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Actuarial science - STEM or not?

I was just wondering, what people think about an actuarial science degree...

Does an actuarial science degree share the prestige that STEM degrees do? Personally, I think a degree in actuarial science would be classified as a STEM degree cos 1) it's a "science" 2) It involves a lot of mathematics. But I'd like to know if others share my view regarding the matter (just out of curiosity i.e.).


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I'm pretty sure it's a STEM discipline. Having said that, I definitely wouldn't respect an Actuarial Science degree as much as a pure science degree. If you do Actuarial Science, it's pretty obvious that you're just in it for the money.
Original post by Chlorophile
I'm pretty sure it's a STEM discipline. Having said that, I definitely wouldn't respect an Actuarial Science degree as much as a pure science degree. If you do Actuarial Science, it's pretty obvious that you're just in it for the money.


Nothing wrong with wanting to work with numbers and make money. Those physicists that go into the city are far bigger sell outs. At least here you are saying, hey I wanna be an actuary.
Original post by Chlorophile
I'm pretty sure it's a STEM discipline. Having said that, I definitely wouldn't respect an Actuarial Science degree as much as a pure science degree. If you do Actuarial Science, it's pretty obvious that you're just in it for the money.


Its true if you do actuarial science its clear one of the main reasons you do it is money but I'm not sure why you wouldn't respect their degree as much as a pure science degree? Personal reasons to do the degree doesn't change the difficulty of the degree itself
Original post by Mr_Muffin_Man
Its true if you do actuarial science its clear one of the main reasons you do it is money but I'm not sure why you wouldn't respect their degree as much as a pure science degree? Personal reasons to do the degree doesn't change the difficulty of the degree itself


Original post by SarcasticMel
Nothing wrong with wanting to work with numbers and make money. Those physicists that go into the city are far bigger sell outs. At least here you are saying, hey I wanna be an actuary.


Because I think it's pretty sad to dedicate your life to making money rather than doing something meaningful. I know that's a contentious point of view and I am aware that it's just a personal opinion. But the OP was looking for others' points of view and I gave mine.
Original post by Chlorophile
Because I think it's pretty sad to dedicate your life to making money rather than doing something meaningful. I know that's a contentious point of view and I am aware that it's just a personal opinion. But the OP was looking for others' points of view and I gave mine.


Who does something meaningful? In the grand scheme of things my job is as meaningful as many others'.
Original post by SarcasticMel
Who does something meaningful? In the grand scheme of things my job is as meaningful as many others'.


That's why I said it's an opinion. I can't understand you could be satisfied with a job that is essentially all about screwing everyone else over for personal profit.
Original post by Chlorophile
That's why I said it's an opinion. I can't understand you could be satisfied with a job that is essentially all about screwing everyone else over for personal profit.


I'm not a banker.
Original post by Sidhant Shivram
I was just wondering, what people think about an actuarial science degree...

Does an actuarial science degree share the prestige that STEM degrees do? Personally, I think a degree in actuarial science would be classified as a STEM degree cos 1) it's a "science" 2) It involves a lot of mathematics. But I'd like to know if others share my view regarding the matter (just out of curiosity i.e.).


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'Stem prestige' is really a figment of many of the overheated imaginations on tsr.

However there IS a list of STEM degree titles used for assessing immigrants to the USA and as I think most people would probably expect actuarial science is on it (CIP code 52.1304) http://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/stem-list.pdf
Original post by Chlorophile
I'm pretty sure it's a STEM discipline. Having said that, I definitely wouldn't respect an Actuarial Science degree as much as a pure science degree. If you do Actuarial Science, it's pretty obvious that you're just in it for the money.


You do realise that there are people who are studying actuarial science simply cos they are genuinely interested in the subject matter, right? I, for one, didn't know about the perks involved in the actuarial profession, before taking a decision to study actuarial science at the undergraduate level. I believe this is the case for many, if not most people who have chosen to study actuarial science (at least the ones studying at top universities for act. sci.).

I also know a few people who have studied actuarial science at the UG level and have chosen to do pure math/stats degrees at the postgraduate stage.
Original post by Chlorophile
That's why I said it's an opinion. I can't understand you could be satisfied with a job that is essentially all about screwing everyone else over for personal profit.


How does being an actuary involve screwing other people over? :s-smilie:

If anything, I would have said that an actuary's job is quite the opposite. It involves making sure that companies you invest significant amounts of money in aren't taking too many risks, and remain solvent enough to be able to finance their liabilities to you, instead of for example, leaving pensioners desolate in their old age, leaving a person homeless after their house is destroyed by fire, leaving a family in poverty after their breadwinner dies etc. It involves making sure that large financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, pension providers etc. are treating their customers fairly instead of taking advantage of them due to their lack of financial knowledge. An actuary exists to make sure that people don't get screwed over.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by tazarooni89
How does being an actuary involve screwing other people over? :s-smilie:

If anything, I would have said that an actuary's job is quite the opposite. It involves making sure that companies you invest significant amounts of money in aren't taking too many risks, and remain solvent enough to be able to finance their liabilities to you, instead of for example, leaving pensioners desolate in their old age, leaving a person homeless after their house is destroyed by fire, leaving a family in poverty after their breadwinner dies etc. It involves making sure that large financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, pension providers etc. are treating their customers fairly instead of taking advantage of them due to their lack of financial knowledge. An actuary exists to make sure that people don't get screwed over.


