Progress

[fappakman]

If the other forums can do it, we can too

80 hours

Plan on finishing Section 4 tonight

I realize I need to step it up.

[Emily]

4 years and 1 week. Not sure about the hours.

[Kenny]

4 years and 1 week. Not sure about the hours.

:ctm:

Levity is the only way to stay sane.

[Kenny]

OK, I'll add mine: I am focusing on the notes and using the source material for areas that I don't think make sense or I am not familiar with. So far this seems reasonable and it helps that I have voluntarily read probably half of the online readings/study notes when they were originally published (or some other time over the past few years) particularly the ones related to FE.

I have a reasonably aggressive schedule that gets me through the notes in this manner by 2/15. I felt it would be best for me to focus on memorizing for as long as possible with a return to the source material during that period if anything still didn't make sense. I am doing pretty well because I am about 75% of the way through sections 7 & 11 of the Edge summary with a goal to finish by tomorrow (that won't happen but I should be able to catch-up this weekend and I still expect to be through the entire summary by the 15th or close to it).

Time will tell if this is a smart way to go or not, but so far it seems like a good choice.

[Sifto]

OK, I'll add mine: I am focusing on the notes and using the source material for areas that I don't think make sense or I am not familiar with. So far this seems reasonable and it helps that I have voluntarily read probably half of the online readings/study notes when they were originally published (or some other time over the past few years) particularly the ones related to FE.

I have a reasonably aggressive schedule that gets me through the notes in this manner by 2/15. I felt it would be best for me to focus on memorizing for as long as possible with a return to the source material during that period if anything still didn't make sense. I am doing pretty well because I am about 75% of the way through sections 7 & 11 of the Edge summary with a goal to finish by tomorrow (that won't happen but I should be able to catch-up this weekend and I still expect to be through the entire summary by the 15th or close to it).

Time will tell if this is a smart way to go or not, but so far it seems like a good choice.


i'd definitely say its smarter to be a little ahead of the schedule in the manual. that is, complete all the readings by mid-feb instead of end of feb. i'm currently not practicing what i preach but thats another discussion.

[Kenny]

i'd definitely say its smarter to be a little ahead of the schedule in the manual. that is, complete all the readings by mid-feb instead of end of feb. i'm currently not practicing what i preach but thats another discussion.
The time will tell comment was in reference to not reading the source material unless absolutely necessary, not about getting things done faster and spending more time memorizing.

[Sifto]

The time will tell comment was in reference to not reading the source material unless absolutely necessary, not about getting things done faster and spending more time memorizing.

i think that's smarter as well :)

[Kenny]

OK, I'll add mine: I am focusing on the notes and using the source material for areas that I don't think make sense or I am not familiar with. So far this seems reasonable and it helps that I have voluntarily read probably half of the online readings/study notes when they were originally published (or some other time over the past few years) particularly the ones related to FE.

I have a reasonably aggressive schedule that gets me through the notes in this manner by 2/15. I felt it would be best for me to focus on memorizing for as long as possible with a return to the source material during that period if anything still didn't make sense. I am doing pretty well because I am about 75% of the way through sections 7 & 11 of the Edge summary with a goal to finish by tomorrow (that won't happen but I should be able to catch-up this weekend and I still expect to be through the entire summary by the 15th or close to it).

Time will tell if this is a smart way to go or not, but so far it seems like a good choice.
Well, that certainly didn't happen. I've basically done nothing since this last post :oops:

I did finish sections 7 & 11 this morning and will be moving forward. Hopefully I can avoid more 2 1/2 week slumps. Unfortunately I can only blame work for about half the time. The other half was purely a lack of motivation and discipline. I just need to remind myself how much stuff there is and how much I need to pass this thing.

[Kenny]

Quick update: My primary schedule had me done with my first pass by 2/15 (obviously didn't happen). My secondary schedule (hey, this is what I do when I am procrastinating studying - that and I realized I was already ahead of that schedule when I made it so I bumped it up to the 2/15 schedule) had me done by 2/21. I did not finish yesterday but I ended up taking a good protion of the day to study so I finished up through a couple pages into Section 10. Since Section 10 is about half Canadian only, I think I have about 70-80 pages of notes left. If all goes well, I should be able to knock those out by the end of this weekend.

