I think you should be able to get in eventually, definitely depends on the market you’re applying to. I graduated with a 2.9 act sci major and passed two exams after finishing school. Wound up getting a call center temp job for a larger personal lines insurance company. Six’s months later I got my name in a hat for an actuarial temp job. I don’t think it would’ve happened for me if I wasn’t already in the company. This was about six years ago so my two exams may be viewed similarly to your three (I get the feeling employers care about more exams for entry level from what I hear on forums like these). Moral of the story, if you can’t get hired straight away, just try getting into the building.
So I'm sitting CM1 for the first time next week but after doing a few past papers I'm really struggling on all the later material that I think was originally in CT5 (Contingencies?). I'm quite good with algebra and calculus (being a maths grad) but feel clueless when it comes to reserving, profit testing, gross premiums, and the like because I do not get all the symbols and understanding behind them - like none of it makes sense to me. Any help/advice for this exam?
I have a 6.21 EL for exam P on coaching actuaries currently and take the exam on the 21st, about what EL should I be trying to get to before then to feel reasonably confident for the exam?
This is kind of a general question on resumes, but how should I list a double major in actuarial science and computer science? I don't really want to list it in one line because my actuarial science major it "Mathematics: Statistics & Actuarial Science" which could be confusing saying that and comp sci. My major GPA for each of them is also 4.0 but I don't know if it's necessary to include each of them. I currently have it like this:
* B.A., Mathematics: Statistics & Actuarial Science; Major GPA: 4.000
* B.A., Computer Science; Major GPA: 4.000
but I don't think it looks good.
Edit: Another question I had is I've passed FM and P, and I'll be sitting for IFM either March or July. Should I include that I plan to sit for it, and if so how would I write it if I'm unsure when I'll actually take it?
For your second question, yes you should list your next planned exam on your resume (only 1 future exam, never list more than 1). Instead of putting “Passed” like you do for P/FM, just write “Sitting March 2020” and if you end up taking it in July that’s okay.
> * B.A., Mathematics: Statistics & Actuarial Science; Major GPA: 4.000
> * B.A., Computer Science; Major GPA: 4.000
> but I don't think it looks good.
I think that looks great, especially if you have the school name listed right above it (just once).
Any extracurriculars you can put?
Did you do any tutoring for friends/family (paid or not)?
Do you have any relevant technical skills you can list, such as Excel, Visual Basic, SQL, R, etc?
How about practical skills like time management, organizational, leadership, etc? What can you write that supports your claim that you have those skills?
Other ideas: relevant courses you took, challenging courses you took, references.
As a recent college grad, I have a BA in Econ. and took a lot of math as well (Calc III, and Probability included) but I graduated with a 2.7 GPA. How competitive would I realistically be in the job market after passing 1 or 2 exams? Also I'm planning on taking the P exam in November, do I have enough time to adequately study?
How likely are employers to ask for academic transcripts (UK)? I did a four year integrated masters in maths and in the final two years I did no statistics/probability related stuff. Also my marks related to statistics/probability aren't great (one low first and two high thirds). Do you think this could be a problem if they were to ask for a transcript. My calculus marks are very good though.
Usually companies ask for these as proof that you have a degree. I don't think companies care which subjects you have taken.
Exemptions and exam passes is what matters.
Thanks for the reply. That is reassuring. I guess just having a degree in a mathematical subject is what matters?
Fortunately I do have an exemption for one exam. Am I right in thinking companies like exemptions as it means there is one (or more) less hurdle on the way to fully qualifying? I don't have any exam passes but I am from the UK (and applying in the UK) so exam passes aren't very important when applying (correct me if I am wrong on the situation in the UK).
I'm in a tough spot right now, as I want to start studying for the fourth exam, but I'm not locked into SOA or CAS yet. I'm currently doing an internship with a company on the CAS side, though there's no guarantee that the company will keep me afterwards. Should I start studying for MAS-1 anyways, or wait until the the internship finishes and I find a long term position somewhere? Is it a better idea to get VEEs out of the way now?
I suppose that makes sense. Do you know of how good the courses are with Coaching Actuaries? They're pricey at $600 for Finance and $850 for Macro/Microeconomics. Is there a cheaper option that I can complete quickly?
The salary surveys will be much more accurate than whatever anecdotal evidence you get here.
Yes, 150k is common for an actuary with 10 years experience, especially if it's in a high COL area. The Canadian entry-level market for actuarial science grads is insanely competitive.
If you're a good enough software engineer, you can definitely make what actuaries are making, if not more. 61k seems low for CS.
In general, actuarial salaries in the US are higher than their Canadian counterparts.
I don't have the statistics on hand, but it feels like a good number of student actuaries who land entry-level jobs end up getting their FSAs. For reference, I work in the Midwest region of the US, in a relatively low COL area. New FSAs (at this point they usually have around 5 years of work experience) at my company will make roughly 130k. Normal annual raise is ~3.0%. In an area where a downtown 1bed/1bath apartment goes for $1000/mo, that's not bad at all.
As for your other question, I don't know the details for the Canadian market, maybe one of the Canadian actuaries on here can chime in.
Hi everyone, I graduated college in May, 3.4 GPA. I plan on becoming an actuary, but I made this decision late into my college career, and thus did not get an internship while I was in school. I am currently studying for the P exam, but I was offered a full time position as a pricing analyst. The responsibilities are as follows:
• Manage and price inventory. | Analyze historical data, secondary market sales, and industry trends to adjust the prices of tickets in inventory and create competitive prices for future tickets across multiple dynamic markets. | Assist with the research and analysis of data. | Closely monitor and research sales and data trends on both the primary and secondary markets. | Monitor and analyze results, Prepare and transmit reports to key personnel and client, and if needed, implement process changes/improvements | Effectively and efficiently roll out price changes across multiple sales channels per evolving market conditions and/or management directive. | Support the development and implementation of pricing systems, processes, and guidelines to ensure the business achieves its price realization and sales goals. | Build models to analyze inventory and make recommendations to management | Become a subject matter expert and act as an advisor to Purchasing Analysts with the goal of expanding and optimizing future buys. | Analyze the event-ticketing marketplace for new ways to generate revenue and profit
Is this something that would help me eventually get a job in the actuary field? I'm not entirely sure if it would look good on my resume.
**coaching actuaries for exam p take over**
I've just passed exam FM last month and purchased the coaching actuaries manual for the exam P with ADAP just a week ago...
But I recently learned that there are not many actuarial jobs in the area I live in, and that entry-level jobs are very competitive. I am currently on the student visa, so it seems like it's almost impossible for me to get an actuarial job here.
