Preparing at Carnegie Mellon for an Actuarial Career

Added 25 August 2021: The information below is quite outdated. CMU does not have a formal degree or degree track in actuarial science. If you are interested in a degree preparing you for a career as an actuary, please check out these resources:

The Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh.
The Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science at Robert Morris University.
If you are already at CMU and you are curious about how to prepare yourself for a career as an actuary, you may be interested in

The CMU Actuarial Club, on campus or on Facebook, which keeps track of courses and opportunities of interest to CMU students.

Actuaries are statistical/financial engineers employed by insurance companies, investment firms, employee benefits consulting firms, and other types of companies that need to quantify (put a price tag on) financial risks.

Most actuaries have at least an undergraduate degree and all must pass a series of examinations in order to work in the profession. The first four exams are common to all actuarial careers:

Exam 1 Mathematical Foundations of Actuarial Science
(including basic concepts in calculus and calculus-based probability and statistics)
Exam 2 Interest Theory, Economics, and Finance
Exam 3 Actuarial Models
Exam 4 Actuarial Modeling

and the remaining exams depend on your particular career path.

To prepare for a career as an actuary, the actuarial societies recommend any broad-based undergraduate program that concentrates on business and mathematics, and in particular suggest you take

Microeconomics
Macroeconomics
Finance courses
Three semesters of calculus
One semester of linear algebra
Two semesters of calculus-based probability and statistics
Some communications courses

Here at Carnegie Mellon a major in Statistics with a concentration in Business would expose you naturally to all of these courses. Or you might want to do a double major in Business Administration and Statistics. Another reasonable option would be a major in Math with a concentration in Statistics.

The Society of Actuaries and the Casualty Actuary Society.

Actuarial Careers information, including
- Advice on becoming an actuary
- Info on the actuarial exams
- links to job listings

by Brian Junker

Brian Junker                    (412) 268 - 8873
Department of Statistics        brian@stat.cmu.edu
232 Baker Hall                  FAX: (412) CMU-STAT
Carnegie Mellon University        or (412) 268-7828
Pittsburgh PA 15213 USA

brian@stat.cmu.edu