MONDAY, AUGUST 31, BUSINESS Actuarial Science Major Forum Last edited

Topics Introductions Career Opportunities Penn State Courses Actuarial Exams & VEE Actuarial Science Club Internships Questions

Penn State Actuarial Program # 1 Job in US (per WSJ )per WSJ # 1 School for Recruiters ( per BusinessWeek)per BusinessWeek Largest actuarial program in US  About 150 exam passers per year  About ½ from Smeal and ½ from Eberly (Math & Stat)  Center of Actuarial Excellence – only 15 in US Very Difficult Degree  Students with A’s in Calculus and Probability: pass exams, get jobs  Some employers (& grad schools) only look at students with GPA > 3.5  Take STAT 414 & SOA Probability Exam in Sophomore year  Eberly students can transfer to UP early to take STAT 414  We enforce the STAT 414 prerequisite for RM 410

Faculty & Club Officers 4 Ron Gebhardtsbauer, FSA  Insurance, Pensions, Head of Retirement Practice-NYC Mercer  Spokesperson for US profession from 1996 to 2008, Congress  Teach RM 410 (Financial Math) in Spring  Teach RM 411/412/415 (Pricing Life Insurance & Derivatives) Zhongyi Yuan, PhD in Actuarial Science  Teaches RM 410 (Financial Math) in Fall  Teaches RM 420 (C Exam = P&C and Health) in Spring Steve Putterman, FSA  Top Variable Annuity actuary at major insurers; teaching RM 410 in Fall Dick London, FSA  Former Head of UCONN’s actuarial program; founder of ACTEX; Ron’s professor  Teaching RM 411 in Spring Lisa Weaver, LLD  Retirement Consultant, Teaches RM 401 (Pensions) each Spring Lisa Posey and Dave Cather  Teach Insurance and Risk Management

Club Officers OfficerPositionInternship Luke YangPresidentCigna – Hartford, CT Matt MielnikVice PresidentLiberty Mutual – Boston, MA Robert HedgesTreasurerHighmark – Pittsburgh, PA Joe HayesSecretaryAIG – Houston, TX Luke PetersonCorporate LiaisonGen Re – Stamford, CT Brigh DesjardinsCorporate Outreach OfficerEY – Philadelphia, PA Joe PalladinoAlumni LiaisonTowers Watson – Philadelphia, PA Matt ReillyCommunication ChairMercer – Washington, D.C. Amanda ZigarovichStudent Relations LiaisonGen Re – Stamford, CT Peter ZhuPhilanthropy ChairAIG – New York, NY Max GuoWebmaster Jason XuResume Officer

Where Do Actuaries Work? Insurance Month Rotational Programs Competitive study programs Reasonable hours Clear reporting structure – one boss Consulting, Investment, and Accounting Firms Longer hours – especially during busy season Dynamic work environment Insurance, Consulting, Government, Academia Life/Annuity Health Retirement Property/Casualty Reinsurance Finance/Investment Industries

Get Started Early!

Success in the Classroom and the Business World Students who understand why  Word problems; essay answers  Not memorization or multiple choice questions Preparation before class or meeting with boss  Read & do synopsis of material before class/meeting Work with others  Homework teams (good friends help after graduate) Confidence  Class Participation; be teaching assistants  Officers organize projects (not just put on resume) Good at self-study, internship, pass FSA exams  Do projects (e.g., selling insurance to parents, retirement projection)

International Students International students get jobs in US  CPT/OPT/H1-B/Green cards/Eb5 really help  If citizen or permanent resident, put near top of resume Communication as important as exams  Join HW groups with US students  Talk English all the time!  Having US roommates has worked well Important to pass Exam P before Junior 3 exams to get Full-Time Job If can’t get internship or FT job  Try grad school (need good GPA), and then easier to get job PSU has Masters in Applied Statistics

