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ACTSC 221Introductory Financial Mathematics (Non-Specialist Level)

Units
0.50
Faculty
Mathematics
Subject
Actuarial Science

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 7 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

The theory of rates of interest and discount; annuities and sinking funds with practical applications to mortgage and bond questions. Yield rates.

Prerequisites

  • Students must be in level 2A or higher

Antirequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
      • ACTSC231 - Introductory Financial Mathematics (0.50)
    • Not open to students enrolled in H-Actuarial Science, or JH-Actuarial Science
    • Complete all of the following
      • The following antirequisites are only for students in the Faculty of Mathematics.
      • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
        • CIVE392 - Economics and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (0.50)

Leads to

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 001616079 / 96TTh 08:30–09:50

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 00160380 / 120MWF 09:30–10:20
LEC 701234338 / 9999Online or by arrangement

Reviewed on UW Flow

82% liked it88% easy83% useful

From 45 ratings and 11 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Pretty easy bird course for math students, you can get 100s on the assignments and tests if you put just a small handful of hours a week into it. It was cool to learn how loans and investments and stuff work in the real world too.

    Apr 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • super fun course! as long as you pay attention in class you'll do absolutely fine, brent is super engaging and nice. can be very useful as well, lots of talk about mortgages and loans and interest. many of the practice questions are exactly the same as the ones on quizzes, just with different numbers. biweekly assignments + biweekly quizzes + final exam :)

    Jul 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This course is annoying. Weekly mobius, Biweekly assignments, Biweekly tests, and a final. The saving grace is that it’s easy to pass. Brent does questions in class that show up verbatim on the assignments and tests, so DO THE LEARN QUESTIONS, and keep up to date with the relevant ones for each deliverable. You can get easy 90s by doing that alone. Averages for the tests were consistently <50% but tbvh now that I’m done with the course, I realized if you just do and memorize the workflow of the learn questions you are guaranteed a good mark. So just don’t slack off on the learn questions. Brent will be sarcastic and almost condescending to you on piazza, and most of his answers will be that…

    Apr 2025 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • LOVED this course so much.

    Apr 2024 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Ez bird course. Final exam is just basic practice problems from class, and you'll finish like 1 hour early. I think the loan / refinancing chapters are definitely pretty useful, but the rest of the content is kind of mundane and over-simplified.

    Apr 2024 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

145 posts and comments in 113 threads mention ACTSC 221, December 2011 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2024

Easy Math Course Recs 5 points, 2 comments

“I'm gonna have my last semester for a math degree in winter. After all the degree requirements, I'm short 1 math course. It can be any math course as long as a math student can take it. …”

u/mmooner: “take any of the non-specialist courses, like actsc 221 or co 227”

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Spring 2024

ACTSC 221 1 point, 2 comments

u/diorxrosewood: “Planning to take ACTSC 221 in spring so want to see the course slides/notes once. If anyone has the course material pls reply to it, thanks !”

u/Both_Funny4896: “It’s basically a bird course if you attend the lectures ngl”

u/Working_Ad4954: “are actsc 221 and cs234 not too hard?”

u/Both_Funny4896: “actsc 221 is very easy, Its basically all about interest and mortgages. never took cs234”

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2A math (advice) 3 points, 1 comment

u/Working_Ad4954: “… Im planning on taking the following load in 2A: math235, cs234, stat230, econ241, actsc221. I've heard actsc221 is kind of bird? Can someone confirm? Also anybody have experience with cs234? Curious to know what ppl think of this load. …”

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ACTSC 221 Final Terminology 1 point, 2 comments

u/loversrock28: “Hello! The professor sent us an email on july 9th about the terminology he taught in class, his exact words were: "In class I will be using terminology to teach the bond module material that is not in the text. …”

u/_wowfantasticbaby_: “why is ur prof making up terminology lmao but i took actsc231 if u have questions i can try to help”

u/Working_Ad4954: “how is actsc 221? is it bird?”

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Math/FARM vs. Actuarial Science 3 points, 9 comments

u/_wowfantasticbaby_: “actuarial science is a smaller program and also more specialized. it prepares its grads for the actuary path but it’s up to you to actually complete ur certification after grad. …”

u/Working_Ad4954: “hi unrelated question, how is actsc221? im assuming u took 231 but yk anybdy who took it? is it bird? thinking of taking it with stat230, m235, cs and an elective. I heard actsc 221 isnt hard since its not specialist version (im planning cm + stat major). …”

u/_wowfantasticbaby_: “ACTSC221 is very bird. Because it's non-specialist, the course is entirely computational. Also, since it's financial mathematics, the concepts are very intuitive and easy to grasp without. …”

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Easiest 3 year General Math Degree Courses 2 points, 4 comments

“Got a few terms left but all I care bout atp is getting a high grade, what courses would you consider the easiest to do? I’m taking only 3 courses next term, 2 math and 1 non math. …”

u/Working_Ad4954: [deleted]

u/Working_Ad4954: “how was it? i was honestly asking cuz i plan to take actsc221? how was 231? yk anybody who took 221? is it easy? ive heard it is but wanted to ask.... ty!”

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Bird Courses, Fall 2024 13 points, 21 comments

“Anything really that would help boost my CAV, preferably a 200 serieis course would be sick, but anything you know that is offered this term. I will be taking, thanks. Thank you<3”

u/Working_Ad4954: “how is actsc 221? any reviews? or econ241....”

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2A math load - Any tips? 2 points, 8 comments

u/Working_Ad4954: “math 235 cs 234 stat 230 actsc 221 econ 241 Any advice if taken these courses? Ty. Is actsc 221 bird?..”

u/thetermguy: “Nope. Probably about the same general level as many second year math courses. Plus a lot of new concepts so you likely won't be able to just breeze through and catch up at the end.”

u/DidYouTrainNeckToday: “Actsc 221 is definitely bird.”

u/PNF2187: “I struggled big time with 135-138 and ACTSC 221 was probably the breeziest course in my entire undergrad. This was 5 years ago though and I had a different instructor, so YMMV. I was definitely having a much easier time than all of my friends who took ACTSC 231 though.”

u/urinehugetrouble: “stat 230 was not fun 😃”

u/Working_Ad4954: “hb actsci 221? is that bird if yk?”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

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