Which exam to take?

[actuwriter]

Hi everyone,
I am starting a new job in December. I have passed P and FM. Which exam should I take next? MLC or MFE or C? I want to make a strong initial impression with my new company. Thanks.

[Blue Skies]

Hi everyone,
I am starting a new job in December. I have passed P and FM. Which exam should I take next? MLC or MFE or C? I want to make a strong initial impression with my new company. Thanks.

I'd either go with MFE or MFE and MLC. You can take C before the two M exams, but a very small amount of M material is assumed to be known for C, and you'd have a better chance of passing one of the two smaller M exams than C.

That said, if you have had close passes with P and FM, be prepared to buckle down and study harder because there is a pretty big jump up in difficulty to 3 and 4. (Mostly from the vast amount of stuff you have to know, rather than the material actually being more difficult.)

If you breezed past the first two with very little difficulty, then dont let up now.

[actuwriter]

Okay. I am really not up to taking both MLC and MFE. So which one, MLC or MFE? Thanks. I got a 10 on P and 6 on FM.

[Blue Skies]

Okay. I am really not up to taking both MLC and MFE. So which one, MLC or MFE? Thanks. I got a 10 on P and 6 on FM.

You may want to poll several people. Personally I hate Life Con (I am on the CAS side so Life Con is basically useless for me. I took CAS 3, which replaces the more difficult LC material found on the SOA version with statistics). However, other people for whatever reason found that Life Con was easier for them than the Financial Economics.

If its a tie, I'd go with MFE to give you more choices later. Starting next year MFE will be joint-sponsered just like P, FM, and C, while the LC portion will be split with different versions for the CAS and SOA.

[jraven]

Which exam should I take next? MLC or MFE or C? I want to make a strong initial impression with my new company.

If you're just looking to get something passed then MFE is the easiest option; it requires substantially less study time than MLC or C. On the other hand, I'm not sure whether employers are as interested in MFE... I mean, you have to pass it sometime, but I would think that the material in MLC or C would be more relevant for most entry-level jobs.

[This is based solely off of my job search impressions, so I could be wrong. However almost every non-P&C interview I've had seems to start with them saying "I haven't really kept up with the changes in the exam process... have you taken the life contingencies exam yet?", while none of them asked whether I understood options pricing.]

[colby2152]

:iatp:

[tommie frazier]

for someone entering the process, companies are excited to hear that you have anything done. pass whichever one is easier, and employers will be thrilled that you have done it.

ironically (given that advice), vee might be cheaper and easier for you to pass, but won;t get you the respect that passing a "real" exam would.