​One of the clubs I joined is Actuary Club. Finance and making money interested me for as long as I could remember. Math also comes naturally to me, as long as I take the sufficient time to study. Actuarial Science involves calculating the probability of outcomes in various scenarios, and how to balance risk factors. Insurance companies are the primary employers of actuary students, since insurance is all about calculating risk and how much the insured subject should pay for policies.
Actuarial science is even used in meteorology: calculating the probability of certain weather. Florida utilized actuaries to calculate the risk of the damage Irma would bring and how people of each county should proceed. Thanks to actuarial analysis, insurance companies can calculate the proper compensation each policy holder should receive for the damages incurred by Irma. These are just two real-world examples of actuarial science being used on a mass-scale this past week.
​The Baruch Actuarial Science Society (BASS) meets every Thursday during club hours. Companies such as MassMutual, Prudential and MetLife visit to present internship opportunities which they have for Baruch students. However, most internships require that one passes at least on Actuarial exam.
​There are many actuarial accreditations and societies one engulf in. Currently I’m studying for the P exam, which is the first in a series of five exams which the Society of Actuaries (SOA) requires. P stands for probability. The exam also incorporates preliminary insurance concepts. Thorough knowledge of probability and insurance concepts is needed to be able to assess all possible scenarios and solve the problems correctly – it’s too easy to be trapped because the problems seem intuitive, meanwhile they really aren’t.
​Students passionate about statistics, calculus and assessing the probability of every-changing real-world scenarios would be prime actuary candidates. A solid framework of calculus and stats is required for actuaries to succeed. In my opinion, the hardest concept of actuary studies is developing deeper logic-thinking skills. When solving problems, one must consider many possible scenarios and properly compute the risk and account for overlaps in computational considerations, which may not be apparent at first.
​BASS provides many sufficient prepatory resources for examinations. Actuaries have a very laid-back lifestyle compared to other financial fields, while receiving a great compensation and benefits. For the following reasons, I suggest that everybody who’s interested in Actuarial Science stops by the BASS office, which can be found in the club section on the second floor.

^actuary career fair photo