Insurance is all about milking the maximum premiums out of people whilst staying within the law. You really have to spin the role of an actuary to pretend that they're doing good. If these insurance companies were genuinely altruistic, they wouldn't be operating at billions of dollars of profits. They would operate at the lowest necessary profit to give people genuinely the best deals.
Original post by Chlorophile
Insurance is all about milking the maximum premiums out of people whilst staying within the law. You really have to spin the role of an actuary to pretend that they're doing good. If these insurance companies were genuinely altruistic, they wouldn't be operating at billions of dollars of profits. They would operate at the lowest necessary profit to give people genuinely the best deals.


In that case you probably think every profession in the world exists solely to "screw people over".


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Original post by Sidhant Shivram
In that case you probably think every profession in the world exists solely to "screw people over".


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No, it's mainly just corporations. The definition of "to screw over" doesn't change just because lots of people are doing it.
Reply 14
dw guys chlorophile has no gains but has been trying for past 10 years. lol, chloro ur funny cuuuh. you talk of pure science? enviromental physics/earth sciences is pure science? cuuuuuuh ur making me laff here hahahahahahahaha. m8, take ur manhood our of those books and start getting ripped? u ever thought about anything without anyone else's thoughts contaminating u? m88888 ur an intellectual prozzie. rip.
Reply 15
Original post by ziu
dw guys chlorophile has no gains but has been trying for past 10 years. lol, chloro ur funny cuuuh. you talk of pure science? enviromental physics/earth sciences is pure science? cuuuuuuh ur making me laff here hahahahahahahaha. m8, take ur manhood our of those books and start getting ripped? u ever thought about anything without anyone else's thoughts contaminating u? m88888 ur an intellectual prozzie. rip.


xd
Reply 16
Original post by Sidhant Shivram
You do realise that there are people who are studying actuarial science simply cos they are genuinely interested in the subject matter, right? I, for one, didn't know about the perks involved in the actuarial profession, before taking a decision to study actuarial science at the undergraduate level. I believe this is the case for many, if not most people who have chosen to study actuarial science (at least the ones studying at top universities for act. sci.).

I also know a few people who have studied actuarial science at the UG level and have chosen to do pure math/stats degrees at the postgraduate stage.


Interesting. These people you know who did Actuarial Science at undergrad and went on to do pure maths for post-grad, what exactly did they do post-grad? There isn't any, even basic, traditional pure mathematics on an Actuarial Science degree, so I'd be interested to know how someone with one as their undergraduate can do pure mathematics at the post-graduate level.
Original post by Chlorophile
Insurance is all about milking the maximum premiums out of people whilst staying within the law. You really have to spin the role of an actuary to pretend that they're doing good. If these insurance companies were genuinely altruistic, they wouldn't be operating at billions of dollars of profits. They would operate at the lowest necessary profit to give people genuinely the best deals.


Riiiiight. So really you are just against capitalism, because you seem to be offended by the idea of a company maximising profits.

Good for you. But don't pretend to be something you are not, and don't pretend to be some moral authority.
Original post by Noble.
Interesting. These people you know who did Actuarial Science at undergrad and went on to do pure maths for post-grad, what exactly did they do post-grad? There isn't any, even basic, traditional pure mathematics on an Actuarial Science degree, so I'd be interested to know how someone with one as their undergraduate can do pure mathematics at the post-graduate level.


Probability theory and (linear) algebra is most certainly on an actuaries curriculum, and most likely analysis, too. What actuarial degrees have you in mind? In fact, I am really surprised at your wrong assertion.

Interestingly enough, as part of the actuarial education in Switzerland, you will even come across Hilbert spaces.
Reply 19
Original post by SarcasticMel
Probability theory and (linear) algebra is most certainly on an actuaries curriculum, and most likely analysis, too. What actuarial degrees have you in mind? In fact, I am really surprised at your wrong assertion.

Interestingly enough, as part of the actuarial education in Switzerland, you will even come across Hilbert spaces.


Yes, but there's difference between doing basic probability theory (which isn't pure) or linear algebra, and doing enough linear algebra to be able to study it at a post-graduate level in mathematics. Also, even if Hilbert spaces are covered (which I don't think it tends to be in the UK), I doubt it's covered in the same way it would be as a pure mathematics option.

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