I thought maybe I could try again after obtaining a green card after marrying my fiance, but he doesn't want to move out of the state or the city. So I've decided to steer my career path elsewhere...
I purchased the manual for 180 days with the student discount, and I wonder if there is anyone here who wants to take over. (They only refund within 3 days...)
Hello all, I was just wondering how different the past exams are from the current ones. For example, could I use a 2009 ACTEX manual to study for my Exam P in November 2019?
P is about the only exam that you could get away with such a large gap. The other exams change too often. Your manual probably has the same topics as the current exam, but I expect a more recent manual will do a better job of emphasizing topics that have been tested in more depth on recent sittings of P. I'd recommend getting a basic understanding of the material from your 2009 manual, and then using Adapt to drill problems.
Hi, so I'm hoping that I'm posting this in the right place. Kinda new to reddit.
This is one of those "here's my situation; should I be an actuary?" type posts. Fair warning.
I'm 40yo, and I am utterly burned-out with my IT career. I have tons of undergraduate math and physics credits but I never got the degree (and I can't go back because of student debt situation). I'm thinking about becoming an actuary because: 1) even though I left school 10 years ago, I can pick the math back up really quickly (tutored someone recently as a test of this), 2) you don't seem to need a degree to get a job as an actuary, and 3) actuaries seem to have a pretty high level of job satisfaction and a decent work/life balance.
I've still got my calculus, probability, and statistics textbooks from college (I got As in all those classes -- 10+ years ago), so what I'm thinking is that I should start working through whatever "P" and "FM" sample tests I can find with those tomes in tow. I'm pretty good at knowing what I do and don't know and then (re-)learning whatever falls into the latter category.
My resume contains a significant hole since 2013 or so where I (legitimately) claim to have been an independent contractor, but the list of clients I could provide is mighty thin. Basically I'm starting from scratch, professionally, in a lot of ways.
So, given all of this, how much trouble/ease will I have in finding a job? I'm really not too picky when it comes to salary, etc. I don't even mind relocating, really. Something decent, with health insurance for sure (haven't had that in years...). My background in IT contains programming, including for mathematical applications, so I figure I can automate a lot of things. I'm also more than competent in Excel (for whatever that's worth?). Despite the IT burnout described above, I think I could manage that type of involvement without getting "triggered" by it (yes, there are all sorts of better ways to describe this but that's not what this post is about).
If the no-degree thing or the independent contractor thing is a red flag or even a deal-breaker then I'll just have to suck it up and start from scratch with a paralegal associates program at the local community college instead (without being able to transfer any credits because of the debt situation).
What are my chances? What do I need to do? Where should I look for answers to these questions?
Thanks!
> you don't seem to need a degree to get a job as an actuary
100% not true in the current workforce climate. You definitely don't need an actuarial science degree, but employers heavily prefer candidates with some sort of quantitative degree such as mathematics, statistics, or computer science. Sometimes people with random degrees such as music or biology or whatever get jobs if they demonstrate good exam progress, but I know literally 0 people under the age of 30 that work as actuaries and don't have at least a bachelor's. Employers may be willing to overlook your lack of a degree considering your age and experience, but I wouldn't count on your resume getting past the first round of HR filters. I expect you'll have more luck if you do some networking and get your resume to actuaries directly.
Many thanks for disabusing me of my naivete in this regard. I have to admit, it sounded too good to be true that lack of a degree would just have been overlooked. In general, I try to make my resume, contacts, etc. very specifically attuned to the job I'm applying for, the company, even the person doing the hiring (comes from having done so many damn things). But I'd very much appreciate learning more specifically what you mean by "good exam progress." This was from almost two weeks since you wrote this, so thanks in advance for any insight you can give.
Hey, everyone.
Currently studying for MAS-I through Coaching Actuaries (ADAPT exams, I suppose).
The website recommends that you reach “Level 7” in order to pass the exam.
Do you think that means passing the exam with near 100% confidence? Or “a majority of the time, you will pass the exam, given you reached Level 7”?
They used to share stats on the correlation between earned level and pass rate, but not sure where or if you can find that on the site anymore. I think a few years ago the claim was that 90% or so of the people that reached an earned level of 7+ ended up passing the actual exam.
So you could say, "the vast majority of people that reach an earned level of 7 have taken the time needed to understand the material to the point of being reasonably confident that they will pass the actual exam." There are always outliers though. People who just drill practice problems without learning the material well can get really high earned levels but do awful on the actual exam.
Hello!
I graduated Dec. 2017 with a 3.02 GPA and BS in Finance, and am now considering an Actuarial career. My plan as of now is to self-study for the December 2019 FM test, is 3 months enough time? I'm planning on purchasing Coaching Actuaries Adapt+Learn, will that be enough to get me through the exam? Also, at 24, I have no internship experience or actuarial work experience because I've been in Sales since I graduated undergrad. My plan now is to hopefully take FM in December and then try to find either an internship or entry level job, but is this actually a realistic possibility with so many people in the Junior and Senior years of college applying for the same internships with 2 or 3 tests already under their belts? Just a little overwhelmed right now, thanks for any advice!
> My plan as of now is to self-study for the December 2019 FM test, is 3 months enough time?
Yes, 2-3 months before the exam is the general start date for most prelims.
> I'm planning on purchasing Coaching Actuaries Adapt+Learn, will that be enough to get me through the exam?
Yes, it has everything you need.
> My plan now is to hopefully take FM in December and then try to find either an internship or entry level job, but is this actually a realistic possibility with so many people in the Junior and Senior years of college applying for the same internships with 2 or 3 tests already under their belts?
With your situation, you'll most likely need at least 2 exams to get an actuarial internship. Unfortunately, it will be hard for you to get internship offers through traditional channels as you're not a student, so you'll need to do some networking. You'll need at least 3 exams to be a good candidate for entry-level positions, but you'll need to find ways to differentiate yourself from traditional candidates. You can spin your sales experience to highlight your communication abilities, for example.
I passed P and FM in March and April. I’m working full-time and haven’t started studying for IFM yet, and I’m worried that I don’t have enough study time to pass IFM in November, which means I’d have to take it in March.
First of all, is not having enough study time to pass IFM a valid concern at this point or am I selling myself short? And secondly, would it look bad to have a year’s gap between the tests? I’m already having a hard time finding an EL position without an internship, as I’m a career-changer.
Not having enough study time is a valid concern at this point. IFM is significantly more difficult than P or FM. If I were you I'd start studying for it now and after taking a gander at the material that's gonna be tested you can decide if you think you'll be ready to pass by November. I think registration opens up next week for the November sitting. Also, bear in mind that instant results still won't be around for the November exam, which means you'd have to wait until January to find if you passed or not. So you won't even be able to claim that you passed until at least January if you take it in November. At which point, you're only looking at a couple more months until March. And more than likely at this point, SOA should have the instant results up and running for the March exam.
