Actuarial Science Online Certification of Professional Achievement

Apply to this Program

Applicant Qualifications

• Applicants must hold at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.
• Most successful applicants have a cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or better.
• Applicants are required to have knowledge of elementary economics (ECON W1105), linear algebra (MATH V2010), and multivariate calculus (MATH V1202)
• Applicants must be able to demonstrate the ability for critical thinking and analysis.

Important Application Instructions

Note that the applicant must submit all materials directly, not through an agent or third-party vendor, with the sole exception of submissions by the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Program and its three partner agencies IIE, LASPAU and AMIDEAST, and by the Danish-American Fulbright Commission (DAF), Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), and Vietnam Education Fund (VEF). In addition, the applicant will be required to attest to the accuracy and authenticity of all information and documents submitted to Columbia. If you have any questions about this requirement, please contact the admissions office at apply@sps.columbia.edu.

Failure to submit complete, accurate, and authentic application documents consistent with these instructions may result in denial or revocation of admission, cancellation of academic credit, suspension, expulsion, or eventual revocation of degree. Applicants may be required to assist admissions staff and faculty involved in admission reviews in the verification of all documents and statements made in documents submitted by students as part of the application review process.

Please note that the applicant may upload unofficial transcripts at the start of the application process. Once an applicant has been admitted and has indicated acceptance of our offer of admission, certified and secure online official transcripts must be submitted directly to Columbia from the applicant’s prior institution(s)’ Registrar Office. Please note that incoming students for the fall 2019 semester will be contacted with specific instructions on electronic submission from prior institution(s) for receipt of these documents. Only if a prior academic institution is unable to submit certified and secure online official transcripts, an official transcript in a sealed envelope must be sent directly from that institution’s Registrar Office to Columbia. Columbia will use its verification vendor to verify the applicant’s degree and transcript with the prior academic institutions and/or the relevant country’s Ministry of Education. Applicants will be asked to consent to participate in this verification process by submitting an authorization and release form.

Applicants may apply to one program offered at the School of Professional Studies in a given semester. Applicants denied admission must wait a full year before reapplying to the elected program.

Admissions Timeline

Deadlines

You are strongly encouraged to submit your application as early as possible to ensure it is reviewed before the program has reached capacity.

Notifications will be delivered through the online application system.

Application Requirements

• Completed online application form

• $95.00 nonrefundable application fee (U.S. currency)

  Fee payment must accompany the online application.

• Transcripts from all post-secondary institutions attended

  You are required to disclose and provide official academic transcripts for all post-secondary academic study completed and in progress. This includes individual courses for academic credit, certifications, certificates, transfer coursework, study abroad, second bachelor’s degrees, and advanced degrees. All institutions attended must be listed in the Enrollment History section of the online application.

  Instructions for Submission of Transcripts When Applying

  Applicants should upload a transcript (unofficial transcripts are permissible) of any academic work from each university-level institution you have attended for use in review of your application. Falsification, forgery, and misrepresentation of any type, will risk forfeiture of admissions and/or enrollment. Forfeiture may occur whenever an integrity lapse is discovered, and may include admissions revocation, expulsion, or another sanction outlined within the Standards of Campus Discipline.

  If your post-secondary credentials are from an institution outside the United States, the Office of Admissions also requires you to submit all post-secondary credentials (undergraduate and graduate) to World Education Services, Inc. (WES), a third-party verification agency for a course-by-course evaluation for admission consideration.

  Instructions for using WES

  WES must complete a course-by-course evaluation of all post-secondary credentials. Please select the WES basic course-by-course evaluation (with GPA and course-levels) and request to have WES send your evaluation to Columbia University School of Professional Studies. The school can be found by searching Columbia University and then selecting School of Professional Studies. The evaluation provided to the School of Professional Studies becomes an official academic record and sole property of the School of Professional Studies upon its receipt.

  WES evaluations will be reviewed by the School of Professional Studies administrators and the determination of degree equivalency to U.S. degrees is at the discretion of the School of Professional Studies.

  Instructions for Submission of Transcripts When Accepting an Offer of Admission

  All students who have attended a college or university in the United States must submit electronic transcripts directly from their school or via the vendor that provides that service for their institution to apply@sps.columbia.edu.

  If a school does not offer electronic delivery, you must write to apply@sps.columbia.edu to provide us with the link to your institution's webpage concerning transcript orders. After verification, we will respond with further instructions.

  If your post-secondary credentials are from an institution outside the United States, and you have completed additional coursework since the initial WES evaluation was provided, you must request an updated report and have WES send your course-by-course evaluation to Columbia University School of Professional Studies.

• Your résumé

  Please note if you passed any of the SOA/CAS exams.

• Three letters of recommendation

  Written by teachers or professional supervisors who are well-positioned to comment on your intellectual strengths and professional promise. Applicants who have received their bachelor’s degree within the last five years must submit at least one recommendation from a teacher who can comment on your academic aptitude.

  Applicants must list recommenders and their contact information within the online application. Please provide your recommender’s professional email address and note that your recommender will receive an email requesting the recommendation upon your completion of the recommendation section of the application. Your recommender will be asked to log into the online application system, answer a few questions, and upload a letter of recommendation typed on professional letterhead. Recommendations must be submitted within the online application system. We strongly suggest notifying your recommender of these requirements prior to entering their information into the application system. You have the ability within the application system to re-notify your recommender of the request, and change your recommender if necessary. Apart from the initial notification sent through the application system, applicants are responsible for notifying and reminding the recommender about the request.

• Statement of academic purpose (500 to 750 words)

  The statement of academic purpose should address the following:

  • your purpose and interest in pursuing the M.S. in Actuarial Science, focusing on how the program relates to your immediate and long-term professional plans
  • the areas you hope to explore in our curriculum, how you will leverage them to advance your career, and how you will commit to the program requirements
  • what you expect you will contribute, individually and in collaboration with the student cohort, alumni, and faculty, to establish greater success for the program, the field, and society

• Official scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test

  The admissions committee pays particular attention to the quantitative reasoning score. For complete information regarding the GRE go to www.gre.org. School report code: 3602. GRE scores are considered valid for five years after your test date.

• An admissions interview may be required

• Students whose native language is not English must include proof of English proficiency

   English Language Proficiency

  To be considered for admission students must be comfortable with rapid and idiomatic spoken English. If the language of your undergraduate degree was English, you need not take further steps to prove fluency. However, if your undergraduate education was not conducted in English, you must provide official scores on the TOEFL or IELTS.

  Applicants taking the TOEFL must have a score of at least 100 on the Internet-based version (600 paper based). Applicants taking the IELTS must receive a score of 7.0 or higher. Applicants receiving scores below the posted minimums may be advised to apply directly to the American Language Program.

  Applicants required to submit English proficiency scores should enter the date the test was or will be taken and the test registration number on the online application for admission, and are strongly encouraged to submit unofficial documents through the online application system at the time of application. Candidates offered admission will later be required to supply official scores sent directly from either TOEFL or IELTS prior to enrollment for verification before the admission offer is considered official. (Use school code 2594 to report TOEFL scores.)

Mailing Address and Contact Information

All submitted materials should clearly bear the applicant’s name and the name of the program to which he or she is applying.