How hard is Actuarial Studies (1 Viewer)

[blackfriday]

You really are a tosser blackfriday. Get 95+ and then say that higher maths is full of dumbarses

well me and my mates, we're just there to take our hyper-inflated distinctions from doing jack all and failing all the tute quizzes.

 

[Raginsheep]

If your doing maths, you could always sub 2002 with the two maths equivalents instead.

 

[ngai]

omgosh
...



why is sachi teaching ACTL2002?!?! we're all gonna die nxt yr!!! and he is not teaching ACTL1001 >_< next year...

and how do other people rate the other lecturers? do they set crazy tests like sachi...

lol sachi sets hard tests, but he's a good lecturer

theres no sherris on that list? :O

and yes some lecturers set hard tests like sachi...judging on our test last friday, u wont enjoy sem 2

 

[Affinity]

depending on who one is, actuarial can be hard for different reasons.
There are those who have shaky maths background and have no clue of whats going on.
And then, there are those who find it trivial in the first year and turned apathetic.

 

[ace]

depending on who one is, actuarial can be hard for different reasons.

Heh, don't worry aspiring actuaries, actuarial is hard you just need to find your niche of hardness and pray you don't encounter it

Apologies in advance if this encites a flame war

 

[blackfriday]

if you enjoy reading a table and applying stat formulas to them then actuary may be your thing. but of course, this is a highly simplistic view of actuary. you should also look at doing the quantitative risk program if you want something a little heavier on stats.

 

[Weimin]

If your doing maths, you could always sub 2002 with the two maths equivalents instead.

You could do the opposite if you have a high WAM and a nice Math Head of Faculty, like Tenerry( or Tennery?)

 

[Raginsheep]

What do you mean by doing the opposite?

 

[blackfriday]

non-actuary maths students sub two stat courses for 2002. its dr. trenerry.

 

[meyero]

3003 is hard

 

[alanbrucelee]

ACTL/FINS @ UNSW 3rd year in 09. class of '06.

I'm gonna say something different regarding Ext II and ACTL. Ext II has a rather non-actuarial related syllabus (conics, mechanics, volumes etc) and is significantly easier (considering the time span to content ratio and raw difficulty). As a sole indicator, it is rather unreliable, considering Ext II is just doing past papers (although uni sorta tends to be like this).

What should be considered, will be how dedicated to study you will be over the next 3-4 years (although the 'hecticness' begins in 3rd year). There has to be a motivation other than cash, such as a genuine interest in the science or even interest in the challenge itself (I chose the latter). This may sound cocky, but I've attended 5 ACTL lectures in the past 2 years, and have got all my exemptions so far (barring CT7 Economics). However, it is the study at home that is most important. Followed by how lucky you are with your tutor. Not to mention any names. Bill W, B Wise. 17/100 class average.

As for mark distributions, they are just like the HSC (based purely on rank). I've forgotten where I heard/read this, but from what I know, they basically set aside a number of exemptions given, mere passes, and fails. They then rank the students based on their raw exam marks. Draw cutoff lines and the appropriate ranks, and distribute the grades from there. (Note: Can someone confirm this?) From past experience, they give half the students exemptions. So you essentially just have to get over the mean mark to attain it. Btw, this is not as easy as it seems. In the HSC, you may have been the big fish; but in the ACTL pool, basically everyone is a 95+, with the same desire to get exemptions.

Feel free to argue. I've written this much, surely I'll get flame back.

 

[Pwnage101]

ACTL/FINS @ UNSW 3rd year in 09. class of '06.

I'm gonna say something different regarding Ext II and ACTL. Ext II has a rather non-actuarial related syllabus (conics, mechanics, volumes etc) and is significantly easier (considering the time span to content ratio and raw difficulty). As a sole indicator, it is rather unreliable, considering Ext II is just doing past papers (although uni sorta tends to be like this).

What should be considered, will be how dedicated to study you will be over the next 3-4 years (although the 'hecticness' begins in 3rd year). There has to be a motivation other than cash, such as a genuine interest in the science or even interest in the challenge itself (I chose the latter). This may sound cocky, but I've attended 5 ACTL lectures in the past 2 years, and have got all my exemptions so far (barring CT7 Economics). However, it is the study at home that is most important. Followed by how lucky you are with your tutor. Not to mention any names. Bill W, B Wise. 17/100 class average.

As for mark distributions, they are just like the HSC (based purely on rank). I've forgotten where I heard/read this, but from what I know, they basically set aside a number of exemptions given, mere passes, and fails. They then rank the students based on their raw exam marks. Draw cutoff lines and the appropriate ranks, and distribute the grades from there. (Note: Can someone confirm this?) From past experience, they give half the students exemptions. So you essentially just have to get over the mean mark to attain it. Btw, this is not as easy as it seems. In the HSC, you may have been the big fish; but in the ACTL pool, basically everyone is a 95+, with the same desire to get exemptions.

Feel free to argue. I've written this much, surely I'll get flame back.

thx for your post!

 

[ValentinesM]

actl/fins @ unsw 3rd year in 09. Class of '06.

I'm gonna say something different regarding ext ii and actl. Ext ii has a rather non-actuarial related syllabus (conics, mechanics, volumes etc) and is significantly easier (considering the time span to content ratio and raw difficulty). As a sole indicator, it is rather unreliable, considering ext ii is just doing past papers (although uni sorta tends to be like this).

What should be considered, will be how dedicated to study you will be over the next 3-4 years (although the 'hecticness' begins in 3rd year). There has to be a motivation other than cash, such as a genuine interest in the science or even interest in the challenge itself (i chose the latter). This may sound cocky, but i've attended 5 actl lectures in the past 2 years, and have got all my exemptions so far (barring ct7 economics). However, it is the study at home that is most important. Followed by how lucky you are with your tutor. Not to mention any names. Bill w, b wise. 17/100 class average.

As for mark distributions, they are just like the hsc (based purely on rank). I've forgotten where i heard/read this, but from what i know, they basically set aside a number of exemptions given, mere passes, and fails. They then rank the students based on their raw exam marks. Draw cutoff lines and the appropriate ranks, and distribute the grades from there. (note: Can someone confirm this?) from past experience, they give half the students exemptions. So you essentially just have to get over the mean mark to attain it. Btw, this is not as easy as it seems. In the hsc, you may have been the big fish; but in the actl pool, basically everyone is a 95+, with the same desire to get exemptions.

Feel free to argue. I've written this much, surely i'll get flame back.

thank you!!

 

[dvse]

Feel free to argue. I've written this much, surely I'll get flame back.

What you are saying is true enough. Another reason why it is "difficult" is that the whole degree is suspended in mid-air. It's not really possible to appreciate the underlying mathematics because you are only taught applications nor is it possible to get a feel for mathematical modelling because there are no realistic examples at all in any of the courses.

In the end, you have people who are capable of little else than plugging numbers into formulas or following simple procedures.

 

[ninjapuppet]

its dr. trenerry.

is He the one with the beard and looks like santa claus? if thats who i think it is, then F@ark he was boring!

 

[joecarling]

Guys, dont even consider doing this. you'll end up having no fun in your life

 

[Monstar]

Guys, dont even consider doing this. you'll end up having no fun in your life

quiet 2010 fucker. everyone is different and not some artfag.

 

[whoisurdaddy]

Im in my 2nd year of my BComm/Eco but I'm kinda thinking of starting an actuarial major first sem of 3rd year.. recommendations?

 

[kooltrainer]

MAN reading all this make acturial sound so compatible with engineering... ima do it.. : D

both involve statistical modelling in real life situations.

 

[freelywilly]

lol @ Changki. had him for 2003 today