Actuarial Education Services

The Practical Part FM Seminar
Text Box: Tactics to Help You Pass-Exam Strategy This is a somewhat different sort of tip. Instead of showing you a mathematical trick or explaining something that doesn’t make sense on the surface, we’re going to offer you some tactical advice. We hope that this will help you make the most of what you know, and give some strategies to help you actually know more come exam time. The tips are offered in no particular order other than that maybe the more well-known tips are offered first. We do this because you may need to know the lay of the land to really understand why the later tips are relevant.-Joe First, don’t kid yourself, it’s not just a knowledge test, it’s a speed test. If you have a good background from summing series (as I did due to taking a lot of complex-valued functions coursework) you easily, given enough time, and if you knew the lingo and symbols, could correctly answer about 80% of the interest theory problems without cracking a book. But the test would take you 8 hours! Especially on the interest problems, the trick is to know the problems well enough to see the problem, know just what to do, do it, and move on. You should probably expect to get at least 75-80% of your points this way. The second tip, don’t get bogged down in any one question, and answer the easy questions first. The first time through, f you look at a question and you’re not immediately sure what to do, skip it. I am not totally familiar with the electronic testing, but you may have to write down the question number so you know you have to come back to it. The second time through, do just the ones you think you can do in a little more time or with a little more thought. This time if you spend more than 3-5 minutes formulating a strategy, consider moving on and coming back. Better yet, if you can look at the question and have a good idea whether or not you can solve it, use that as your guide. Similarly, after the second pass you may to review all the questions that are left (hopefully the number will be small enough) and assess which one to do first. If you’re using score on practice exams to gauge whether you’re ready, aim high. Test conditions are radically different from working problems in your living room, not least because of the fact the test itself is the only chance you get to show what you’ve learned in the last 3-6 months. If you need 65% to pass, be sure you score at least 80% on practice exams. Put in the time. I’m the exception to this rule; I passed the old, old, interest theory exam with about 2 weeks study (thank you complex valued function theory!). But it’s the only test I passed that way. If they say study 300 hours, I’d do so. If you’ve taken a university class, put in extra study. Lots of folks pass university classes but fail the exams (a good supplement if you fall in this group is to do practice exams). You don’t want to be one of them, especially after shelling out some 300-odd bucks for the privilege of taking the test. Sleepless night before the exam. The pressure the night before really make it hard for you to get the rest you need. I can tell from personal experience that I trouble with this on some of the early exams. It’s not something that happens to everyone You can get either excited about passing and getting on with your life or worried about not passing. My advice is to buy the Sominex, etc., the night before the night before the exam and if you take it, take it before midnight. Like the below, I (Joe) offer this one from personal experience. Test anxiety. I (Joe) had very high test anxiety when I studied for (and passed) CAS Part 10. I would look at the material and mentally freeze up. I saw a psychologist who specialized in hypnotherapy, and he taught me to hypnotize myself and eliminate the anxiety. Money (or, my health plan’s money) well spent. I have passed this on to students I’ve worked with over the years and would also offer the following qualification. If the psychologist does other stuff besides hypnotherapy and psychotherapy, I’d find someone else. They tend to push the other stuff and it appears to not be as successful. We hope this is helpful. If you have anything you’d like to add or clarify, please email us at joeboor@emarqmail.com.

Phone: 850-668-6686

Fax: 850-668-6676

E-mail: joeboor@embarqmail.com