M O N D A Y , A U G U S T 3 1 , 2 0 1 5
1 1 0 B U S I N E S S
Last edited 8.29.15

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

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# 1 Job in US ( per WSJ )
# 1 School for Recruiters ( per BusinessWeek )
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Largest actuarial program in US
About 150 exam passers per year
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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

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Ron Gebhardtsbauer, FSA
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Insurance, Pensions, Head of Retirement Practice-NYC Mercer
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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
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Teaches RM 410 (Financial Math) in Fall
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Teaches RM 420 (C Exam = P&C and Health) in Spring
Steve Putterman, FSA
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Top Variable Annuity actuary at major insurers; teaching RM 410 in Fall
Dick London, FSA
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Former Head of UCONN’s actuarial program; founder of ACTEX; Ron’s professor
Teaching RM 411 in Spring
Lisa Weaver, LLD
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Retirement Consultant, Teaches RM 401 (Pensions) each Spring
Lisa Posey and Dave Cather
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Teach Insurance and Risk Management

Officer
Luke Yang
Matt Mielnik
Robert Hedges
Joe Hayes
Luke Peterson
Brigh Desjardins
Joe Palladino
Matt Reilly
Amanda Zigarovich
Peter Zhu
Max Guo
Jason Xu
Position
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Corporate Liaison
Corporate Outreach Officer
Alumni Liaison
Communication Chair
Student Relations Liaison
Philanthropy Chair
Webmaster
Resume Officer
Internship
Cigna – Hartford, CT
Liberty Mutual – Boston, MA
Highmark – Pittsburgh, PA
AIG – Houston, TX
Gen Re – Stamford, CT
EY – Philadelphia, PA
Towers Watson – Philadelphia,
PA
Mercer – Washington, D.C.
Gen Re – Stamford, CT
AIG – New York, NY

Insurance, Consulting, Government, Academia
• Insurance
• 12-18 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
Industries
• Life/Annuity
• Health
• Retirement
• Property/Casualty
• Reinsurance
• Finance/Investment

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

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International students get jobs in US
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CPT/OPT/H1-B/Green cards/Eb5 really help
If citizen or permanent resident, put near top of resume
Communication as important as exams
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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

Yr Fall
1 st MATH 140* (Calc I)
ECON 102 (Micro) - VEE
2 nd MATH 230* (Calc III) preferred per Eberly
MATH 220 (Matrices) helps in 412/MLC
FIN 301 (Corp Finance) -VEE
3 rd R M 410* (Financial Math) Excel
Take FM in December
STAT 415# (Math Stat) helps 412/C/ST
4 th R M 412* (Life Contingencies)
Take MLC in late October
STAT 462# (Regression Analysis)
Spring
MATH 141* (Calc II)
ECON 104 (Macro) - VEE
STAT 414* (Probability Theory)
Take P Exam in May
STAT 483# (better SAS class)
R M 411* (Life Contingencies) VBA
STAT 416#
(Stochastic Processes) helps MFE/ST
Take CAS’s ST Exam in April
RM 420* (P&C/Health) take C in June or RM401 (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

Yr Fall
1 st MATH 141* (Calc II)
ECON 102 (Micro) - 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
3 rd R M 415 (Derivatives Markets)
Take MFE in late November, March, or July
STAT 415# (Math Stat) helps 412/C/S
4 th R M 412* (Life Contingencies)
Take MLC Exam in late October
STAT 462# (Regression Analysis)
Spring
MATH 230* (Calc III)
ECON 104 (Macro) - VEE
R M 410*
R M 411*
(Financial Math) Excel
Take FM Exam in June
STAT 416#
(Stochastic Processes) helps MFE/S
MATH 220 (Matrices) helps in 412/MLC
(Life Contingencies)
STAT 483# (better SAS class)
VBA
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 www.math.psu.edu/ug/advising/vs on whether to place out of 140/141
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

reference
These courses will be helpful, particularly in P&C and Health areas
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Regression: STAT 462 (taken for VEE)
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Time Series with Homework in R: STAT 463 (taken for VEE)
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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
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Data Mining/Visualization: STAT 380
Survey sampling: STAT 466
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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

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But not vice-versa

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

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

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

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Accepted Courses: take one from each
Applied Regression
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STAT 462, STAT 501, or ECON 306
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ECON prerequisites can be satisfied by Stat 414
Applied Time Series
STAT 463 (STAT 510 or ECON 483 if available) o o o
You can mix and match o
Get STAT Minor - if also take:
STAT 415 (Mathematical Statistics)
STAT 416 (Stochastic Processes) starting in 2016
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)

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Monday 9/21/15 from 4:30 to 8 PM in Atrium
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Even if you don’t have exam: practice interviews
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1 st yr students can get internships without exams if very good in Math
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Must do Mock Interview with Mentor by 9/14
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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

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Wednesday 9/9: 6 – 7:30 PM in 107 Business
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Put resumes on SmealConnect/SciOpps ASAP
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Must use instructions on Club’s Resume webpage
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RM 410 students must do mock interview ASAP
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Monday 9/7: 6 – 7:30 PM in 102 Business
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Ideas for internships, jobs, grad school (e.g., MAS)
(& interested Frosh/Soph)
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If interested, email Amanda Zigarovich ajz5121@psu.edu

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

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Club website: http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/actsci/index.html
List Serve signup at www.clubs.psu.edu/up/actsci
Facebook group
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Coming soon!
Study Manual exchange
Questions about Actuarial Exams & PSU Classes
Our Internships