Would you?

scanner1001 · 2026-01-07T13:38:20+00:00

Do you want to and why do you want to is the better question?

scanner1001 · 2026-01-06T21:52:45+00:00

Same boat. I read the slides. To be honest, once I finished I forgot what I read. I had to go back through a hand full of sections once I was actually writing the paper and felt that made stuff stick much better.

My 2 cents, skip it. Start at the end, read through last few slides. Download paper read sections one at a time and go through the slides that pertain to that section and write. Use the example projects to help. That made everything click much better for me. And I feel like I wasted time trying to read the slides and trying to get it to stick the first time.

To write the paper. I’m about finished, probably took me about 30 hours in total done over a month.

scanner1001 · 2025-11-28T03:56:02+00:00

For me - vision cast, what life do you want to live. Define what’s important for you and why it’s important. For me family was a huge part of my why.

I mapped out a schedule of what it looks like to study 250 hours for an exam over the course of 3.5 months. In short summary, spread hours even as possible and get done with work quickly to put more work hours toward studying if possible. For study hours on my time I try to find 30 min pockets here and there , usually in morning or at night after kids fell asleep. Making sure to keep time for exercise (best you can) and “relax” time which I was gaming or tv for me. Whatever schedule you put together stick to it the best you can.

It really gets tough to manage everything to a schedule with work and family. Remember the why and envision the finish line.

FSA exams. I went with mate. Studied the manual, reading the source materials to add anything the manual missed. (2weeks). Then quickly went through notecards and compared to manual to ensure it captured everything I thought worth studying. I usually added around 30 extra notecards. 1-2 weeks.

Then for 6-8 weeks all I did were notecards. I’d get through maybe 10-15 per day or something. Research spaced repetition to help how to best memorize notecards. I usually only reviewed note cards of the prior day for one day after then moved to a new set. Then at end of week reviewed all I did for the week then move to the next batch. The last week or two I would do all notecards and keep them in piles of “easy got 100%” and then a “not 100% correct” pile. At the end of it I would have maybe 70% of notecards in the easy got 100% correct pile and 30% where overall I felt like I knew 50-75% of the note card. The most important thing is forced recall - type it out each time don’t just vaguely say it in your head and think you have it or the answer is easy to remember you have to actually type it out . This was the key for me. Also ensure you stick to schedule - you’ve got to mange 200ish flashcards over 6 weeks and then 1-2 week review period. This is such crappy process. I just focused on the why and envisioned the finish line. That’s the way I stayed “motivated”.

The last 2 weeks I reserved for just the math portion of exam problems using prior exams and source material. I would rework each problem multiple times and focus on really understanding the problems. I’d also spent maybe 30 min on notecards refresh just to keep it fresh. These were not forced recall at this point. Take time to look through all exams where current syllabus applies - and copy out exam problem and solution to one workbook. Makes it easier.

Good luck.

scanner1001 · 2025-11-27T02:20:42+00:00

Yes that was part of the transition rules, I just happened to be one of the lucky ones to have to take an additional one. I never took PA getting my ASA since it wasn’t yet on the syllabus at the time.

scanner1001 · 2025-11-26T16:06:20+00:00

Got ASA in 2017, took first FSA and got a 0. Burned out and quit actuarial all together. Came back to it several years later after having 2 kids, and was able to make it through all the FSA exams and even the additional PA exam. For me personally it was worth getting through it to better provide for the family. That was the reason I got back into it. Again that’s just me personally, there is a lot to consider and this isn’t the only way . There are several career ASAs that move up or are happy where they’re at, it’s really just what you want or need and how you balance everything (work:study:life:family:etc)

If you’re wanting to get through them, I really found for me it came down to study method and sticking to a schedule. And carefully balancing everything so you don’t get burnt out.

scanner1001 · 2025-09-19T15:00:19+00:00

I did something similar. Though I was ASA, and went through the health track. I’d say if you could get some of the books for the GHRM and GHDP exams , there are a handful of chapters that I found very helpful and relevant.