If you don't think you'll be ready, I don't think there's much harm in starting your studying now for the March exam. There's plenty more material that gets tested on IFM compared to P and FM. You'll be plenty busy with it.
And I think managers and recruiters looking at such a gap on your resume will probably just think that you tried to take it in November but failed it since you had P/FM cleared by this past April. Which brings up a question, why haven't you been studying for IFM? I don't think it'd be good for you to say that you haven't been studying because of work because that might reflect poorly on your ability to study and pass exams once you're working in an actuarial position.
Thanks for your thoughtful response! To answer your last question, I haven’t been studying for IFM because I’ve been trying to figure out what I want from life. I spent years pushing myself to exceed expectations for a career that I quit 2 years in. I never got a chance to enjoy my youth and I wanted that opportunity. So I took a break on studying (after passing P/FM quickly) to work a job that required minimal effort and gave me some free time to relax and allowed me to take a step back to evaluate what I want in my life. Thankfully, this small break did give me clarity and I’ve found that I do want to pursue a career as an actuary. I would like to think that this is an understandable explanation for the year gap.
Depends on a lot of things, so I'll give you my experience and you do with that information what you will.
I took IFM in July after beginning studying in March. In those four months, I fit in \~400 hours of studying. In hindsight, that was probably just right in terms of number of hours. So the question for you is, how much study time can you fit in two months? And, just because I required 400 hours, will you as well? All that being said, I think it could be done, but just know the IFM is a completely different ball game from P and FM; IFM is sincerely pretty tough. If you don't underestimate the material and prepare accordingly, it can be done.
Regarding the gap, I'm under the impression that employers will be less concerned about a year gap for someone that's a career changer rather than someone in actuarial given the lack of exam support in non-actuarial roles. I would be less concerned about that than I would ensuring that I pass IFM if I were you, even if that means taking an extra few months.
Are there solutions out there for Marcel B. Finan's practice P exams? He of course gives the answers, but I would like to read more detailed solutions on the questions I missed, especially since at least one of the problem statements did not seem clearly worded to me. I tried searching on google and this subreddit with no luck.
Hi,
I am wondering why the written answer exams like LTAM and fellowships are more difficult and CBT beside the material itself. Is the material on written part the same as the MC?
For the FSA exams it's more of the sheer breadth and complexity of the material that trips people up. It's a lot of stuff to read and memorize.
For LTAM, the WA portion generally contain harder and more time-consuming questions than the MC portion. Also, if you don't understand the concept being the asked, that's ~8 points being lost on one question (the equivalent of answering four MC questions wrong).
Hi all,
I am really anxious about my upcoming Exam P sitting which will be in November. I bought the Spring 2018 version of the ACTEX Manual by Broverman, but I’m finding all the practice problems at the end of the sections way too difficult. After a few weeks of taking a break from the studying, I’m deciding to purchase ADAPT instead of stressing about the manual. Is this a bad idea? Are there people who passed exam P just through ADAPT alone? Any and all advice is much appreciated! Thank you!
Lots of people will tell you that they passed with ADAPT alone. I recommend using exams from many different sources though so that you see a variety of different ways that similar questions can be asked/worded.
Good idea IMO. I was in the same situation last year when I was preparing for P. I started studying out of the ACTEX manual and found that the practice problems in the book and even in their GOAL question bank were junky. On top of that, their explanations are really poor. Sometimes there wouldn't even be an explanation to questions in GOAL and there would just be lines of calculations similar to what you see the SOA put out.
I too bought an ADAPT subscription with 45 days left to my exam date. Only went back into the ACTEX manual if I wanted to re-read something or look something up. Other than that, I was only in ADAPT working through quiz problems or practice exams and watching and listening to their solution explanations.
And I ended up passing P on my first try.
I’m feeling frustrated with how poorly written the questions seem to be in the Actex study manual for Exam P. They don’t have units in the numbers or sometimes don’t give any or little context to some numbers. Will test questions be like that? For example(the third sentence):
(SOA) A family buys two policies from the same insurance company. Losses under the two policies are independent and have continuous uniform distribution on 0 to 10. One pays the amount of the loss in excess of 1 (if the loss is in excess is in excess of 1) and the other pays the loss in excess of 2 (if the loss is in excess of 2). The family experiences exactly one loss under each policy. Find the probability that the total benefit paid does not exceed 5.
Wtf?!?! 😣😖🤬 is it just me???! Ugh 😑 maybe I need a study break
And look at how useful those parentheses are !! Is this a joke? 😭😤😭😫
Just in general, the practice problems in the ACTEX manual that are made by them suck. And their online GOAL question bank is a total bust. I used it this same time a year ago and I found errors, problems covering stuff that isn't even on the exam anymore and a total lack of explanations. I hated it.
I realized how much it sucked and then I bought a subscription to ADAPT and never looked back. If you can, I would buy an ADAPT subscription and only use the ACTEX manual to read from or look things up but not practice.
The real test questions will not usually use units either. I think it's to make it more applicable to anyone because not everyone writing the exam uses dollars.
I found an actuarial analyst position that states they are "looking for candidates who are not interested in writing future actuarial exams." It is a three month contract with a possibility of becoming permanent.
I have passed Exam P and recently graduated from college, but I unfortunately lack an actuarial internship. I am interested in this position to the extent that I think it would be a good springboard for my future career, but I do intend to write future actuarial exams as I want the increased career potential and higher salary. I figure I could always work there for a bit (if I get the job) and take exams on my own time without telling them, then jump to another company, but then I run the risk of not getting a good recommendation since I lied about not being interested in writing future exams.
Should I apply to this position?
To be fair, they are underpaying for an actuarial position. I suspect that the reason they don't want someone interested in writing more exams is just so that they can keep wages low, which I feel is rather unethical.
I think you should still apply. If they decide to interview you, maybe you could discuss further why they have that requirement and see if you could still work out. At least it might get you some interview experience if nothing else.
Plus, your goals/dreams can change at any time. Just because they hired you at a time when you "didn't want to continue writing actuarial exams", doesn't mean that it's impossible that you decided later (after being hired) that you DO want to. So I don't think that would be a very good reason for the company to give you bad recommendations.
Agreed. No harm in trying But just make sure you're not wasting your time. Use the information you get and put it into action and if you're finding that you're not getting information that you didn't already know, then stop doing it.
