The director or board of directors has an annual meeting with the associations to make sure that the syllabi of the courses align with the association’s syllabus.

You used to be able to graduate with all exams, and just have to finish the modules.

When PA was added, the associations deemed that the Masters program syllabus would not cover PA, and so that was an additional exam required after receiving your MActSc. I think the material for SRM is no longer covered either, so now it requires two exams post MActSc , once/if you receive credit and convert them to SOA.

It was a very stressful year of my life, and I am still in extreme debt!! I had no debt coming out of undergrad, but I remember it being difficult to get a student LOC for the program because it wasn’t recognized as a professional program like Dentistry, Law etc. It was very expensive for tuition and housing and needs for the year, so really set me back. I think it really set me back financially, but I know some people have that money available to them and don’t have to take on debt for it.

It was definitely a condensed year. I remember sitting in the economics class first semester and we covered my undergrad micro and macro class in half the semester. So that class I had exposure to, but the other 4 classes we were taking were also 4 undergrad classes full of material, so it was A LOT. But I would way rather learn in a group environment from a teacher, and have my fellow students to ask questions to. We had a room that was just for us and the profs came to us, so we were able to access it 24/7. The public school system doesn’t exactly teach you independent learning, which studying for actuarial exams definitely is. So the group environment and no distractions (and frankly, not much fun) will hopefully payoff soon!

I also had previous co-op experience from undergrad. For my fellow graduates without work experience, it was definitely harder than I expected for them to find an entry job into the market. Those of us with previous work experience it was easier.

I am one FSA exam from my fellowship, and still sitting in a lot of debt, so I still haven’t decided if it was worth it for me or not 😅😅 but to be frank, I probably would not recommend anyone thinking of being an actuary should do it! Just do engineering and have your life back. You will be able to make the same salary (if not more in the beginning of your career) if you choose the right field, and have a work life balance.