<p>I’m a high-achieving junior and planning to apply to Yale. I want to do something in Biology/Genetics, and Yale would be perfect for that but recently I’ve also started to consider becoming an actuary. Online searching told me that you should attend business-oriented schools like Bentley or Bryant to be an actuary, but just out of curiosity, can you study to be an actuary at Yale? What would the coursework be like?</p>
<p>[Subjects</a> of Instruction | Yale College](<a href=“http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/subjects-instruction]Subjects”>http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/subjects-instruction) Doesn’t seem to be an option.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t you just major in statistics?</p>
<p>Or applied math.</p>
<p>My son is studying applied math (not at Yale). He has talked to professors and actuaries about which courses to take. You can start taking actuarial exams while you’re still in college. The first exam is on probability.</p>
<p>I know that some schools, such as UT-Austin, have excellent programs for actuaries. Their goal is to have their student pass as many of the exams as possible before they graduate.</p>
<p>In short, yes, you can still study to become an actuary while at Yale. </p>
<p>Just realize, the exams are extremely difficult and will require you to put in hundred of hours on top of your other course work and social commitments. The people that I’ve seen fail are the ones who do not enjoying learning the exam material. If your interests truly lie elsewhere, such as Biology and Genetics, then it will be very tiring journey. Having said that, it’s a rewarding career.</p>
<p>If you are truly a Yale caliber student, and want a business-oriented school, you can do better than Bentley or Bryant. Those schools are mainly business, but other broad universities have stellar business reputations. Just among the Ivies, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Dartmouth, and Cornell are all top notch for business. Any math majors there will have all the resources needed to become an actuary. </p>
<p>As a Bryant alum, I’m happy to have my school mentioned in the same breath as Yale. And as the husband of an actuary, I can tell you that you don’t need a specific actuarial major to be an actuary. Most actuaries just have some type of math degree, though more and more have economics degrees.</p>