UCSB Actuarial Association Professional Development Hub

How to participate

Be pro-active! Post about your interest in competitions in the UCSB Actuarial Forum. Explain about your skills, your standing, etc. Teams will always be looking for freshmen and sophomores. If you start early you have better chances to show some achievements.

Because the requirements for team composition are different for each competition, it is not recommended to form teams ahead of time. Just build your level of interaction in the Competitions channel and use the Projects space to initiate work with other students and get to know them beforehand.

The Actuarial Association posts announcements for competitions. Ideally, by the time these announcements are made, you should already have some idea who you would like to work with and how your expertise will be useful. From announcement to submission there is usually very little time!

Your first step is to click on the button below and explore the Competitions channel of our Actuarial Forum.

For more advice, check out our blog posts!

Case Competitions

The CAS Competition Toolkit

is now available at UCSB!

The Cas Academic Central community provides the following topics to help prepare for case competitions:

Probability
Liability
Predictive Modeling
Data Visualization
Warranty
Workers Compensation
Auto Safety Features

What is a Case Study?

An important article by the SOA explains why case studies must be used in actuarial education and presents an example case study with detailed solution.

Familiarize yourself with the CAS Syllabus

The CAS Curriculum Guide is a valuable blueprint of general skills that any actuary should have. This is your first step in understanding how to prepare for a case study.

Download the CAS Curriculum Guide here.

Practice and Participate

The CAS Toolkit will form the basis of a series of seminars followed by a UCSB-based case competition. To participate, go to our forum and select the respective role. You will receive notifications and help.

How to form a team

Competencies needed within a team:

Coding - depending on the topic, you may need Python or R
Excel - this is in addition to other programming languages. Every team needs an Excel expert.
Publishing - the look and feel of the paper itself is important. A team needs someone with good publishing skills, a good knowledge of file formats, and an excellent working ability to incorporate changes and reformat the paper until it looks perfect.
Writing - someone able to convey the information in a precise, concise, and articulate manner.
Problem solving - someone who can rapidly connect pieces of information and point to a solution path.

Since our forum provides roles that allow each member to state and update their competencies and personality, why wait? Go there and enter the fray! It will be fun!

A Database of Resources and Case Studies

Work in progress...