Sample Schedule YrFallSpring 1 st MATH 140* (Calc I) ECON 102 (Micro) - VEE MATH 141* (Calc II) ECON 104 (Macro) - VEE 2 nd MATH 230* (Calc III) preferred per Eberly MATH 220 (Matrices) helps in 412/MLC FIN 301 (Corp Finance) -VEE STAT 414* (Probability Theory) Take P Exam in May STAT 483# (better SAS class) 3 rd R M 410* (Financial Math) Excel Take FM in December STAT 415# (Math Stat) helps 412/C/ST R M 411* (Life Contingencies) VBA STAT 416# (Stochastic Processes) helps MFE/ST Take CAS’s ST Exam in April 4 th R M 412* (Life Contingencies) Take MLC in late October STAT 462# (Regression Analysis) RM 420* (P&C/Health) take C in June orRM401(Pensions) Stat allows 420 as sub STAT 463# (Applied Time Series) R To catch up, take Math 230 in summer at UP or World Campus * C or better required. If C’s, consider other options or majors # for STAT minor; 462/463 already needed for VEE

Accelerated Schedule YrFallSpring 1 st MATH 141* (Calc II) ECON 102 (Micro) - VEE MATH 230* (Calc III) ECON 104 (Macro) - VEE 2 nd STAT 414* (Probability Theory) RM 497C (Intro to Act Science) Take P Exam in Jan for internship FIN 301 (Corp Finance) –VEE R M 410* (Financial Math) Excel Take FM Exam in June STAT 416# (Stochastic Processes) helps MFE/S MATH 220 (Matrices) helps in 412/MLC 3 rd R M 415 (Derivatives Markets) Take MFE in late November, March, or July STAT 415# (Math Stat) helps 412/C/S R M 411* (Life Contingencies) VBA STAT 483# (better SAS class) 4 th R M 412* (Life Contingencies) Take MLC Exam in late October STAT 462# (Regression Analysis) RM 420* (P&C/Health) Stat allows as sub Take SOA C Exam in June STAT 463# (Applied Time Series) R Take CAS S Exam in Oct for P&C job See on whether to place out of 140/141www.math.psu.edu/ug/advising/vs If 5 on AP exam, you should place out. If place out of 141, take 230/414/P sooner To catch up, take Math 230/1 at World Campus or UP in summer, or as Independent Studies class To take S Exam sooner, you can take STAT 462/463 sooner * C or better required. If C’s, consider other options or majors, # for STAT minor; 462/463 needed for VEE & S

Smeal Major Required Courses Risk & Decisions R M 301* (Fall Only) Risk Management & Insurance R M 320W* (Spring Only) Life & Health Insurance RM 430* (Fall Only) * C or higher required

Smeal’s Business Core Act Sci students can skip Supply Chain 301 C or higher required Consult your degree audit at elion.psu.edu Sample schedule at Smeal Undergraduate Student Exchange or Club website SCM 200*: Statistics for Business MIS 204*: Business Information Systems FIN 301*: Finance ACCTG 211*: Accounting MKTG 301*: Marketing MGMT 301*: Management BA 411: Analyzing Business & Industry B LAW 341: Business Law BA 342: Business Ethics reference

Stat Major -Actuarial Option  Additional Statistics & Mathematics courses: ◦ MATH 220: Matrices (good course for RM 412) ◦ STAT 415: Mathematical Statistics (good course for C exam) ◦ STAT 461: Analysis of Variance ◦ STAT 470W: Problem solving in Applied Statistics ◦ STAT 480 (1 credit) or 483 (3 credits): SAS (483 is better) ◦ STAT 462/463:Applied Regression/Time Series Analysis-VEE ◦ 1 from CMPSC 101/102/121/200/201/202: C++, VB, Matlab, Fortran ◦ Select 9 credits from:  STAT 416: Stochastic Modeling  RM 420: Loss Models (needs a petition, which will be accepted)  STAT 440: Computational Statistics  STAT 464: Applied Nonparametric Statistics  STAT 466: Survey Sampling  MATH 436/441: Linear or Matrix Algebra  MATH 451/455: Numerical Computations & Numerical Analysis  IE 434/436: Quality Control/Industrial Engineering reference

