Reg UoT and UWO

[traxtonus]

Anyone can comment on the undergraduate actuarial science programs in UToronto and UWestern? I've heard plenty of horror stories about UoT - first year courses are weed-out ones; grades are grossly inflated and 'bell-ed'; professors not approachable and make themselves scarse; many dropouts and unhappy students... How true are these claims? On another note, UWO doesn't seem to be a rather reputable school for actuarial science...

[IlanTheMan]

I am in 3rd year at U of T, doing Act Sci. This is how it is:

U of T:

-1st year is hard, I don't know if they weed out, but don't be surprised when your mark drops 25%, but I think thats the same everywhere, or should be.
-marks do get "belled", because profs try to keep class averages between 60-65, so if its below 60, which occurs many times in harder courses, upper year, then they may bell it. But it will rarely, if ever, be above 70. Happened once in my 1st year ECO class, never again. So belling isn't a big deal
-There are plenty of people who switch programs, but those are people who can't handle the workload and aren't dedicated enough, IMO.
-And the big misconception is with profs...The profs not in the Act Sci program, (eg math profs, comp profs, ) tend to be a little less approachable, maybe because the class sizes are huge early on, or becaue you aren't intheir program, who knows. But Act Sci/Stats profs are wonderful. Very helpful and they are very dedicated to teaching, which makes a huge difference in your learning experience.
-That being said, overall U of T is an excellent school, when it comes to academia, that is, and a good choice

U of W:

-have many friends who go there, also very happy with their choice and you just can't be the co-op program there.
-another good choice

(BTW: U of T does offer coop (16 months worth) when you get to 4th year)

Hope that helps.

UWO is a nursing school.

CASE CLOSED!

[traxtonus]

Thanks for the replies!

IlanTheMan: In UoT, students need 70%++ on Econs before they can take up any actuarial science program. You mentioned about the 60-65% grade averages - so isn't it slim pickings? Perhaps you can fill me in on the approximate number of students taking up actuarial science programs? Also, what is the average number of SOA/CAS exams passed upon graduation amongst the students?

[Yngwie]

I would choose a place that has a better co-op program. This is actuarial science, we have an exam system, so the reputation of a university is not a big deal. In Canada, all you need (upon graduation) is 3-4 exams AND a relevant co-op experience.

The best co-op program is at U of Waterloo. I don't know about UWestern but I do know that a lot of people are graduating from U of T without any relevant actuarial experience (I don't know why, but I suspect that their co-op program is a culprit). These people have then a very difficult time finding actuarial employment in Canada. Basically, given the current job market, no co-op experience = no job offers.

[DW Simpson]

UWO and UT are discussed in this thread:

http://actuary.ca/phpBB/viewtopic.ph...estern+toronto

[traxtonus]

Yngwie: I'm not a Canadian and I read that places in Waterloo for international students are rather limited, so I'm exploring other options.

DW: Oh oops I hope I didn't break any rules by starting a redundant thread! Anyway, that thread seemed to drift midway to Waterloo banter. I hope the conversation here sticks to UWO and UoT though, no offense.

[MichaelA]

Let me give you a piece of advice: Once you enter university, don't slack off, do your work all the time. In order to prepare for tests get as many old tests for the same professor that you can, and do all the questions. Also do all the homework/problem sets they give you. If you can't do a question, go to the professor or ta's office hours and make them give you the solution. On the tests they dont test your basic knowlege, but your advanced one (that means tricky questions, etc).

As far as choosing universities, it's up to you really. Western is known for fun, U of T is known for studying. I would also consider Waterloo, it supposedly has the best coop program that you can get. Also try choosing a better major than actuarial science, e.g. commerce or engineering.

Hope this helps.

[IlanTheMan]

Yeah the min average in ECO 100 is 70+

But remember, ECO100 is so general that students from all majors/spec take it, and many dont get above 70, and many programs only require above 65, not to mention there is an easier version, although not applicable to you, of ECO100. But don't worry about this course, because getting 70, is not hard at all, if you know how to study and understand the theory.

The avg # of exams passed, from what I hear is anywhere from 3-4. There are courses designed for 5-8 i believe, but thats very rare to do before graduating.

[traxtonus]

MichaelA: Hmm I guess I can officially strike off UWO...

IlanTheMan: How many students do you think are enrolled into the actuarial science program per year? And no offense, but wouldn't it look bad on your transcipt in the end of the day if profs dish out C/C+ averages for every course?