How hard is Actuarial Studies (1 Viewer)

[MAICHI]

For all you guys doing acturial studies who did well in 4u maths, did u ppl go to coaching or tutoring and did it help you in 4u?. What happens when in actuarial studies your only resource is the lectuer and from what some ppl have said they teach only enough for you to pass.

If you can actually understand the lecturers you should get full marks. No one ever understand anything in lectures, they go way too fast for the average joe.

 

[I Robot]

Just a quick question to people who have already done ACTL1001...

Does the Actuarial Studies department (ie, Bindya) supply a copy of the formula book during the final examination?
It's just that I'm not committed at the present time of enduring 3-4 years of ACTL courses just yet, let along forking out a $77 book where you can photocopy it for less than $5.

Thanks in advance,

 

[redslert]

in the final exam you are only allowed one book to take into the exam, the formula book
no statistical datasheets nor formulae will be provided
you will need to bring your OWN.

photocopies will NOT be allowed

 

[t-i-m-m-y]

Yep. The formula book is your lifeblood in the exam, unless of course, you decide to memorise all the necessary formulae and statistical data. Photocoipes are NOT allowed. Please remember that your formula book is 'wholly unannotated'.

I, Robot. I suggest you borrow a copy of the formula book, either from a friend or the library(I think the library has copies, albeit old editions which are the same anyway).

 

[danza108]

Do you if many guys doing Acturial are on Co-op scholarships? And if so, they did get the high uais or did they look at people who were well rounded, etc? And is there a set level you need to perform at, to maintain your Co-op scholarship? Also Secondly, are Co-Ops based on actual UAIs or just ones which are predicted by the school?

Thanks

 

[seremify007]

I haven't got an actuary scholarship nor am I interested- but I thought I'd say scholarships tend to go to people who are more well rounded, and IMO, are good for the uni/sponsors- ie. they are employable.

 

[Affinity]

For all you guys doing acturial studies who did well in 4u maths, did u ppl go to coaching or tutoring and did it help you in 4u?. What happens when in actuarial studies your only resource is the lectuer and from what some ppl have said they teach only enough for you to pass.

The best approach is to get out of the mindset that one has to be taught by someone else in order to learn.

 

[ngai]

to 2nd+ yr students:
what is the min mark that u think we should require in ACTL1001 to be able to manage the actl subjects in the future?
i know they set the benchmark at a credit, but for example, would someone who just gets exactly 65 be able to do reasonably well in later years?

 

[t-i-m-m-y]

I'd say 75+ in ACTL1001 to do reasonably well in later years. If you get a credit, you will still be able to manage 2nd year ACTL subjects, but you might be struggling. And I guess it depends on what you mean by 'reasonably well'.

If you gain the following grades in ACTL1001:

Pass- you should have some serious thoughts about whether you want to continue.

Credit- you should consider if you are willing to put a lot of work into further 2nd year subjects. Ask yourself if you think you were capable of doing better in ACTL1001.

Distinction- you'll be okay in 2nd yr, but again, you'll need to work hard.

High Distinction- congrats! You'll be fine, but don't slack off.

Take ACTL1001 as the benchmark for further studies. If you did your best in ACTL1001 and didn't do too well, perhaps you should considering dropping out. If you are not prepared to work harder over the next few years, maybe actuarial isn't for you.

ACTL1001 filters out those who don't want to work hard, and those who simply aren't capable of handling the actuarial courses. Yes, ACTL1001 is hard, but it stops people from wasting their own time in future years, as well as for Sachi to have a little bit of fun torturing us.

But hey, exams haven't even come - so for now, study hard.

 

[Supra]

whats the equivalent of ACTL1001 at mq?

 

[lawforever]

to 2nd+ yr students:
what is the min mark that u think we should require in ACTL1001 to be able to manage the actl subjects in the future?
i know they set the benchmark at a credit, but for example, would someone who just gets exactly 65 be able to do reasonably well in later years?

my personal point of view is ACTL1001 is not a closely related course to the further actl subjects. There is always some exception, but averagely speaking, try to get a credit or higher. pass is still fine, just need to work harder next year.

 

[lawforever]

The best approach is to get out of the mindset that one has to be taught by someone else in order to learn.

that approach doesn't seem to be applicable to most of the people.

