Bryant

[cbjorgol]

How does Bryant rank among schools which offer an actuarial math major? Not that it is anything amazingly spectacular (mention your choice for best school also)

[Jack]

How about a choice, I've never heard of Bryant U.

[Westley]

It's generally not well-known. I'm sure I'm not the only person to be surprised to find that it's actually listed on soa.org as actually having a program.

Best program is one of:
Connecticut
Drake
Georgia State
Illinois
Iowa
Temple
Texas
Waterloo
Wisconsin

and has been discussed many times before.

I could (easily) name 50 other programs off the top of my head that have actuarial students, and Bryant isn't one of them. Which doesn't mean it's a bad program, just not well-known.

[The Sad Man]

Bryant, known more for formerly hosting the Patriots training camp than anything else, is primarily a business school. I knew several people who went, and none of them were anything more than average students. They were definitely people who'd never be able to pass actuarial exams. If you want to judge a school by its student body, I'd say to stay away from Bryant. WPI (Worcester Poly Tech) is relatively close to Bryant and has an actuarial program which I imagine would be much better.

If you're doing a masters progam, check out Boston University or UCONN instead.

I did know one person who graduated from Bryant's actuarial program. He was competent and I believe came out with 2 exams.

[TiderInsider]

It's named after a great man. HTH.

[Old Timer]

From Princeton Review

Bryant University

Major: Actuarial Science

Basics

As Frank Drebin so wisely reminds us in Naked Gun: You take a chance getting up in the morning, crossing the street, or sticking your face in a fan. Exactly how risky is it to stick your head in a fan, though? For that matter, how can a corporation determine the financial risks of manufacturing shoes in China? How does an insurance company know how much to charge automobile owners for collision insurance? Do people really keep tabs on such things?

Of course they do. These risk evaluators are called actuaries, and they spend their days calculating the costs to assume all different kinds of risks. More precisely, Actuarial Science is the mathematical and statistical underpinning of every kind of insurance on earth - health insurance, life insurance, property insurance, pension plans, you name it. There really aren't that many people in the actuarial profession - less than 20,000 in North America - but they make good money their entire careers (most end up in upper management and executive positions) and they like what they do; actuaries consistently give their line of work stellar job satisfaction ratings.

If you major in Actuarial Science, you'll become something of a Zen Master in statistics and, upon graduation, you will likely take a job in the insurance industry. You should note that actuaries only achieve professional status by passing a series of hairy examinations prescribed by the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) or Society of Actuaries (SOA). Examinations are held twice each year, in the spring and fall.

Can't be too bad if they quote Frank Drebin.

Also note the order of CAS vs SOA. Looks backwards to me.:wink: :wink:

[Apollywog]

How about a choice, I've never heard of Bryant U.

:lol: I was thinking the same thing!

[joeorez]

How many credentialed actuaries are faculty members? If the answer is fewer than one, I have trouble taking them seriously as an actuarial school.

[cbjorgol]

How many credentialed actuaries are faculty members? If the answer is fewer than one, I have trouble taking them seriously as an actuarial school.

good point

[Westley]

I also find the listing on beanactuary.org that says that they have an average of 20 students per year doing summer internships questionable.

[Ezzard Charles]

Best program is one of:
Connecticut
Drake
Georgia State
Illinois
Iowa State
Temple
Waterloo
Wisconsin


That's U. of Iowa, not Iowa State. I wouldn't want this poor dude to enroll at ISU on your advice only to find that they have no actuarial program.

It's named after a great man.


Bryant Gumbel?

[Apollywog]

I also find the listing on beanactuary.org that says that they have an average of 20 students per year doing summer internships questionable.

maybe it's summer internship of catering or pizza delivery! :D

[DoctorNo]

I don't know why Kobe Bryant would get a university named after him.

[zeus1233]

That's U. of Iowa, not Iowa State. I wouldn't want this poor dude to enroll at ISU on your advice only to find that they have no actuarial program.



Bryant Gumbel?

I second this quote, just in case this person is looking at being an actuary. It is indeed Iowa and not ISU.

An aside on faculty members--it's ok if they are newer and earning a designation, but if they don't have at least one person who is lettered, that's probably not a good sign.

[Westley]

That's U. of Iowa, not Iowa State.

That's right. Snafu, got a hat that I can borrow?

[urysohn]

Based on this person's 14 posts to date, I suspect he recently graduated from Bryant and is looking for work. He wants to know what we all think of the school.

And, as he/she is probably picking up from the replies here, it isn't going to be a positive point that gets you the interview. It'll just be one of the many, many schools that the interviewer has never heard of. Not a bad thing, but not a point in your favor.