Math Major -Actuarial Option Additional Mathematics & Statistics courses:  MATH 311W & 312: Discrete Math & Real Analysis  MATH 251: Ordinary & Partial Differential Equations  MATH 220: Matrices (good course)  MATH/STAT 415: Mathematical Statistics (good course)  MATH/STAT 416: Stochastic Modeling (good course)  MATH 486: Game Theory or MATH 451: Numerical Computations  MATH 484: Linear Programming  STAT 462: Applied Regression Analysis (good course)  STAT 463: Applied Time Series Analysis (good course)  CMPSC 101, 121, 201C: Computer Programming  IE 425: Operations Research  RM 415 or 420: Loss Models? (asking now) reference

Eberly Majors -Actuarial Option  Business courses required: ◦ ECON 102 & 104: Micro & Macro-Economics ◦ FIN 301: Corp Finance & Financial Markets ◦ RM 302: Risk & Insurance (Fall is a good time to take it) ◦ Replaces RM 301/320/430 so you can take RM 420 !! ◦ RM 410*/411*/412*: Actuarial Courses ◦ ACCTG 211: Accounting (Stat Majors)  Business courses not required: ◦ ACCTG 211: Math Majors don’t need for Fin 301 ◦ Business Core ◦ B LAW 341 & BA 342: Business Law & Ethics ◦ MIS 204: Intro to Business Information Systems * C or Higher required

Other Good Courses to Take If controls allow (e.g., Eberley students can’t take FIN 305/408)  STAT 483 (3): More SAS – great for Health and P&C jobs  CMPSC 102: Intro to VB  CMPSC 203: Excel with some Access  MATH 220: Matrices – great for Markov Chains & MLC  MATH 251:Differential Equations with PDEs  MATH 412: Partial Differential Equations  MATH 451 or 455: Numerical Computations/Analysis  MATH 486: Game Theory  FIN 305 (2 piece): Financial Mgmt of Business Enterprise  FIN 408 (2 piece): Financial Markets and Institutions  ECON 302/304: Intermediate Micro/Macro Economics  ECON 351: Money and Banking  HPA 057: Consumer Choices In Health Care for gym Gen Ed reference

Courses with Programming  RM 497C/410/411/412 (Excel & VBA)  STAT 462/463: some Minitab, R, or SAS may be used  STAT 483: SAS – 3 credits online  STAT 497: R  CMPSC 203: Excel with some Access  CMPSC 101 Intro to C++  CMPSC 102: Intro to VB  CMPSC 200: MATLAB  CMPSC 201: C++  CMPSC 202: FORTRAN  CMPSC 37C: SQL  MATH 451: MATLAB used  FIN 414 or 415: VBA used lynda.psu.edu can also help with VBA reference

Courses in Predictive Analytics These courses will be helpful, particularly in P&C and Health areas Regression: STAT 462 (taken for VEE) Time Series with Homework in R: STAT 463 (taken for VEE) GLM: STAT 511 and someday in STAT 462 (taken for VEE) SAS: STAT 480 or 483 preferred (taken for Stat Minor) Monte Carlo: STAT 440 and 416, RM 411/412/415 (taken for MLC/MFE) Machine Learning (Decision Trees, Clusters, Neural Networks, Classification): CMPSC 448 & STAT 557 Data Mining/Visualization: STAT 380 Survey sampling: STAT 466 Bayesian Computational Techniques/MCMC: STAT 440 Survival Tables/Cox/Proportional Hazards: STAT 525 Bootstrapping Methods: STAT 440 and/or 464 Design and Validation of Experiments/Outcomes: STAT 461 reference

Actuarial Exams Given in Harrisburg, Philly, Pittsburg by:  Society of Actuaries (SOA)  Life/Pension/Health/Enterprise Risk Mgmt  MLC Exam is given here  Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS)  Property/Casualty SOA exams mostly satisfy CAS  But not vice-versa

Why should I take these exams? To get internships Internship + 2 or 3 exams for FT job Take FM Exam in December after RM 410  Use breaks to pass exams  Tough passing FM exam when in RM 411 We cover all 5 exams here  Some pass all before graduation  Almost Associates in the SoA We pay you $100 if pass  See Club’s Exam Passer webpage for details  Request right away. Right before graduation is too late

