Career advice

[upsciLLion]

I need some advice from you knowledgable people.

I'm torn between two careers: math teacher or actuary. I'm going to be a senior in college. Thus far I have a 3.751 GPA, and I really just love math. I like working alone or in small groups, but I also get a kick out of doing tutoring and contributing to study sessions with other friends. I'm really lost, and I need some opinions. I know it's my life and that I have to make the decision, but outside input is always nice.

Math teacher:

40k-50k with a master's degree (which I would get)
Summers off
Numerous breaks off
6 hour days
Get to work with kids that are typically entertaining
Good choice of where I want to live and work
Tenure

Actuary:

50k-250k with a bachelor's degree and some passed actuarial exams
I would use my math skills in a complex and productive manner
Work restricted to major city locations
One of THE top jobs in the nation
Good job security AFAIK

I have a month and a half before I really need to know what I'm going to do. With the actuary major and an average course load of 15 credits I have 5.3 more quarters to go (essentially 2 more years). With the math ed degree I still have 2 more years left.

Here's the course list if anybody is curious:

http://www.cwu.edu/~chueh/Asmajor.htm

If any of you can speak from personal experience or vouch for a friend/relative/neighbor/etc, please give your input.

Thanks for any help you can give!!

ups

 

[newbiepcuser]

Nothing is a gurantee in life, do what you feel that would make you happy.

 

[XCLAN]

Male cheerleading

 

[Lonyo]

6 hours/day work for teaching?
You sure about that?
My mum is a teacher (in the UK though), and work continues (marking etc), and then there's helping to stuff around/for the school in most cases I'd guess, like events etc.

Of course, there is the long holidays.

 

[Kadarin]

There's quite a bit of difference between a teacher and an actuary.. If the money's not the issue, which one do you feel will give you more personal satisfaction in the long run?

 

[upsciLLion]

Any of you guys know what the workload is like for actuaries? I'm assuming it's a 9-5 job, but do they do much work outside of those regular hours?

Thanks,

ups

 

[Garet Jax]

I know a lot of teachers and everyone of them says that the amount of work they need to do to stay on top of things surprised them a lot.

The teachers who work shorter hours are ones who have well established lesson plans with no intention of changing them.

In fact, my sister in law just left teaching because she was putting in huge hours and was getting no recognition for it.

Things may not be as they seem.

 

[upsciLLion]

Can anybody vouch for what being an actuary is like?

ups

 

[Yossarian]

I would do the actuary thing. You can always "fall back" on teaching if you don't like it, but it would be harder to do the other way.