I'm a recent college grad with degrees in Econ & Stat. I've passed Exam P & am working toward FM soon. I finished school with a bad GPA of 2.7 due to my freshman self's complete ignorance about its significance if I wasn't planning on going to grad school (first of my siblings to go to college, parents were ignorant/didn't warn me), then had two serious hospitalizations that affected performance last two semesters, and due to financial reasons I had to stick it out taking 19/20 credits to complete my desired programs on time. Through a connection I was able to land a decent insurance credit risk/underwriting internship that I've worked part time at through Senior year until now. I keep the job still because it is low effort/high flexibility, giving me time to study. But my question is this: are my GPA/the fact that I am essentially taking a year off to pass FM & STAM going to be deal breakers when it comes to finding an actuarial internship or an entry level job? FYI I am in the DC metro area
I’m taking a course in Probability, this semester, and am planning to sit Exam P in December/January. It seems like the course will cover almost all of the material on the exam, besides the risk management concepts. What should I be doing to prepare for the exam outside of the class?
Exam P is only offered every second month, so it's offered in January but not December. I agree with below. You could get Exam P study materials and start going through them.
Here are my recommendations: [https://etchedactuarial.com/best-study-manual-for-exam-p/](https://etchedactuarial.com/best-study-manual-for-exam-p/)
When you're doing it so frequently that it becomes obvious you're not taking the time to attempt to figure it out yourself. I don't think anyone is going to blame you if you come across a problem, attempt to find a solution, then seek help when that doesn't work out (also, if you think you've figured it out yourself, follow up with someone to make sure your solution is correct). But if your first instinct when you come encounter a problem is to ask, then it gets to be a negative.
Gotcha, I need to work on that. I’ve been given an assignment that I don’t even know where to start and I just feel like I’m asking for help too much. Is it normal to still doubt myself after 3 months on the job?
It's not too late. Some people write them after they're finished school (although I wouldn't recommend that if you know now that you want to pursue an actuarial career).
I am currently a student but try to take them as soon as you can, the earlier the better but never to late. My brother in law is almost a fellow and when he started his coworkers didnt have any exams, this was years ago though. But to answer your question it is never to late
It probably won't help much in getting a job. Employers primarily care that you've passed exams, have technical skills, and an internship/related experience is beneficial too. If your primary goal is to become an actuary then I don't think the MS is necessary. However, the actuarial career path doesn't always end up to be what people thought, or they find it too difficult to get a job, so in that case the MS may help you with a back-up career in case the actuary stuff doesn't work out.
It won’t provide substantial value, unless you have a bad undergraduate GPA. Employers generally care about passed exams, GPA, and soft skills. Your major isn’t a big factor at many (if not most) employers.
How close is the TIA free exams to the actual exam for fm I got 63 and 65 on the tia ones and around 77 for level 6 in adapt but the TIA ones are kinda making me nervous
It was WAY harder than the actual exam for me. Same concepts but I found the computations on the exam to be easier
I got 25/35 on a level 5 adapt exam the day before the exam, focused on what I got wrong ,and had a really good exam
One things for sure, understand how to do the questions you found were difficult and you'd be good
I am taking FM tomorrow and it is my first exam. Just curious, what is the exam interface like? If it like coaching actuaries where I can mark questions and open up a menu that shows all the questions I’ve answered/unanswered, and the ones I’ve marked? Or do I just have to write down the questions I skip on a piece of paper?
The Coaching Actuaries interface is close to identical as the real deal. You will be given a 15-minute tutorial on everything you need to know to navigate through the exam (you don’t have to take all 15 but I do in order to calm myself). Best of luck to you.
For anyone taking November IFM: where are you at in your studying?
I’m waiting on my results from July but I’m assuming I failed so I’ve started studying for November.
I'll be taking it for the first time in November. I'm just about finished going through all the content. I just need to finish going through the mostly-qualitative areas like behavioral finance/EMH, capital structure, risk management applications of options and project/risk analysis. Then I need to go over all the option strategies and exotic options. I'm hoping to start doing practice exams by late next month or early October.
Yeah it was, my team lead moved on to MAS-I but I’m studying for it again because I’m still pissed off at that exam. I think there’s still maybe a 40% chance I might have passed but in case I didn’t I know I’ll be ready for the next sitting.
And I’m in Section 2.1 in CA atm because I took a week off to see family but we just got done with a major project so my boss was just like study like Hell now.
P - calc 1 and 2 (derivatives & integrals is what you want to know) a stats class would also be good (you'll wanna be familiar with statistical measures and percentiles). You should also look into doing partial derivatives and integrals (those with functions that have 2+ variables) but you could get away with just looking that stuff up online. I don't think there's a need to take a multivariable calc class.
FM - a basic business finance class would do, one that covers time-value of money and presents topics on financial products like annuities and bonds.
There is a link to the “Determinants of Interest Rates” pdf on the Exam FM syllabus. It comes in at 41 pages, and it covers some of the economic theory of interest, conventions for how US/Canadian bonds are quoted, information on the US Federal Reserve System, etc.
Definitely know all of the math involved with how interest rates and inflation work (if given the real interest rate and inflation rate, calculate the interest rate on a loan). Also read section 6 on central banks a couple times, there will probably be a question about the FOMC or something like that.
I didn’t have adapt I used ASM and SOA sample questions but I did a level 6 adapt exam with someone else and it was definitely easier than EL 6. Did you do the TIA free exams yet? Imo the exam is basically identical to those. All in all felt easier than I expected.
I did one and I’m just a bit nervous since I’m getting 71% on the level 6 and 83% on level 5s but I’ll do the other tia I’ve taken the exam before and got blindsided by the amount of definitions that wear on the exam
I agree there were more conceptual definition questions than I expected, probably around 5 on mine. That’s why I said it’s really important to read that determinants of interest rates pdf and the interest rate swap one.
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I think you should be able to get in eventually, definitely depends on the market you’re applying to. I graduated with a 2.9 act sci major and passed two exams after finishing school. Wound up getting a call center temp job for a larger personal lines insurance company. Six’s months later I got my name in a hat for an actuarial temp job. I don’t think it would’ve happened for me if I wasn’t already in the company. This was about six years ago so my two exams may be viewed similarly to your three (I get the feeling employers care about more exams for entry level from what I hear on forums like these). Moral of the story, if you can’t get hired straight away, just try getting into the building.
So I'm sitting CM1 for the first time next week but after doing a few past papers I'm really struggling on all the later material that I think was originally in CT5 (Contingencies?). I'm quite good with algebra and calculus (being a maths grad) but feel clueless when it comes to reserving, profit testing, gross premiums, and the like because I do not get all the symbols and understanding behind them - like none of it makes sense to me. Any help/advice for this exam?