If i dun get taught by the lecturers, I then get taught by you.

 

[t-i-m-m-y]

my personal point of view is ACTL1001 is not a closely related course to the further actl subjects. There is always some exception, but averagely speaking, try to get a credit or higher. pass is still fine, just need to work harder next year.

I disagree. It provides an introduction to the rest of the actuarial courses - in terms of content(somewhat). It serves to warn students that they must be prepared to work hard in order to survive, let alone do well, in further actuarial subjects.

And here's some consolation to those struggling, it's not necessary to understand the material as it is being taught in the lectures, it hardly ever makes sense. Just be prepared to study it yourself, by reading the textbook and doing the tutorial questions.

 

[lawforever]

I disagree. It provides an introduction to the rest of the actuarial courses - in terms of content(somewhat). It serves to warn students that they must be prepared to work hard in order to survive, let alone do well, in further actuarial subjects.

And here's some consolation to those struggling, it's not necessary to understand the material as it is being taught in the lectures, it hardly ever makes sense. Just be prepared to study it yourself, by reading the textbook and doing the tutorial questions.

I admit it has a brief introduction to all the actuarial courses. But the point is, this course isn't connecting to 2nd yr courses too well. There are 2 reasons here: 1. you don't have to do 1001 before you do 2001/2002.

2. The content of 1001 shows that there is a big difference in terms of level of difficulty between tut work and assessments. Also according to the purpose of education, uni needs to encourage and assist student to learn and apply what has been learnt. It shouldn't be a place to discourage students by scaring or warning them. And what we observed has certainly deviated away from this purpose.

Overall, actuarial is a course desgined by human and learned by human too. If it s hard then it should be same hard for all ACTLs or gradually being harder in later years. If one decides to do it, he will experience the difficulty as time goes. But the reality is the introductory course has been deliberately made to be harder than the later year courses so lota students withdraw in their 1st year. I doubt that this is the case in Macquarie.

 

[flyin']

Supra, the sort-of equivalent is ACST151.

But the reality is the introductory course has been deliberately made to be harder than the later year courses so lota students withdraw in their 1st year. I doubt that this is the case in Macquarie.

At Macquarie, people don't quit so easily. Even if they have to repeatedly do the same units over and over again (even when they've passed them). Oh, and ACST151 (Intro to Actuarial Studies) in first semester is scary!

 

[MAICHI]

Overall, actuarial is a course desgined by human and learned by human too. If it s hard then it should be same hard for all ACTLs or gradually being harder in later years. If one decides to do it, he will experience the difficulty as time goes. But the reality is the introductory course has been deliberately made to be harder than the later year courses so lota students withdraw in their 1st year. I doubt that this is the case in Macquarie.

So you are saying that actl200x subjects give out higher marks than actl1001?

 

[lawforever]

So you are saying that actl200x subjects give out higher marks than actl1001?

i m not sure abt the mark distribution. But if you study properly (attend lecture, do assignment yourself, do all the tut work), you should be able to kill 200X.
And this obviously is not the case for 1001

 

[I Robot]

MAICHI, I believe lawforever could be referring to the lecturer-in-charge of ACTL1001...Sachi... (*shudders*) He has made ACTL1001 a living hell at the moment and I'm pretty sure the other lecturers in ACTL2001-2003 aren't as daunting as him (hopefully, that is he doesn't teach 2nd year).

I would agree with lawforever in regard to ACTL1001; as Sachi said in our first lecture, this subject covers snippets of the entire actuarial profession taught in ACTL3001-3004.

And thanks to T-i-m-m-y about the formula book issue...didn't need it in Test 2, but probably in final exam.

 

[redslert]

I'm pretty sure the other lecturers in ACTL2001-2003 aren't as daunting as him

don't get your hopes up LOL

 

[MAICHI]

i m not sure abt the mark distribution. But if you study properly (attend lecture, do assignment yourself, do all the tut work), you should be able to kill 200X. And this obviously is not the case for 1001

Ok, so from your exprience is that you studied hard for actl1001, but still, you didn't get the mark you'd expect for the work put in, contrarily you got a good mark for actl200X by doing the same amount of work?