[Westley]

Based on this person's 14 posts to date, I suspect he recently graduated from Bryant

Based on his 14 posts to date, I suspect that he's graduating in May 2006, has passed an exam, and currently carries a 3.61 GPA. But, the rest of your post is spot-on.

[urysohn]

Based on his 14 posts to date, I suspect that he's graduating in May 2006, has passed an exam, and currently carries a 3.61 GPA. But, the rest of your post is spot-on.
ah yes, well, you probably read his posts and not just the name of the threads. Sue me. :-P

[cbjorgol]

Based on this person's 14 posts to date, I suspect he recently graduated from Bryant and is looking for work. He wants to know what we all think of the school.

And, as he/she is probably picking up from the replies here, it isn't going to be a positive point that gets you the interview. It'll just be one of the many, many schools that the interviewer has never heard of. Not a bad thing, but not a point in your favor.

Best advice yet thanks!

[DoctorNo]

If I'd known that you were ranking our advice, I would have tried harder. :roll:

[ntcounts]

It's generally not well-known. I'm sure I'm not the only person to be surprised to find that it's actually listed on soa.org as actually having a program.

Best program is one of:
Connecticut
Drake
Georgia State
Illinois
Iowa State
Temple
Waterloo
Wisconsin

and has been discussed many times before.

I could (easily) name 50 other programs off the top of my head that have actuarial students, and Bryant isn't one of them. Which doesn't mean it's a bad program, just not well-known.

where is the love for university of texas, austin... i am biased but I think it is a great program

[lojeff]

I would highly recommend Bryant University (formally Bryant College). They provide you with the mathematical and programming skills you need but also provide the business sense and general business background which is incredibly important in the "real world".

I graduated from Bryant College with 2 exams. After graduation, I quickly got a job at an insurance company that didn't stress exams. Today, I am still at that company as a Director in the Actuarial department with hopefully needing only modules to get my ASA.

I am sure there are many other colleges which can better prepare you for the exams but Bryant is much better in preparing you for your job. Sure, early exams will get you a job but your ability to complete projects and effectively communicate within the department and more importantly outside of the department determines your prospects beyond year 2 of your time with an insurance carrier.

We have had too many people that have had great success on the exams but had trouble completing mid-entry level work. Unlike exams where you have to put in a massive amount of study time, you don't have that amount of time for work projects.

I would highly recommend Bryant. Certainly, you'll need the dedication to complete the exams but you'll be glad you have your Bryant background when your boss gives you a very time sensitive project. All else equal, I would hire a Bryant Grad.

[Apollywog]

It's generally not well-known. I'm sure I'm not the only person to be surprised to find that it's actually listed on soa.org as actually having a program.

Best program is one of:
Connecticut
Drake
Georgia State
Illinois
Iowa
Temple
Texas
Waterloo
Wisconsin

and has been discussed many times before.

I could (easily) name 50 other programs off the top of my head that have actuarial students, and Bryant isn't one of them. Which doesn't mean it's a bad program, just not well-known.

You forgot Toronto! :(

[silverfox]

I would highly recommend Bryant University (formally Bryant College). They provide you with the mathematical and programming skills you need but also provide the business sense and general business background which is incredibly important in the "real world".

I graduated from Bryant College with 2 exams. After graduation, I quickly got a job at an insurance company that didn't stress exams. Today, I am still at that company as a Director in the Actuarial department with hopefully needing only modules to get my ASA.

I am sure there are many other colleges which can better prepare you for the exams but Bryant is much better in preparing you for your job. Sure, early exams will get you a job but your ability to complete projects and effectively communicate within the department and more importantly outside of the department determines your prospects beyond year 2 of your time with an insurance carrier.

We have had too many people that have had great success on the exams but had trouble completing mid-entry level work. Unlike exams where you have to put in a massive amount of study time, you don't have that amount of time for work projects.

I would highly recommend Bryant. Certainly, you'll need the dedication to complete the exams but you'll be glad you have your Bryant background when your boss gives you a very time sensitive project. All else equal, I would hire a Bryant Grad.


This is exactly the reason why you should go to a big school with lots of alumni. Alumni are so biased, it's not even funny.

[urysohn]

I would highly recommend Bryant University (formally Bryant College). They provide you with the mathematical and programming skills you need but also provide the business sense and general business background which is incredibly important in the "real world".

I graduated from Bryant College with 2 exams. After graduation, I quickly got a job at an insurance company that didn't stress exams. Today, I am still at that company as a Director in the Actuarial department with hopefully needing only modules to get my ASA.

I am sure there are many other colleges which can better prepare you for the exams but Bryant is much better in preparing you for your job. Sure, early exams will get you a job but your ability to complete projects and effectively communicate within the department and more importantly outside of the department determines your prospects beyond year 2 of your time with an insurance carrier.