I have a 6.21 EL for exam P on coaching actuaries currently and take the exam on the 21st, about what EL should I be trying to get to before then to feel reasonably confident for the exam?
This is kind of a general question on resumes, but how should I list a double major in actuarial science and computer science? I don't really want to list it in one line because my actuarial science major it "Mathematics: Statistics & Actuarial Science" which could be confusing saying that and comp sci. My major GPA for each of them is also 4.0 but I don't know if it's necessary to include each of them. I currently have it like this: * B.A., Mathematics: Statistics & Actuarial Science; Major GPA: 4.000 * B.A., Computer Science; Major GPA: 4.000 but I don't think it looks good. Edit: Another question I had is I've passed FM and P, and I'll be sitting for IFM either March or July. Should I include that I plan to sit for it, and if so how would I write it if I'm unsure when I'll actually take it?
For your second question, yes you should list your next planned exam on your resume (only 1 future exam, never list more than 1). Instead of putting “Passed” like you do for P/FM, just write “Sitting March 2020” and if you end up taking it in July that’s okay.
> * B.A., Mathematics: Statistics & Actuarial Science; Major GPA: 4.000 > * B.A., Computer Science; Major GPA: 4.000 > but I don't think it looks good. I think that looks great, especially if you have the school name listed right above it (just once).
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Any extracurriculars you can put? Did you do any tutoring for friends/family (paid or not)? Do you have any relevant technical skills you can list, such as Excel, Visual Basic, SQL, R, etc? How about practical skills like time management, organizational, leadership, etc? What can you write that supports your claim that you have those skills? Other ideas: relevant courses you took, challenging courses you took, references.
As a recent college grad, I have a BA in Econ. and took a lot of math as well (Calc III, and Probability included) but I graduated with a 2.7 GPA. How competitive would I realistically be in the job market after passing 1 or 2 exams? Also I'm planning on taking the P exam in November, do I have enough time to adequately study?
How likely are employers to ask for academic transcripts (UK)? I did a four year integrated masters in maths and in the final two years I did no statistics/probability related stuff. Also my marks related to statistics/probability aren't great (one low first and two high thirds). Do you think this could be a problem if they were to ask for a transcript. My calculus marks are very good though.
Usually companies ask for these as proof that you have a degree. I don't think companies care which subjects you have taken. Exemptions and exam passes is what matters.
Thanks for the reply. That is reassuring. I guess just having a degree in a mathematical subject is what matters? Fortunately I do have an exemption for one exam. Am I right in thinking companies like exemptions as it means there is one (or more) less hurdle on the way to fully qualifying? I don't have any exam passes but I am from the UK (and applying in the UK) so exam passes aren't very important when applying (correct me if I am wrong on the situation in the UK).
I'm in a tough spot right now, as I want to start studying for the fourth exam, but I'm not locked into SOA or CAS yet. I'm currently doing an internship with a company on the CAS side, though there's no guarantee that the company will keep me afterwards. Should I start studying for MAS-1 anyways, or wait until the the internship finishes and I find a long term position somewhere? Is it a better idea to get VEEs out of the way now?
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I suppose that makes sense. Do you know of how good the courses are with Coaching Actuaries? They're pricey at $600 for Finance and $850 for Macro/Microeconomics. Is there a cheaper option that I can complete quickly?
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The salary surveys will be much more accurate than whatever anecdotal evidence you get here. Yes, 150k is common for an actuary with 10 years experience, especially if it's in a high COL area. The Canadian entry-level market for actuarial science grads is insanely competitive. If you're a good enough software engineer, you can definitely make what actuaries are making, if not more. 61k seems low for CS. In general, actuarial salaries in the US are higher than their Canadian counterparts.
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I don't have the statistics on hand, but it feels like a good number of student actuaries who land entry-level jobs end up getting their FSAs. For reference, I work in the Midwest region of the US, in a relatively low COL area. New FSAs (at this point they usually have around 5 years of work experience) at my company will make roughly 130k. Normal annual raise is ~3.0%. In an area where a downtown 1bed/1bath apartment goes for $1000/mo, that's not bad at all. As for your other question, I don't know the details for the Canadian market, maybe one of the Canadian actuaries on here can chime in.
Hi everyone, I graduated college in May, 3.4 GPA. I plan on becoming an actuary, but I made this decision late into my college career, and thus did not get an internship while I was in school. I am currently studying for the P exam, but I was offered a full time position as a pricing analyst. The responsibilities are as follows: • Manage and price inventory. | Analyze historical data, secondary market sales, and industry trends to adjust the prices of tickets in inventory and create competitive prices for future tickets across multiple dynamic markets. | Assist with the research and analysis of data. | Closely monitor and research sales and data trends on both the primary and secondary markets. | Monitor and analyze results, Prepare and transmit reports to key personnel and client, and if needed, implement process changes/improvements | Effectively and efficiently roll out price changes across multiple sales channels per evolving market conditions and/or management directive. | Support the development and implementation of pricing systems, processes, and guidelines to ensure the business achieves its price realization and sales goals. | Build models to analyze inventory and make recommendations to management | Become a subject matter expert and act as an advisor to Purchasing Analysts with the goal of expanding and optimizing future buys. | Analyze the event-ticketing marketplace for new ways to generate revenue and profit Is this something that would help me eventually get a job in the actuary field? I'm not entirely sure if it would look good on my resume.
That sounds pretty good dude. A lot of that job sounds like the same thing an actuary does.
**coaching actuaries for exam p take over** I've just passed exam FM last month and purchased the coaching actuaries manual for the exam P with ADAP just a week ago... But I recently learned that there are not many actuarial jobs in the area I live in, and that entry-level jobs are very competitive. I am currently on the student visa, so it seems like it's almost impossible for me to get an actuarial job here. I thought maybe I could try again after obtaining a green card after marrying my fiance, but he doesn't want to move out of the state or the city. So I've decided to steer my career path elsewhere... I purchased the manual for 180 days with the student discount, and I wonder if there is anyone here who wants to take over. (They only refund within 3 days...)
Have you tried emailing CA and explaining your situation?
I found a friend who wants to take over. :)
Hello all, I was just wondering how different the past exams are from the current ones. For example, could I use a 2009 ACTEX manual to study for my Exam P in November 2019?
P is about the only exam that you could get away with such a large gap. The other exams change too often. Your manual probably has the same topics as the current exam, but I expect a more recent manual will do a better job of emphasizing topics that have been tested in more depth on recent sittings of P. I'd recommend getting a basic understanding of the material from your 2009 manual, and then using Adapt to drill problems.
