ASSISTANCE ON COLLEGE SHORTLISTING FOR MASTERS IN ACTUARIAL SCIENCE USA

[ysr]

Hi Guys,

I have completed undergraduate studies in Electronics and Telecomm . Had studied high level Mathematics in 6 out of 8 semesters and have secured very good scores throughout . I have 2.5 years telecom/software experience . Would be having 3.5 years by the time I join college.

My new gre score is :
Quant : 740-800
Verbal : 490-550

The colleges that I intend to apply are listed below :

University of illinois - Urbana Champaign
Georgia State University
Temple University
Illinois State University
University of Iowa
University of Connecticut
Ball State University
Maryville University of ST Louis

Schools that do not require GRE score :
-Waterloo (Canada)
-Macquarie (Australia)

I removed Michigan and Texas because Mathematics Subject test is a pre-requisite for admission into Actuarial program and I dont have any plans to take the subject test .

Any idea how Boston and Columbia university actuarial science program is ?

I work on implementation/support of telecom products and have knowledge of SQL , programming and excel .

Query :
-All the above universities are very selective but I would like to know whether my GRE score is sufficient to atleast hope to get admitted into one of the programs ? They must be looking at Quant Score but any cut off for Verbal that you are aware of ?
-Does anyone know approx whats the cut off foreach US universities that I intend to apply ?
-Are there any safe schools in my list ? If NO , then could you please advise which schools can I add onto my list so that I have high probability of getting admitted ?
-I am aware that Actuarial schools do not have any ranking . But still , assuming that you get an admit from each of these schools , which school would be your first and which school would be your last option ?
-I see in SOA website that internships in Maryville uni is good . Any idea how good this college is ?

Please assist me in shortlisting colleges so that i can move ahead in my admission process .

Looking forward for your valuable inputs .

Thanks
ysr

[ysr]

guys , pls advice !!!

[tommie frazier]

our inputs aren't likely to be valuable. all the US schools you list are fine for actsci. no idea on how selective they are. in my experience, most of the folks seeking a masters in actsci in the us are not from the us. how they pick among the applicants is a mystery to me.

for folks from the US, the choice of school among those on the list will come down to some wacky personal bias, not that one is leaps and bounds better than the others. in some part, the schools listed have geograpgic reach/limitations. ill st and iowa might help you get a job in chicago/midwest more readily than from other places, just bc they are closer and so a rep from a company may show up at a career fair.

really, many people here feel the point of a MS in act sci seems to be this: a place for someone not from here to go and serve as a visa-friendly base while they take more exams and figure out where in the US they want to live. spin a wheel on which school, although i personally wouldn't want to go to IllSt. a little too far from bigger city for me. i spose iowa is too, but I like iowa city.

[ysr]

our inputs aren't likely to be valuable. all the US schools you list are fine for actsci. no idea on how selective they are. in my experience, most of the folks seeking a masters in actsci in the us are not from the us. how they pick among the applicants is a mystery to me.

for folks from the US, the choice of school among those on the list will come down to some wacky personal bias, not that one is leaps and bounds better than the others. in some part, the schools listed have geograpgic reach/limitations. ill st and iowa might help you get a job in chicago/midwest more readily than from other places, just bc they are closer and so a rep from a company may show up at a career fair.

really, many people here feel the point of a MS in act sci seems to be this: a place for someone not from here to go and serve as a visa-friendly base while they take more exams and figure out where in the US they want to live. spin a wheel on which school, although i personally wouldn't want to go to IllSt. a little too far from bigger city for me. i spose iowa is too, but I like iowa city.


Thanks tommie for your inputs . I got to interact via email with some students of Iowa , Illinois State Uni and Temple....but no one knows exactly whats the cut off for each colg...I will add 2 safe schools and keep my fingers crossed !

Cheers
ysr