SOA/CAS Exams ExamCourse(s)Best ManualTake it when?Comments 1/P - Probability Theory STAT 414 & RM 497C InfiniteActuary ACTEX or ADAPT Sophomore year!! Otherwise, take in Jan 2/FM - Financial Mathematics RM 410 ASM Study it in summer December / June Don’t take when in RM 411 3F/MFE – Financial Econ RM 415ASM or ADAPTJuly Don’t take when in RM 415 MLC - Life Contingencies RM 411/412 InfiniteActuary or ADAPT cheap in last wk Late October MLC does not give you CAS’s LC exam 4/C – P&C and Health Ins RM 412/420 STAT 415/416 InfiniteActuary or ASM June Stan says easy after Zhongyi’s RM 420 class S Exam (CAS) STAT 416/462/463 & RM 411 ?October 30, 2015 Statistics & Probabilistic Models Tutorials at reference

Validation by Educational Experience: VEE Required by SOA, CAS, & Employers ECON 102/104 & FIN 301 required to graduate Must receive a grade of B- or better  Or 4 or 5 on AP tests Apply for VEE credit after passing P & FM  Or apply after you get job (& get a raise)  Other Campuses can use University Park per SOA Can also get credit by exam through  ACTEX for Finance & Applied Stat VEE’s  CLEP for Econ VEE

VEE: Applied Statistical Methods  Accepted Courses: take one from each o Applied Regression  STAT 462, STAT 501, or ECON 306  ECON prerequisites can be satisfied by Stat 414 o Applied Time Series  STAT 463 (STAT 510 or ECON 483 if available) o You can mix and match  Get STAT Minor - if also take: o STAT 415 (Mathematical Statistics) o STAT 416 (Stochastic Processes) starting in 2016 o STAT 480 (Intro to SAS - 1 credit) STAT 483 is better Some get ECON Minor: take ECON 302/304 & 6 credits of 400 level ECON such as 445 (Health Policy), 412 (Labor), 444 (Corp), & 457 (Banking)

Penn State Classes VEE/ExamCourse 1Course 2Other? VEE EconEcon 102Econ 104 VEE FinanceFIN 301 VEE StatisticsSTAT 462STAT 463 or STAT 501/510 or ECON 306/483 Exam P/1STAT 414 Exam FM/2R M 410 Exam MLC/3LR M 411R M 412 Exam MFE/3FR M 415 Exam C/4R M 412R M 420STAT 415/6 25 reference

Actuarial Science Career Fair Monday 9/21/15 from 4:30 to 8 PM in Atrium Over 30 companies Great place to find Internships  Even if you don’t have exam: practice interviews  1 st yr students can get internships without exams if very good in Math To Attend:  Must do Mock Interview with Mentor by 9/14  GPA>3.20, or A’s in Calculus, or Exam Passed  Pay Club Dues  Some firms (like Met Life and AXA) don’t attend Career Fairs, so apply on their websites

Club Opportunities Résumé & Mock Interview  Wednesday 9/9: 6 – 7:30 PM in 107 Business  Put resumes on SmealConnect/SciOpps ASAP  Must use instructions on Club’s Resume webpage  RM 410 students must do mock interview ASAP Meeting for International Students  Monday 9/7: 6 – 7:30 PM in 102 Business  Ideas for internships, jobs, grad school (e.g., MAS) Mentors for Juniors (& interested Frosh/Soph)  If interested, Amanda Zigarovich

Actuarial Science Club Company Info Sessions (listed on Club’s Home Page) Exam Review Sessions (Club’s Review Sessions Page) Tutors for help on exams Field Trip to Actuarial Employers (Spring) Speakers Series THON involvement Social Events Panel Discussion International Student Meeting

Actuarial Science Club Club website: List Serve signup at Facebook group  Coming soon!  Study Manual exchange  Questions about Actuarial Exams & PSU Classes Our Internships

Questions?