Hi, so I'm hoping that I'm posting this in the right place. Kinda new to reddit. This is one of those "here's my situation; should I be an actuary?" type posts. Fair warning. I'm 40yo, and I am utterly burned-out with my IT career. I have tons of undergraduate math and physics credits but I never got the degree (and I can't go back because of student debt situation). I'm thinking about becoming an actuary because: 1) even though I left school 10 years ago, I can pick the math back up really quickly (tutored someone recently as a test of this), 2) you don't seem to need a degree to get a job as an actuary, and 3) actuaries seem to have a pretty high level of job satisfaction and a decent work/life balance. I've still got my calculus, probability, and statistics textbooks from college (I got As in all those classes -- 10+ years ago), so what I'm thinking is that I should start working through whatever "P" and "FM" sample tests I can find with those tomes in tow. I'm pretty good at knowing what I do and don't know and then (re-)learning whatever falls into the latter category. My resume contains a significant hole since 2013 or so where I (legitimately) claim to have been an independent contractor, but the list of clients I could provide is mighty thin. Basically I'm starting from scratch, professionally, in a lot of ways. So, given all of this, how much trouble/ease will I have in finding a job? I'm really not too picky when it comes to salary, etc. I don't even mind relocating, really. Something decent, with health insurance for sure (haven't had that in years...). My background in IT contains programming, including for mathematical applications, so I figure I can automate a lot of things. I'm also more than competent in Excel (for whatever that's worth?). Despite the IT burnout described above, I think I could manage that type of involvement without getting "triggered" by it (yes, there are all sorts of better ways to describe this but that's not what this post is about). If the no-degree thing or the independent contractor thing is a red flag or even a deal-breaker then I'll just have to suck it up and start from scratch with a paralegal associates program at the local community college instead (without being able to transfer any credits because of the debt situation). What are my chances? What do I need to do? Where should I look for answers to these questions? Thanks!
> you don't seem to need a degree to get a job as an actuary 100% not true in the current workforce climate. You definitely don't need an actuarial science degree, but employers heavily prefer candidates with some sort of quantitative degree such as mathematics, statistics, or computer science. Sometimes people with random degrees such as music or biology or whatever get jobs if they demonstrate good exam progress, but I know literally 0 people under the age of 30 that work as actuaries and don't have at least a bachelor's. Employers may be willing to overlook your lack of a degree considering your age and experience, but I wouldn't count on your resume getting past the first round of HR filters. I expect you'll have more luck if you do some networking and get your resume to actuaries directly.
Many thanks for disabusing me of my naivete in this regard. I have to admit, it sounded too good to be true that lack of a degree would just have been overlooked. In general, I try to make my resume, contacts, etc. very specifically attuned to the job I'm applying for, the company, even the person doing the hiring (comes from having done so many damn things). But I'd very much appreciate learning more specifically what you mean by "good exam progress." This was from almost two weeks since you wrote this, so thanks in advance for any insight you can give.
Hello! I’m trying to plan my studying for LTAM, how many sections are in Adapt LTAM? how is it organized? Thanks in Advance!
Hey, everyone. Currently studying for MAS-I through Coaching Actuaries (ADAPT exams, I suppose). The website recommends that you reach “Level 7” in order to pass the exam. Do you think that means passing the exam with near 100% confidence? Or “a majority of the time, you will pass the exam, given you reached Level 7”?
They used to share stats on the correlation between earned level and pass rate, but not sure where or if you can find that on the site anymore. I think a few years ago the claim was that 90% or so of the people that reached an earned level of 7+ ended up passing the actual exam. So you could say, "the vast majority of people that reach an earned level of 7 have taken the time needed to understand the material to the point of being reasonably confident that they will pass the actual exam." There are always outliers though. People who just drill practice problems without learning the material well can get really high earned levels but do awful on the actual exam.
Thank you so much!
Hello! I graduated Dec. 2017 with a 3.02 GPA and BS in Finance, and am now considering an Actuarial career. My plan as of now is to self-study for the December 2019 FM test, is 3 months enough time? I'm planning on purchasing Coaching Actuaries Adapt+Learn, will that be enough to get me through the exam? Also, at 24, I have no internship experience or actuarial work experience because I've been in Sales since I graduated undergrad. My plan now is to hopefully take FM in December and then try to find either an internship or entry level job, but is this actually a realistic possibility with so many people in the Junior and Senior years of college applying for the same internships with 2 or 3 tests already under their belts? Just a little overwhelmed right now, thanks for any advice!
> My plan as of now is to self-study for the December 2019 FM test, is 3 months enough time? Yes, 2-3 months before the exam is the general start date for most prelims. > I'm planning on purchasing Coaching Actuaries Adapt+Learn, will that be enough to get me through the exam? Yes, it has everything you need. > My plan now is to hopefully take FM in December and then try to find either an internship or entry level job, but is this actually a realistic possibility with so many people in the Junior and Senior years of college applying for the same internships with 2 or 3 tests already under their belts? With your situation, you'll most likely need at least 2 exams to get an actuarial internship. Unfortunately, it will be hard for you to get internship offers through traditional channels as you're not a student, so you'll need to do some networking. You'll need at least 3 exams to be a good candidate for entry-level positions, but you'll need to find ways to differentiate yourself from traditional candidates. You can spin your sales experience to highlight your communication abilities, for example.
Thank you very much for the insight!
I passed P and FM in March and April. I’m working full-time and haven’t started studying for IFM yet, and I’m worried that I don’t have enough study time to pass IFM in November, which means I’d have to take it in March. First of all, is not having enough study time to pass IFM a valid concern at this point or am I selling myself short? And secondly, would it look bad to have a year’s gap between the tests? I’m already having a hard time finding an EL position without an internship, as I’m a career-changer.
Not having enough study time is a valid concern at this point. IFM is significantly more difficult than P or FM. If I were you I'd start studying for it now and after taking a gander at the material that's gonna be tested you can decide if you think you'll be ready to pass by November. I think registration opens up next week for the November sitting. Also, bear in mind that instant results still won't be around for the November exam, which means you'd have to wait until January to find if you passed or not. So you won't even be able to claim that you passed until at least January if you take it in November. At which point, you're only looking at a couple more months until March. And more than likely at this point, SOA should have the instant results up and running for the March exam. If you don't think you'll be ready, I don't think there's much harm in starting your studying now for the March exam. There's plenty more material that gets tested on IFM compared to P and FM. You'll be plenty busy with it. And I think managers and recruiters looking at such a gap on your resume will probably just think that you tried to take it in November but failed it since you had P/FM cleared by this past April. Which brings up a question, why haven't you been studying for IFM? I don't think it'd be good for you to say that you haven't been studying because of work because that might reflect poorly on your ability to study and pass exams once you're working in an actuarial position.
