r/ActuaryAustralia

Hey all, I'm currently in uni and recently received a consulting actuarial internship offer and would seriously appreciate some advice to help decide the direction of my career.

I'm studying actuarial and feel that I have a shot at other career paths e.g. software engineering, banking, management consulting, data science, sales/trading etc.

I'm not sure if I should just stick to actuarial and this internship or look at other options too. My main priorities for a career are:

1. A high salary:hours ratio
2. Plausible progression to a 300k+ salary within 10-15 years
3. Work that has problem solving to it and is interesting/impactful

I'd really appreciate any insight into the actuarial field and if you think it is the right career path for me and my priorities, especially compared to other career paths in my scope.

TLDR; Uni student wondering if actuarial is the optimal career path in terms of 1. WLB:pay ratio 2.eventual progression to 300k+ salary and 3.interesting work. Or if other careers would be better.

As a high school student who is entering uni next yr, I am just wondering how likely will the jobs that required the skills in these two degrees be replaced by AI or is it to some extent already replaced by AI. Is it still worth doing this combination of degree at this point

Hi 👋
I'm an international student with a Bachelor's Honours in Economics and CFA Level 2 cleared. I've received offers for the Jan 2027 intake for Master's in Actuarial Science from Bond University, ANU, UNSW, Monash, and Macquarie. I'm really struggling to decide and would love genuine experiences and advice from current/recent students, grads, or those in the industry.

My priorities:

• Strong actuarial program
• Good employability, especially for international students
• Overall student experience, networking, and practical skills
• Value for money

Specifically about Bond University:
Bond markets itself heavily as an "elite" private uni on the Gold Coast with:

• small class size
• Strong internship component
• Bloomberg Terminals and excellent facilities
• Top rankings in student experience and international postgraduate employment outcomes

I've seen their claims about being #1 in student experience for years. With my background, the program seems like a good fit (they teach from fundamentals while leveraging prior quant/econ knowledge).

But I've also heard that Bond has a mixed overall reputation in Australia – sometimes seen as expensive/private/"marketing-heavy" compared to the big Group of Eight unis. Is the actuarial program there a hidden gem (small classes, personalised attention, actual industry links), or is the positive narrative mostly marketing? Would choosing Bond over a more prestigious name like UNSW, Monash, or ANU hurt my chances in the actuarial job market later?

For those who studied actuarial at any of these:

• How was the teaching quality, exemptions, and exam support?
• Internship and graduate opportunities (especially for internationals)?
• Campus life, networking, and post-grad outcomes?
• Any regrets or strong recommendations?

I'm leaning towards quality of experience and practical outcomes over pure prestige, but I don't want to make a costly mistake. Any insights on location (Brisbane vs Sydney/Melbourne/Canberra) for actuarial work would also help.

Thanks in advance – really appreciate any detailed responses! Happy to answer clarifying questions. 🙏

incoming masters student (Term 3 dept intake) – need the real tea on part-time work, housing and who to link with 👀

okay so i'm officially joining UNSW for my Master's (actuarial studies) this Term 3 and i am so behind on the logistics lmaooo. coming from India, relocating to Sydney in sept and i have like 800 tabs open and zero clarity.

dropping the questions i genuinely can't find answers to anywhere else – pls be the community that saves me 😭

📍 accommodation
any recs for areas near UNSW that are actually worth living in? i've been looking at Kingsford and Randwick but idk if there's a vibe difference or smth i should know. also – is finding a place mid-year actually hell or is it manageable?

💸 part-time / tutoring
genuinely asking – is it realistic to do private tutoring (maths, stats, economics) while doing a full-time masters? would love to hear from anyone who's done it. also any platforms or companies (NSW-based tutoring agencies etc) worth applying to? already have a couple in mind but more options = more options lol

🤝 people to connect with
any other Term 3 starters / international postgrad students who wanna link before we're all drowning in assignments?? also if anyone's in actuarial studies or math-heavy programs pls say hi, would love to find study people early

anything else i should know??
things you wish someone had told you before term started. no cap, anything helps – the more unhinged the better honestly

tl;dr: Term 3 international MActSt student, need housing recs, part-time tutoring advice, and friends. send help (or just a comment) 🙏

Are both ALM and PCAI open book?

Thanks.