Actuarial exams

[vaibhavk]

Hello everyone.

I am thinking of taking actuarial exams from Institute of Actuaries of India such as Financial mathematics, Probability and Mathematical Statistics, Financial economics etc to improve my profile and compensate for an average gpa.
Do you think it will be helpful and whether it's a good idea?

 

[MRoss]

Helpful for what? If you are applying for an MFE program taking the CFAs would be much more "helpful".

 

[vaibhavk]

Thanks for the reply.I am taking CFA as well.But I do not have high gpa and have a mediocre profile i.e, no solid financial internship or research paper.

 

[MRoss]

Without an internship exams will not help you. You must have some experience to apply for any technical degree.

 

[vaibhavk]

May be I am wrong.But I was thinking that clearing exams can also help me to land an intership because in India for non IIT students it is extremely difficult to get good internships.

 

[MRoss]

It is everywhere in the world. I must have misunderstood you. Yes passing the exams will definitely improve your chances for an internship. What I do not know is where passing an actuary exam will help you find a quant internship. CFAs definitely will, and passing actuary exams will certainly help you get an actuarial internship.

 

[vaibhavk]

Ok i agree with you, but i thought passing actuarial exams will show your mathematical proficiency and also actuarial science has applications in assessing risk in finance industries.

 

[MRoss]

They are not worth the study time. Spend more time on the CFAs and pass more of them.

 

[vaibhavk]

Ok thank you so much.
One more thing can u give some ideas for major project which comes under OR but have applications in finance.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Instead of wasting time on little-relevant exams, why don't you get good with C++/SQL/R or whatever hard core technical skills are. It would be more attractive to employers. Take a look at this for example http://www.quantnet.com/forum/threads/vol-arb-internship-opportunity-for-senior-mfe-student.8398/
They didn't ask for any exam, just someone with strong technical skill.

 

[MRoss]

I strongly agree with Andy. Skills are the most important. I was just saying that if you felt the absolute need to study for an exam make it a CFA and not actuarial.

 

[vaibhavk]

I am learning SQL after seeing the thread "Learn SQL" by Ken Abbott and also waitlisted for C++ Certificate.But how admission committee will know how much skillful i am in programming.I think for admission purposes only grades in exams matters.

 

[vaibhavk]

Andy
In one of the threads you advised someone to start personal trading and study Master Reading list for MFE.My question is if you are already doing that from a long time how should you show this in your application? In SOP?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

We are talking about learning relevant skills to be useful, not about wasting time with useless exams.

But how admission committee will know how much skillful i am in programming.I think for admission purposes only grades in exams matters.

Just taking a course says nothing. You need to demonstrate that you have transferred your programming skills to finance domain. Have you code any option pricers in C++? Have you built a Monte Carlo simulation engine?
Pick up a book or a paper and code the models there.

In one of the threads you advised someone to start personal trading and study Master Reading list for MFE.My question is if you are already doing that from a long time how should you show this in your application? In SOP?

You will have more substance to say than other applicants who go for this because of the money.

 

[vaibhavk]

Again, you should say all these things in your SOP only or there is any other way to convince them?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Of course, you should say this in SOP. Open a blog and write about all the project you have done. Include that in your SOP. If you get an interview, you can then tell them more.
At least you are on QuantNet and ask about all this. Think about the advantage you have over other applicants who never discover this resource.

 

[vaibhavk]

Thanks to QuantNet.

 

[vaibhavk]

Sorry for being very naive and asking so much!
Can you guys give some ideas for a project in Operations Research where i can use SQL or C++.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

here are some idea
http://www.quantnet.com/forum/threads/ideas-for-msc-dissertation.8404/

 

[TBeas]

If you think you might want to become an actuary, then I'd say they are a good idea.