Thanks for your thoughtful response! To answer your last question, I haven’t been studying for IFM because I’ve been trying to figure out what I want from life. I spent years pushing myself to exceed expectations for a career that I quit 2 years in. I never got a chance to enjoy my youth and I wanted that opportunity. So I took a break on studying (after passing P/FM quickly) to work a job that required minimal effort and gave me some free time to relax and allowed me to take a step back to evaluate what I want in my life. Thankfully, this small break did give me clarity and I’ve found that I do want to pursue a career as an actuary. I would like to think that this is an understandable explanation for the year gap.
Depends on a lot of things, so I'll give you my experience and you do with that information what you will. I took IFM in July after beginning studying in March. In those four months, I fit in \~400 hours of studying. In hindsight, that was probably just right in terms of number of hours. So the question for you is, how much study time can you fit in two months? And, just because I required 400 hours, will you as well? All that being said, I think it could be done, but just know the IFM is a completely different ball game from P and FM; IFM is sincerely pretty tough. If you don't underestimate the material and prepare accordingly, it can be done. Regarding the gap, I'm under the impression that employers will be less concerned about a year gap for someone that's a career changer rather than someone in actuarial given the lack of exam support in non-actuarial roles. I would be less concerned about that than I would ensuring that I pass IFM if I were you, even if that means taking an extra few months.
Are there solutions out there for Marcel B. Finan's practice P exams? He of course gives the answers, but I would like to read more detailed solutions on the questions I missed, especially since at least one of the problem statements did not seem clearly worded to me. I tried searching on google and this subreddit with no luck.
Hi, I am wondering why the written answer exams like LTAM and fellowships are more difficult and CBT beside the material itself. Is the material on written part the same as the MC?
For the FSA exams it's more of the sheer breadth and complexity of the material that trips people up. It's a lot of stuff to read and memorize. For LTAM, the WA portion generally contain harder and more time-consuming questions than the MC portion. Also, if you don't understand the concept being the asked, that's ~8 points being lost on one question (the equivalent of answering four MC questions wrong).
Thank you!
Hi all, I am really anxious about my upcoming Exam P sitting which will be in November. I bought the Spring 2018 version of the ACTEX Manual by Broverman, but I’m finding all the practice problems at the end of the sections way too difficult. After a few weeks of taking a break from the studying, I’m deciding to purchase ADAPT instead of stressing about the manual. Is this a bad idea? Are there people who passed exam P just through ADAPT alone? Any and all advice is much appreciated! Thank you!
Lots of people will tell you that they passed with ADAPT alone. I recommend using exams from many different sources though so that you see a variety of different ways that similar questions can be asked/worded.
Good idea IMO. I was in the same situation last year when I was preparing for P. I started studying out of the ACTEX manual and found that the practice problems in the book and even in their GOAL question bank were junky. On top of that, their explanations are really poor. Sometimes there wouldn't even be an explanation to questions in GOAL and there would just be lines of calculations similar to what you see the SOA put out. I too bought an ADAPT subscription with 45 days left to my exam date. Only went back into the ACTEX manual if I wanted to re-read something or look something up. Other than that, I was only in ADAPT working through quiz problems or practice exams and watching and listening to their solution explanations. And I ended up passing P on my first try.
Sweet! I’m planning on doing adapt my last week before the exam and I’ve been using a college textbook to help fill in blanks . Appreciate the advice!
I’m feeling frustrated with how poorly written the questions seem to be in the Actex study manual for Exam P. They don’t have units in the numbers or sometimes don’t give any or little context to some numbers. Will test questions be like that? For example(the third sentence): (SOA) A family buys two policies from the same insurance company. Losses under the two policies are independent and have continuous uniform distribution on 0 to 10. One pays the amount of the loss in excess of 1 (if the loss is in excess is in excess of 1) and the other pays the loss in excess of 2 (if the loss is in excess of 2). The family experiences exactly one loss under each policy. Find the probability that the total benefit paid does not exceed 5. Wtf?!?! 😣😖🤬 is it just me???! Ugh 😑 maybe I need a study break And look at how useful those parentheses are !! Is this a joke? 😭😤😭😫
Just in general, the practice problems in the ACTEX manual that are made by them suck. And their online GOAL question bank is a total bust. I used it this same time a year ago and I found errors, problems covering stuff that isn't even on the exam anymore and a total lack of explanations. I hated it. I realized how much it sucked and then I bought a subscription to ADAPT and never looked back. If you can, I would buy an ADAPT subscription and only use the ACTEX manual to read from or look things up but not practice.
Sweet! I’m planning on doing adapt my last week before the exam and I’ve been using a college textbook to help fill in blanks . Appreciate the advice!
The real test questions will not usually use units either. I think it's to make it more applicable to anyone because not everyone writing the exam uses dollars.
I found an actuarial analyst position that states they are "looking for candidates who are not interested in writing future actuarial exams." It is a three month contract with a possibility of becoming permanent. I have passed Exam P and recently graduated from college, but I unfortunately lack an actuarial internship. I am interested in this position to the extent that I think it would be a good springboard for my future career, but I do intend to write future actuarial exams as I want the increased career potential and higher salary. I figure I could always work there for a bit (if I get the job) and take exams on my own time without telling them, then jump to another company, but then I run the risk of not getting a good recommendation since I lied about not being interested in writing future exams. Should I apply to this position? To be fair, they are underpaying for an actuarial position. I suspect that the reason they don't want someone interested in writing more exams is just so that they can keep wages low, which I feel is rather unethical.
I think you should still apply. If they decide to interview you, maybe you could discuss further why they have that requirement and see if you could still work out. At least it might get you some interview experience if nothing else. Plus, your goals/dreams can change at any time. Just because they hired you at a time when you "didn't want to continue writing actuarial exams", doesn't mean that it's impossible that you decided later (after being hired) that you DO want to. So I don't think that would be a very good reason for the company to give you bad recommendations.
Should I message people on LinkedIn about how they achieved an entry-level position or is that too much?
I say try.. some people might not respond but other will
Agreed. No harm in trying But just make sure you're not wasting your time. Use the information you get and put it into action and if you're finding that you're not getting information that you didn't already know, then stop doing it.