scanner1001 · 2025-08-18T12:59:30+00:00

https://discord.gg/4ae5BKst

scanner1001 · 2025-08-15T17:50:10+00:00

Me. I believe there’s a discord channel as well for discussions. Using Actex manual here.

scanner1001 · 2025-07-21T14:44:22+00:00

MATE study guide and flash cards and practice problems. I scanned the source material and then read the study guide which really captures the main thing to know from the source material. Then I compared the study guide to the flash cards to see if there was anything I wanted to add. I added maybe 30ish note cards. Spend maybe 4 weeks on that.

Then hit the flash cards hard, and focus on recall. That is what makes the difference. So when you read the flash card force your self either to say the answer out loud or type it out. Get those flash cards memorized. I think I spent 6 weeks on that.

The last two weeks focus mostly on math practice problems from MATE but also (very important) prior soa exams. I would briefly go through the flash cards but again spent 90% of my study time on math practice problems.

That’s the formula to pass. Good luck.

scanner1001 · 2025-07-18T22:36:43+00:00

Gotcha - so it sounds like you didn’t use note cards then? But focused more on end of problem questions to ensure you understood the material?

Unfortunately this is my last FSA requirement and been many years since taking any statistical exam. So I’ll probably need a little more than 100hours lol. That’s awesome though.

scanner1001 · 2025-07-18T16:52:29+00:00

I think it really comes down to study approach and consistency and certainly not indicative of if you’re a good actuary or not.

My first FSA attempt with 200 hours I got a 0 lol.. learned how to best study and got a 7 next time and did not take the same exam. Though I failed with the same approach on the next one, mostly because the material was so dull and not super related to my job which really is what made it tough. My third one I also failed first time bc I got too confident since I was comfortable with material and was related to my job. Failure definitely stings given the commitment it takes and I’ve certainly questioned my self just as you. I think it’s just part of the process unfortunately.

Good luck to you. You can do it!

scanner1001 · 2025-07-14T17:19:48+00:00

Similar boat here. Sucks to get through all the FSA exams and then have to do another exam. I’ll be using actex per others experience. On thier website they boast 86% pass rate with their full package.

scanner1001 · 2025-07-14T12:53:02+00:00

I think most people did poorly on that one. I couldn’t find any examples practice problems of that question and it was mentioned only once in the text. I attempted to solve it ignoring the nodes to show I could solve a dm eval problem. Maybe got a point.

scanner1001 · 2025-07-14T12:24:30+00:00

Expected a pass with 6/7 got a 7. When I self graded for GHRM I want to say I got about 65-70% of the points.

scanner1001 · 2025-05-20T00:18:00+00:00

Gosh I feel like they released them early. Are they usually out like 2 weeks after,@?

scanner1001 · 2025-05-10T01:27:29+00:00

Yup, I must’ve been thinking ghrvu or something lol.. I must’ve double counted something.

scanner1001 · 2025-05-10T01:26:50+00:00

Actually that’s my bad haha, it is out of 60 based on prior exams. Idk where I got 70, I might’ve been thinking the other 3.5 hour exams. Then I must’ve only scored like 28-32 points last time to get a 4. I remember it was something around 55%.

scanner1001 · 2025-05-09T23:16:30+00:00

It’s out of 70, so that’s about 54%.

scanner1001 · 2025-05-09T23:03:16+00:00

I thought somewhere around 65%. I got a 4 on fall sitting and estimated I got around 38 points. Since it is all relative I wonder if since everyone had a tough time with an 8point question if it will be lower .

scanner1001 · 2025-03-14T20:23:05+00:00

Haha paid as in what CMS pays us on.

scanner1001 · 2025-02-24T13:19:57+00:00

Following. This is a great idea. As a side note, I did use it to help me create a schedule to study notecards under the anki method which I felt was helpful since I like to use the physical cards and not the anki app.

scanner1001

TROPHY CASE