Every Tuesday, a group of Hillsdale students meets for an hour and a half in the afternoon to go over probability problems with William Abram, assistant professor of mathematics, in preparation for the first of five actuarial exams.
Actuarial science topped 2013’s list of best jobs in a survey conducted by CareerCast.com. The job, which involves risk assessment and is prominent in the insurance and financial industries, has ranked among the top for the past several years, with a median salary of about $87,000 and a relatively lowstress work environment.
For these reasons and simply because they love math, junior Arena Govier and sophomore Nathan Wilson are pursuing actuarial science and heading up the club under Abram’s direction. Juniors Sarah Schweizer and Evan Chalker and sophomores Sarah Kreuz and Daniel Slonim attend the club.
An early start in preparing is preferable, according to Abram, but it’s not easy. Aspiring actuaries must pass five exams, each of which requires on average about 300 hours of study. Most people choose to take the exam on probability first, a test that has a lower pass rate than the California bar exam, one of the most difficult bar exams in the country.
“Probability is not an elementary topic,” Abram said. “You have to at least have taken calculus III or linear algebra before you can even take probability, and that means that students who have
the best shot are the students that have sort of a head start and that take probability early — sophomore year or before.”
Senior Ian Ostaszewski has taken the financial mathematics exam twice and has been studying independently. Because Ostaszewski is an economics major and has more experience with finance than math theory, he wanted to take the financial math exam first.
“Studying involves first understanding concepts — there are a lot of things about interest and stocks and bonds and financial markets,” Ostaszewski said, “and then you have to memorize tons and tons of equations. I’d say, to pass the exam, you probably have to memorize several hundred.”
Ostaszewski said he underestimated the importance of time his first time around.
“You have about five minutes per question, which is pretty quick,” Ostaszewski said. “It’s really key to practice your speed.”
The testing environment was extremely sterile. Ostaszewski hobbled into his first exam on crutches, having broken his foot weeks before. Monitors searched his crutches to make sure he was not smuggling test answers in with him. All students using calculators on the exam also had their calculators’ memory erased.
To prepare to take the probability exam, the students in the actuarial club will continue working through problems with Abram on Tuesday afternoons. As the semester’s end approaches, the club will take some fulllength practice exams. Those who want to take the test in May, like Wilson, will also start devoting time outside of the club to study.
“You need intensive blocks of study time,” Abram said.
Beyond the club, Abram is going to offer a onecredit course in the fall on preparing for the actuarial exams.