We have had too many people that have had great success on the exams but had trouble completing mid-entry level work. Unlike exams where you have to put in a massive amount of study time, you don't have that amount of time for work projects.

I would highly recommend Bryant. Certainly, you'll need the dedication to complete the exams but you'll be glad you have your Bryant background when your boss gives you a very time sensitive project. All else equal, I would hire a Bryant Grad.
I'm not disputing this, but in an interview I would hope this advantage could be quantified. HOW does it better prepare you to excel in your job? What SPECIFIC things differentiates it from other schools. The generalities are good as long as they can be backed up with the details: projects in which you worked in teams, used software or other technical skills, and had to present your results in written/oral format to other students/professors.
If you CAN back it up, I suggest mentioning it in the cover letter (don't expect an unprompted question on it), talking about a few points, and leaving an open-ended comment that you'd be happy to discuss these and additional strengths of your school at greater length. But take care this discussion does not cross into school arrogance -- given that your interviewer went to a different school, you want to point out positives of your school, not how every other school is somehow lacking.

[tommie frazier]

bryant is a reasonably recognozed school in new england. beyond that, no one has heard of it (unless they follow nfl training camps).


my friends from HS that went there were morans. they had no problem graduating. i believe they drank quite a bit there, so that;s a plus. (although, any school has that potential)

personally, I'd try for a school like wpi (as listed above). or one of the better-regarded b schools (bentley, babson) up near boston. bentley will liely be better for sct sci (a total guess).

uconn rules in new england, although boston u has a program that is decent too (ive heard of it).

[Westley]

You forgot Toronto! :(

No, I didn't forget.






Just kidding! Great school! I don't think I could argue that it is the best, though. All of the others on the list, I could make that argument.

[futboller04]

I won't push Bryant as much as lojeff did as I too recently graduated from Bryant. I finished off with 2 exams and had 2 solid internships as well. Bryant's name will not get very far in the Actuarial field unless your staying local, (ie Boston, Providence, Hartford, and possibly NYC) but that will be based on the alumni bias. The program itself is relatively new but I think they're going down the right path. The program will introduce you to the material seen on exams P, FM, and M and will get you the all the VEE's. I did a double major in Eco as well so that took care of the Eco portion of Exam 2 when I took it.

The best thing that Bryant offers is their variety. I knew what I wanted going into college. Bryant used to be a business college up until a year ago. Due to this, your classes in your fresh and soph year range from Finance, to Accounting, to Marketing, Management, and CIS. Bryant will offer you a good sampling of other fields in the Business Sector. They've got courses set up to get students their Series 7 and get them going on their CPA. They do an excellent job of providing a wide variety of opportunities for students who know they want to do something in Business. Like someone mentioned though, that alumni bias is apparent no matter which school you go to. So my advice to you is, if you know you want to go into the Actuarial Profession and you want to maximize your chances of striking it good with an alumni go to a big name program. Bryant will prepare you arguably as well but there won't be the alumni base. (just to point out, I had an alumni at each of my 2 internships and my now full time job, Stamford, Boston, and Boston).

[silverfox]

81 points. Please discuss.

[Gay Actuary]

I went to Bryant too, graduated this past May. I would say that it's a good school, but the professors don't really "care" if you pass exams. Other schools seem to be more geared towards concentrating on exam progression, then again I transferred as an engineering major during my junior year, and I didn't live on campus, so I really can't say I spent a lot of time there. However, I ended up getting a job right out of school. I worked there for 6 months and didn't like the company, now I'm at a different company where I am a lot happier and making more $$$. It has a good reputation in the New England area, but outside of that, I never heard of it. The campus is nice though! :tup:

[Gay Actuary]

How many credentialed actuaries are faculty members? If the answer is fewer than one, I have trouble taking them seriously as an actuarial school.

Zero - Only one of the faculty members has exams (as far as I know)...I think it's the equivalent of the first 4...

[sundwarf]

81 points. Please discuss.

You stole my post!!! :swear:

[JTBenson]

That's U. of Iowa, not Iowa State. I wouldn't want this poor dude to enroll at ISU on your advice only to find that they have no actuarial program.

Although ISU has a better Statistics program.

[Abnormal]

You forgot - "Impossibly expensive for what is, at best, an okay education."

[Passacaglia]

Having never heard of the place myself...is it "formally" Bryant College or "formerly" Bryant College?

[Gay Actuary]

Having never heard of the place myself...is it "formally" Bryant College or "formerly" Bryant College?

formerly Bryant College - they changed it to a "University" to supposedly attract more internat'l students or something...I just think it was a political scheme done by the President to advance his own career...:x