA experience in a large company, your annual salary will not be less than 654.38+ 10,000. Therefore, an actuary is a white-collar worker with more than 10 years of experience, and doing a good job can be regarded as a golden collar, but imagine it as a career where an actuary can make a fortune, then you can only be disappointed. Just find a manager of a big Australian company with an annual salary of more than 100 thousand.

3. Australian actuarial examination

If you want to be an actuary, you must take the exam. Australia's actuarial examination originated in Britain, and it is similar. Even the Australian Institute of Actuaries (IAA) does not offer 9 exams for the first-level PartI. You have to take the corresponding nine exams in Britain directly. Of course, the examination room is provided. The exam is divided into three levels, and PartI has nine doors; The second part is two doors; PartIII is two of the five doors. Becoming an actuary can be divided into the following stages:

1)Studentmember, that is, you took the exam and passed several courses.

2)Associatemember, that is, the door that has passed partiii * * * 1 1

3)Fellowmember, a formal actuary. You need to pass the PartIII exam and have more than one year of professional work experience (shorter than that in the UK). Parts PartI and PartII need you to enter the university, PartIII is an on-the-job exam, and IAA provides this part of the course. If you are awesome, an educational institution called ActEd also provides self-study materials and distance education for PartI and PartII.

4. Actuarial education and school profile

Only four universities in Australia offer actuarial courses: MQ, ANU, Mel and UNSW, and the four universities rank as above. MQ actuarial education began in 1968, with the oldest qualifications, the highest reputation and the most difficult entrance and courses. ANU has done the best actuarial research. Mel is good, too. UNSW is the most elementary, starting with 1998.

Actuarial education in Australia is mainly undergraduate and lasts for three years. If students meet the standards of various schools, they can be exempted from all 9 courses of IAAPartI. If your average score reaches a certain standard, you will have an honorary degree in the fourth year, including the exemption course of PartII. If you can't get honors, you usually can't find a good job.

It is very difficult to apply for actuarial specialty, and it is difficult to compete with major medical schools. Take MQ as an example, the annual admission score in New South Wales will not be lower than 99, although the official "entry line" (Chinese college entrance examination terminology) is 97 and 98. The full score is 100, but this algorithm is not a test score of 100. You got 99 points in the exam, and people are ranked according to the total score. The top n in New South Wales is 100, which decreases in turn.

Master of Actuarial Science mainly provides opportunities for actuarial practitioners to pursue further studies, because some actuaries also graduated from mathematics and statistics (but they are all Australians, so I don't think about this road). MEL offers the GraduateDiploma course, which provides introductory actuarial education for career changers. For one year, you can be exempted from taking some courses of PartI. Please go to the websites of universities for details.

When it comes to studying in Australia, you have to mention immigration. The professional score of actuarial major should be 50 (don't ask me what this sentence means), but it is definitely not 60. In April this year, the immigration score rose from 1 to 120. Comrades who want to complete actuarial immigration had better give up as soon as possible. Except those who have immediate family members in Australia.

5. Learning situation

In Australia, I heard that you studied actuarial science, and people were in awe. In a word, actuarial learning is "difficult to get in and out". Dropoutrate is extremely high, and most of them automatically give up and switch to other majors. Besides, don't think that foreigners are more stupid than us. More than 99 points in the Australian college entrance examination are so-called talents, so it is not difficult to go to Tsinghua Peking University in China.

We take MQ undergraduate course as an example. We use specific figures to illustrate that in 2003, there were 498 MQ actuarial undergraduates in four grades, including 192 freshmen, 129 sophomores, 93 sophomores and 84 seniors (honors). Roughly 84/ 192, the elimination rate is about 56%. Not to mention that you can't graduate with honors. Of course, it is rare to read the fourth grade and have not graduated. Four years later, only one third of them graduated. You should also have an intuitive understanding of the learning difficulty of this major, right?

6. Work prospects

After studying in Australia for four years, I certainly want to stay and work here. This is a normal idea. I have to punch you. Like Britain, when you get a student visa, 99% of your resume is thrown directly into the wastebasket, and few people kindly apply for a work visa for you. Even if you accept your resume, what about your other abilities (mainly English communication, which is very important)? What about the cultural background? So your future is to go back to China to find a job. Fortunately, your professional actuarial experience in China is also recognized by IAA, provided that you have the guidance and recommendation of Fellowmember of actuarial associations such as IAA, IOA and SOA. Member of China Actuaries Association. I don't know if it's ok. In this way, in China, you can continue to study two courses of IAAPartIII and then become a member of FIAA (Australian Fact Education). This thing is "omnipotent", hehe, omnipotent, but you don't need to be omnipotent, just use it at home.

How much can I get when I graduate and become a member? I don't know that either. Maybe there's an 8 thousand. However, China pays attention to academic qualifications. You graduated from an undergraduate course. If you get a master's degree or above in China, leaders or some people may have problems, because, for example, a master's degree in actuarial science in China can also get an associate's degree in IOA (UK), at least PartI's courses must be passed. If you can get companions in the future, you will get more. Remember, from associate to Fellow is a qualitative change, not a quantitative change, whether it is status or salary. Don't think of yourself as an actuary who is laughed at.

7. expenses

Tuition fees can refer to the most expensive majors in each school. Every school is different. In addition, there is an extra sum of money: exemption from examination fees. Since 2004, those who have passed the relevant courses and met the exemption requirements in these four universities in Australia have to pay the exemption fee to IAA. For the courses of PartI, the free fee for each course is 230 Australian dollars, and there are 9 courses. If you take the exam directly, the cost of each exam seems to be 435 Australian dollars. The course fee of PartII is $ 1390. The material fee plus examination fee for each course in PartIII is A$23 10.

8. Ideal actuary in Australia.

An ideal actuary in Australia must meet the following conditions:

1) It is best to graduate from high school and study for an undergraduate course. Master should be cautious.

2) Excellent graduation from high school. How good is it? Let UAC help you correct your grades, just refer to my entrance scores above. With special emphasis on math scores.

3) Interested in mathematics, economy and finance.

4) English. Actuaries don't just deal with numbers as you think. They communicate with others and collect information. It would be better if you just want to get a degree without taking the exam and then go back to China.

5) Don't want to emigrate.

6) Don't think about work if you have money. You don't have time, or most people don't. In four or three years, 15 to 200,000 per year.

7) Want to go back to work after graduation.

There are many China people studying actuarial science here, but they are all from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Hong Kong is a British actuarial system, so it is very suitable for studying in Australia, and it is cheaper than studying in Hong Kong (mainly refers to the rent), and you can also practice English. Speaking of which, maybe you can also consider working in Hong Kong? I am not familiar with this, so I won't mislead you. You will also encounter problems of employment permit and market competition.