← Actuarial Science (ACTSCI)

Hardest courses in Actuarial Science

Plan ahead for courses where students have earned lower grades.

Lowest historical GPA first. At least 100 letter grades over the five years through the selected term. Grades reflect past outcomes, not workload or a guaranteed result.

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4 courses

Ranked courses have at least 100 recorded letter grades.

Fundamentals of Long-Term Actuarial Modeling covers advanced mathematical theory of life contingencies, including force of mortality, premiums, and reserves for single-life insurance and annuities.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Margie Rosenberg

Homework and exam questions were described as long stories, which one student found annoying.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Theory of Interest covers time value of money, discrete and continuous compounding, annuities, bonds, loans, interest rate structures, and portfolio immunization.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Kirk Peter

The class involves significant homework and a final exam worth 50% of the grade, requiring consistent practice to succeed.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Advanced long-term actuarial modeling covering joint life probabilities, multiple-decrement theory, and pension funds. Students develop multiple state models to calculate premiums and reserves.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Kirk Peter

Exams were not easy but were considered fair and prepared students for the MLC exam.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Fundamentals of short-term actuarial modeling covering the definition and selection of probability distributions for heavily tailed and skewed insurance data.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Paul Johnson

The workload was described as stressful for students with jobs or outside obligations, requiring significant extra time. Success depended on studying lecture examples and completing homework problems.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026