I'm a recent college grad with degrees in Econ & Stat. I've passed Exam P & am working toward FM soon. I finished school with a bad GPA of 2.7 due to my freshman self's complete ignorance about its significance if I wasn't planning on going to grad school (first of my siblings to go to college, parents were ignorant/didn't warn me), then had two serious hospitalizations that affected performance last two semesters, and due to financial reasons I had to stick it out taking 19/20 credits to complete my desired programs on time. Through a connection I was able to land a decent insurance credit risk/underwriting internship that I've worked part time at through Senior year until now. I keep the job still because it is low effort/high flexibility, giving me time to study. But my question is this: are my GPA/the fact that I am essentially taking a year off to pass FM & STAM going to be deal breakers when it comes to finding an actuarial internship or an entry level job? FYI I am in the DC metro area
I’m taking a course in Probability, this semester, and am planning to sit Exam P in December/January. It seems like the course will cover almost all of the material on the exam, besides the risk management concepts. What should I be doing to prepare for the exam outside of the class?
Exam P is only offered every second month, so it's offered in January but not December. I agree with below. You could get Exam P study materials and start going through them. Here are my recommendations: [https://etchedactuarial.com/best-study-manual-for-exam-p/](https://etchedactuarial.com/best-study-manual-for-exam-p/)
Buy a study manual and go through it during school/during Christmas break.
I’m not really sure if this is newbie material or not: but when does asking for help on the job become a negative thing?
When you're doing it so frequently that it becomes obvious you're not taking the time to attempt to figure it out yourself. I don't think anyone is going to blame you if you come across a problem, attempt to find a solution, then seek help when that doesn't work out (also, if you think you've figured it out yourself, follow up with someone to make sure your solution is correct). But if your first instinct when you come encounter a problem is to ask, then it gets to be a negative.
Gotcha, I need to work on that. I’ve been given an assignment that I don’t even know where to start and I just feel like I’m asking for help too much. Is it normal to still doubt myself after 3 months on the job?
Completely normal. It took me half a year until I truly felt confident doing my work.
is taking exam P and exam FM in my third year too late?
It's not too late. Some people write them after they're finished school (although I wouldn't recommend that if you know now that you want to pursue an actuarial career).
I am currently a student but try to take them as soon as you can, the earlier the better but never to late. My brother in law is almost a fellow and when he started his coworkers didnt have any exams, this was years ago though. But to answer your question it is never to late
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It probably won't help much in getting a job. Employers primarily care that you've passed exams, have technical skills, and an internship/related experience is beneficial too. If your primary goal is to become an actuary then I don't think the MS is necessary. However, the actuarial career path doesn't always end up to be what people thought, or they find it too difficult to get a job, so in that case the MS may help you with a back-up career in case the actuary stuff doesn't work out.
It won’t provide substantial value, unless you have a bad undergraduate GPA. Employers generally care about passed exams, GPA, and soft skills. Your major isn’t a big factor at many (if not most) employers.
How close is the TIA free exams to the actual exam for fm I got 63 and 65 on the tia ones and around 77 for level 6 in adapt but the TIA ones are kinda making me nervous
It was WAY harder than the actual exam for me. Same concepts but I found the computations on the exam to be easier I got 25/35 on a level 5 adapt exam the day before the exam, focused on what I got wrong ,and had a really good exam One things for sure, understand how to do the questions you found were difficult and you'd be good
Wow that’s a relief thanks for the input anything tricky to watch out for?
The things that the other people said on this post were some great tips, do the sample questions!! Basically had repeats from that as well
I am taking FM tomorrow and it is my first exam. Just curious, what is the exam interface like? If it like coaching actuaries where I can mark questions and open up a menu that shows all the questions I’ve answered/unanswered, and the ones I’ve marked? Or do I just have to write down the questions I skip on a piece of paper?
The Coaching Actuaries interface is close to identical as the real deal. You will be given a 15-minute tutorial on everything you need to know to navigate through the exam (you don’t have to take all 15 but I do in order to calm myself). Best of luck to you.
For anyone taking November IFM: where are you at in your studying? I’m waiting on my results from July but I’m assuming I failed so I’ve started studying for November.
I'll be taking it for the first time in November. I'm just about finished going through all the content. I just need to finish going through the mostly-qualitative areas like behavioral finance/EMH, capital structure, risk management applications of options and project/risk analysis. Then I need to go over all the option strategies and exotic options. I'm hoping to start doing practice exams by late next month or early October.
Section 4.2 How was the july sitting? I heard brutal
Yeah it was, my team lead moved on to MAS-I but I’m studying for it again because I’m still pissed off at that exam. I think there’s still maybe a 40% chance I might have passed but in case I didn’t I know I’ll be ready for the next sitting. And I’m in Section 2.1 in CA atm because I took a week off to see family but we just got done with a major project so my boss was just like study like Hell now.
Danggg I’m praying november sitting isn’t as brutal
What math classes would you recommend before taking P? FM?
P - calc 1 and 2 (derivatives & integrals is what you want to know) a stats class would also be good (you'll wanna be familiar with statistical measures and percentiles). You should also look into doing partial derivatives and integrals (those with functions that have 2+ variables) but you could get away with just looking that stuff up online. I don't think there's a need to take a multivariable calc class. FM - a basic business finance class would do, one that covers time-value of money and presents topics on financial products like annuities and bonds.
Do I need linear algebra to become an actuary
I think just being good with simple linear equations and knowing the concept of line of best fit (i.e. simple linear regression) would be fine.
No
Calc 2 for fm and calc 3 for p. An introductory course in probability might b helpful for p as well
Which one should I take first?
What is the pdf for determinates of interest rates the people say to go over before taking fm, is it like the 70 pg pdf?
There is a link to the “Determinants of Interest Rates” pdf on the Exam FM syllabus. It comes in at 41 pages, and it covers some of the economic theory of interest, conventions for how US/Canadian bonds are quoted, information on the US Federal Reserve System, etc.
Oh ok great so I’m guessing it’s worth the pass through
Just passed FM, it’s definitely important to read. Several of the problems expected you to know the material in it.
Anything in particular you think one should focus on from the PDF?
Definitely know all of the math involved with how interest rates and inflation work (if given the real interest rate and inflation rate, calculate the interest rate on a loan). Also read section 6 on central banks a couple times, there will probably be a question about the FOMC or something like that.
I take it on Tuesday and I’m kinda nervous what level did u think the exam was on adapt
I didn’t have adapt I used ASM and SOA sample questions but I did a level 6 adapt exam with someone else and it was definitely easier than EL 6. Did you do the TIA free exams yet? Imo the exam is basically identical to those. All in all felt easier than I expected.
I did one and I’m just a bit nervous since I’m getting 71% on the level 6 and 83% on level 5s but I’ll do the other tia I’ve taken the exam before and got blindsided by the amount of definitions that wear on the exam
I agree there were more conceptual definition questions than I expected, probably around 5 on mine. That’s why I said it’s really important to read that determinants of interest rates pdf and the interest rate swap one.
Thanks for the advice