Answers For A Newbie
Hi everyone. I’m currently 18 years old and about to start college where I’m interested in possibly learning actuarial science I have some questions about the field that I wanted to ask. Some of the questions are more personalized, so I’m going to list some things about myself as context.
In high school, I was a very good student: I got straight A’s, received a 36 on the ACT, and got the National Merit scholarship. I have always been more of a math minded person and I enjoy solving puzzles and figuring math problems out in my head.
Questions:
1: I have heard a lot about the amount of hours necessary to study for the actuarial exams that move you forward in your career, and I was wondering how accurate that statement is (the amount of hours I saw per exam was around 300). More specifically, I’m curious if this number remains true given my academic background, and if so, why is so much studying needed? Is there a lot of material to learn or is the material simply that difficult?
2: As of now, I am officially listed as an accounting major at my university. The only thing they offer for actuarial science is a minor, so if I were to follow this path, is there another major I should be going for? Or will accounting help in some sort of specific job?
3: I have seen some posts of resumes where people have experience with different coding languages and computer programs. As an accounting major, I will definitely learn how to use computer programs such as excel, but are the coding languages absolutely necessary as an actuary? If so, how do they play into the actual work that I would do?
4: When looking up salaries of actuaries, I’ve seen that the median tends to be around $100k-$120k. Does this feel accurate? And how does the salary change as you pass more and more exams?
Any answers would be greatly appreciated!