# Anyone else taking an actuarial exam next week? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 2, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955 "2007-11-02T01:09:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/1 "2007-11-02T01:09:36Z")
I’m taking course 4 / Exam C on Monday. There’s so much material to remember. My manual, Abe Weishaus’s ASM, is excellent, and the practice exams are supposed to be harder than the real thing… but we’ll find out. Practice exam 6 and 7 (the last two) definitely seem designed to kick your ass, and I did better on 6 than I had been doing, so that’s a good sign I guess. Gotta pass this, or I’ll feel like I wasted this whole semester. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/2 "2007-11-02T01:26:35Z")
One of my colleagues sat one of the Society exams yesterday. A shortish one - only an hour and a half. Something to do with pension fund maths? All of the other students in the office have been busy sitting the local exams. They end today, I think. ---
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/3 "2007-11-02T01:37:16Z")
Hour and a half, eh? Would that be one of the Enrolled Actuary exams (pension stuff)? I don’t know much about them. Can’t say I’d want to be a pension actuary. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/4 "2007-11-02T02:31:33Z")
[QUOTE=iwakura43] Hour and a half, eh? Would that be one of the Enrolled Actuary exams (pension stuff)? I don’t know much about them. Can’t say I’d want to be a pension actuary. [/QUOTE] Note that **Cuncator** is Australian. The system down there is a lot closer to the UK system than to ours (but not exactly the same, IIRC). I’ll be sitting for MFE on Tuesday. If I’d been able to take it before school started, I would’ve passed it comfortably, but I haven’t studied much in the last month or so. This weekend is not going to be fun. Good luck; 4/C looks like a bitch and a half. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/5 "2007-11-02T02:42:11Z")
> [@iwakura43](#): > > Hour and a half, eh? Would that be one of the Enrolled Actuary exams (pension stuff)? I’m not sure. I don’t know anything about the American exams. I’ll have to ask my colleague when she gets back next week. ---
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/6 "2007-11-02T04:20:57Z")
[QUOTE=ultrafilter] Note that **Cuncator** is Australian. The system down there is a lot closer to the UK system than to ours (but not exactly the same, IIRC). I’ll be sitting for MFE on Tuesday. If I’d been able to take it before school started, I would’ve passed it comfortably, but I haven’t studied much in the last month or so. This weekend is not going to be fun. Good luck; 4/C looks like a bitch and a half. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but Australia has an ‘Institute,’ not a ‘Society,’ so I assumed he meant the American one. On a side note, I had no idea, **ultrafilter** , that you were doing actuarial work. You post so frequently on advanced math/CS topics I figured you must be going for a graduate degree in math. How long have you been on this track? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/7 "2007-11-02T05:45:59Z")
At least I haven’t been roped in for marking this time round. It’s not the most exciting of activities. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/8 "2007-11-02T15:30:49Z")
[QUOTE=iwakura43] On a side note, I had no idea, **ultrafilter** , that you were doing actuarial work. You post so frequently on advanced math/CS topics I figured you must be going for a graduate degree in math. How long have you been on this track? [/QUOTE] I actually just started a graduate program in CS this fall. I started taking actuarial exams then both as a backup plan in case I didn’t get in anywhere (which turned out not to be a problem) and to set myself up for a pretty decent career path afterwards. This is probably the last one I’ll do before school’s out. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/9 "2007-11-02T16:21:13Z")
Well, I’ll be answering 170 multiple-choice questions on the 28th in order to get my AICP certification. To pass, one must get 115 of them correct. That’s as close as I can get. ---
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/10 "2007-11-05T20:31:09Z")
Well THAT’S over with. I think it went well. The questions seemed much more straightforward than what they asked last sitting–hopefully the pass mark won’t be much higher. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/11 "2007-11-05T21:32:29Z")
I’m glad you think you did alright. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/12 "2007-11-05T21:45:38Z")
[QUOTE=iwakura43] Well THAT’S over with. I think it went well. [/QUOTE] That’s good to hear. And now at least you don’t have to do any more study for a while. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/13 "2007-11-06T01:46:06Z")
[QUOTE=iwakura43] Well THAT’S over with. I think it went well. The questions seemed much more straightforward than what they asked last sitting–hopefully the pass mark won’t be much higher. [/QUOTE] Best feeling in the world, isn’t it? Glad to hear it went well. I think I’m in good shape for tomorrow, as long as it’s more like the spring offering than the ASM practice exams I’ve been taking. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/14 "2007-11-06T04:30:40Z")
How long until the exam results are released? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/15 "2007-11-06T04:37:20Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] How long until the exam results are released? [/QUOTE] They should be out in mid-January. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/16 "2007-11-06T04:41:00Z")
[QUOTE=ultrafilter] They should be out in mid-January. [/QUOTE] Why aren’t you in bed? You have an exam tomorrow (today). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/17 "2007-11-06T05:08:12Z")
I like ASM because they kick your ass, and then when you get to the real thing, it’s not so bad. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/18 "2007-11-06T14:38:54Z")
I just took my next-to-last CAS exam last Thursday. I well remember Course 4/C–it was just called Course 4 when I took it, and it was a full four hours. It’s the only exam, to date, that I’ve had to take three times. The level of math on that exam is the most advanced of any of the nine exams (on the P&C side), and it was a wee bit over my head. Since I got past that, it has been smoother sailing. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/19 "2007-11-06T22:30:26Z")
[QUOTE=iwakura43] Well THAT’S over with. I think it went well. [/QUOTE] What he said. ---
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955/20 "2008-01-11T16:06:53Z")
And… I passed exam C!!! **ultrafilter** , **Freddy** , have you got your results yet? Either way I share in your glee or lamentations. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-taking-an-actuarial-exam-next-week/424955.md?page=2)