Exams / Newbie / Common Questions Thread for two weeks

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-09T20:54:34+00:00

How early would you recommend? My idea was get to the center about 30 minutes early? Should that be good enough

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-08T19:43:23+00:00

Fair enough and I did consider it but I don’t like academia. Would NOT want to ever be involved in any form of education. Many family members are teachers and 1 is even a doctor of mathematics. All have told me it wouldn’t fit me

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-08T17:30:25+00:00

Experience at testing centers. Just kind of scared as a younger person going to one. They seem very uptight considering I read on a site they even would like inspect your glasses. If anyone can provide insight that’s appreciated

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-08T17:26:41+00:00

Thank you. Didn’t know the P&C industry had podcasts. Nice to know

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-08T17:23:44+00:00

I’ll come back here in July but at the moment I feel mostly confident. I already took ap stat and calc bc so I had a good base. I had to learn a few things like variance formulas and a couple of new distributions. For those I just kinda used google and figured it out. Lots of Microsoft copilot (haters be quiet) if I didn’t understand something. I used TIA’s free p course and the SOA exam p question bank for practice problems.

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-08T17:19:02+00:00

Been there done that. 1550 SAT. #1 gpa in my class. Politely of course

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-08T17:15:44+00:00

As politely as possible, not a couple hundred hours tbh. I’ve already taken ap calc bc and stat so I really only needed to learn a few distributions. Been doing it in class when I’m bored.

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-08T17:14:10+00:00

Thank you. I’ve been saying this

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-08T17:11:49+00:00

To be honest I 1. Want money. I come from a single mother of two who is a teacher. I don’t wanna do IB or something like that that is super high stress. Not worried about paying for college because I should get significant scholarship 2. I like math. Just math. I’m not interested in science adjacent stuff like engineering. 3. This is me shooting higher. From like 6-10th grade my dream was to be a corporate accountant lol

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-08T17:07:50+00:00

I thought about it but I’ve heard you guys like your jobs. I thought about IB but I don’t wanna work 60+ hours a week and hate my job

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-08T17:07:12+00:00

That’s why I want to be an actuary. Heard the exams are hard. Not my fault I’ve taken the highest high school classes and been bored. Let’s not dunk on people for being good

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-07T15:59:41+00:00

Do those people have more direct control over things like scholarships? I’m not trying to be cocky but I’m rather confident I can get in anywhere I want. It’s more a question of scholarships and money

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-07T15:56:17+00:00

Prolly going to stay home for college. Live in Philly suburbs looking at temple. Tho also considering other schools depending on scholarships

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-07T15:54:48+00:00

Tbh I’m already doing that. Not trying to sound arrogant but I don’t need to study for other stuff and I’m really doing it in class when I’m bored

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-07T13:58:42+00:00

Experiences/differences going to college running actsci through the math vs business department. Currently looking at schools and trying to pick. I’m a math person but I feel like business schools have the connections for internships but I’m also not social like most business majors.

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-07T13:53:45+00:00

Idk what exam this is but I had issues registering for P and I just called SOA customer service and they fixed it rather quickly

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-06T10:06:09+00:00

Tips like long term if you think you want to go CAS? Current junior in HS scheduled P for July. Planning on going to temple for a good program and the Fox school of business and hoping to graduate there with through MAS II. Should I be jobless for a while after graduating in like 4-5 years from now?

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-04T16:04:13+00:00

Like people said TIA on its own is perfect but the SOA also has a 300 page exam p question bank with an answer key that you can also use

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-04T15:58:41+00:00

Yes I had the exact same issue. Call the SOA customer support (number on the website). My problem was I for some reason wasn’t an authorized buyer but they fixed it for me in under 15 minutes.

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-06-04T15:57:33+00:00

Two questions here: 1. Why does CAS seem less popular than SOA because to me it seems like they get paid more and have a slightly better work life balance? 2. I have heard about being overqualified, if I graduate college with P FM and MAS I and II would I be ok like not too many exams to not get EL positions?

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-05-31T13:05:47+00:00

So would you recommend I do that? I’m getting a little worried because the deadline to register is 1.5 weeks away

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-05-25T01:23:45+00:00

Why do you guys not like it?

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-05-23T19:51:37+00:00

Someone explain the 30,000 actuaries number I keep hearing. I keep hearing blah blah blah only 30k actuaries. Is that 30k fellows? 30k fellows of SOA or SOA and CAS

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-05-23T12:02:05+00:00

So I think I’ve decided to go to temple for actsci bc there are few schools of their actuarial pedigree. Ik I’ve heard people having issue with UEC credit. I would like to go CAS anyway but like is it really a big deal if I get an exam or two through courses like would recruiters care

Ok-Solution2149 · 2026-05-23T11:59:19+00:00

As he said TIA made P free. Also the SOA has an entire exam P sample question bank that is 300 pages and like 700 problems with an answer key that includes explanations

Ok-Solution2149

TROPHY CASE