The combined BS/MS program in Actuarial Science provides an opportunity for outstanding undergraduates to earn both the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and the Master of Science (M.S.) degrees in Actuarial Science over the course of five years, with strong students graduating in as little as four years. This program prepares students for a career in actuarial industry by combining advanced mathematics and computational techniques. As part of the program, students will gain first-hand actuarial research experience by working on an actuarial project in partnership with a local company. The MS in Actuarial Science is only available as part of the combined BS/MS five-year program and is thus only available to currently enrolled UCSB students majoring in Actuarial Science.

Program Requirements

Students will complete 52 units for the BS degree including 44 core required undergraduate units and 8 elective units, and 39 units for the MS degree including 12 core required graduate units and 12 elective units.

Combined B.S./M.S. Program Degree Sheet

Students must complete a research thesis project for the degree, which is completed during the course sequence PSTAT 296AB. This distinctive feature of this degree is the two-quarter course sequence Research Project in Actuarial Science, which allows students the opportunity to apply different approaches to research projects provided by the Department's industrial partners. This course will be taught by faculty associated with the Center of Financial Mathematics and Actuarial Research (CFMAR) and supervised by the Actuarial Program Committee.

Pre-Application Process

Spring quarter of the junior year, students will apply for pre-admission to the BS/MS Actuarial program internally with the department by filling out a pre-application. Students should formally apply in the Spring quarter of their junior year and no later than March 31st. Students may petition to apply after this time, but no later than two quarters before the student intends to advance to graduate status.

The pre-application will require students to submit the same materials as the official graduate application, such as the following:

Note: Students are not required to take the GRE as part of the application/admission process.

Minimum GPA Requirements: The B.S./M.S. program requires a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.2 in order to pre-apply.

The Pre-Application will be open in Winter quarter and the deadline to submit is March 31st.

Actuarial Science BS/MS Program Pre-Application

For questions regarding the pre-application, you may contact the Graduate Program Advisor at studentaffairs@pstat.ucsb.edu.

Pre-Admission

Spring quarter of the junior year, the Actuarial Program Committee, jointly with the department's Chair of Graduate Admissions, determines pre-admission to the program. Students are preliminarily admitted contingent on continued academic excellence, and will not be officially admitted to the program and advanced to graduate status until they have formally applied with the Graduate Division via the online eApp portal. Students will be prompted by the Graduate Division to fill out the eApp once the advancement process progresses to this stage. At this time, they will be expected to adhere to regular graduate program application requirements.

Advancement to Graduate Status

No later than the Fall quarter of their 4th year, pre-admitted students ready to advance to graduate status should contact the Director of the Actuarial Science program for instructions on completing the Advancement Request Memo with the Graduate Division.

Once you have been pre-admitted on the departmental level, you must fulfill university graduate program application requirements in order to be officially admitted to the program. You will be prompted by the Graduate Division to fill out the online graduate program application (eApp) once you are ready to advance to graduate status. Please do not fill out an application until you have been prompted. 

Deadlines for Submitting the Online Application (eApp)

  • To advance to graduate status in Fall quarter of the NEXT academic year: MAY 1st
  • To advance to graduate status in Winter quarter of the SAME academic year: NOVEMBER 1st
  • To advance to graduate status in Spring quarter of the SAME academic year: FEBRUARY 1st

 


 

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