I did notice that I probably am not devoting an appropriate amount of effort to understanding some of the more techinical info I haven't seen before (namely the Actuarial Aspects of CB plans and the forecast readings). I decided I would worry about it when I went back to it in my next stage. This is also the type of thing that I plan to use the seminar for - if I don't grasp evreyting by then I'll let someone else who understands it explain it to me.

[wooHoo]

I am doing the readings of section 7/11. Those are tough reading, even the second time.

[Kenny]

53 days and counting. Thank God I started early cause I'm not getting anywhere at the moment.

[fappakman]

Section 12 to read this week and then its time to start memorizing

[bluekayaker]

I've finished all the readings (from original sources) as of last weekend. I didn't take notes or memorize, just read (and tried to understand) every original word. Now I'm going through Edge summaries (the non-compressed section), making notes, trying to retain the lists. I'll spend 4 weeks on that. That leaves me the last 3+ weeks to memorize cue cards and practice the mathy questions.

This approach worked for DP. Hoping the same for CSP!!!

[bluekayaker]

OK so my 4 weeks on Edge (haha.. literally) is almost up and I'm just about finished going through the Edge notes. Next week I'm going to go through all the Question Based Summary and after that, try to memorize for a couple of weeks.

I'm only at about 160 hours so far. I've probably spent 200-250 sitting at my desk but when I'm not productive, I record less time to account for day dreaming etc. My goal is 250-300 hours productive time for this exam. How much time is everyone else putting in? I have usually been successful with about 50 hours per exam hour.

[fappakman]

Memorizing is killer so far. I'm on Section 4 of the cue cards...but it looks like Edge didn't spend too much effort on them. They are very poorly organized and like topics aren't grouped together ie. Section 4, 67 of 119: Disadvantages of a deferred profit sharing plan; Section 4, 71 of 119: DPSP Disadvantages.

Kind of frustrating when you have to organize their summary notes and you're putting so much time and effort already into memorization. :viola: Oh well, I guess it keeps you awake and on your toes.

This is my first written exam, so even though I got by on 50 hours per hour for the prelims, I'm nervous about hitting any target under 600 for this one. How many hours did you end up putting in for DP RC blue?

[bluekayaker]

I did 225 hours for DP and passed with an 8. However, I wrote in Canada and only had to write Part A (4.5 hours). So still bang on with my 50 hours per hour. As I said though, I probablyspent more than 300 hours at my desk. but I would procrastinate and take breaks etc. so 225 is 225 actually reading and writing.

I haven't started the cue cards yet, but that's a shame that they're poorly organized. Perhaps the authors were trying to lay them out like the readings given that questions come from specific readings (I think?).

[Roy Hobbs]

Memorizing is killer so far. I'm on Section 4 of the cue cards...but it looks like Edge didn't spend too much effort on them. They are very poorly organized and like topics aren't grouped together ie. Section 4, 67 of 119: Disadvantages of a deferred profit sharing plan; Section 4, 71 of 119: DPSP Disadvantages.

Kind of frustrating when you have to organize their summary notes and you're putting so much time and effort already into memorization. :viola: Oh well, I guess it keeps you awake and on your toes.

This is my first written exam, so even though I got by on 50 hours per hour for the prelims, I'm nervous about hitting any target under 600 for this one. How many hours did you end up putting in for DP RC blue?

600 hours?? Are you insane? If you can't pass putting in that kind of time I don't know what to tell you.

Anyways, scrap the cue cards and memorize the QBS. Much better use of your time and easier to memorize.

[bluekayaker]

Hobbs - what is your goal for hours?

I think 600, being 100 per exam hour, is what is formally recommended (IIRC from when I started the exams in 2002, anyway). I always thought that at 50 per hour of exam, I was pulling in about half the recommended.

[Roy Hobbs]

Hobbs - what is your goal for hours?

I think 600, being 100 per exam hour, is what is formally recommended (IIRC from when I started the exams in 2002, anyway). I always thought that at 50 per hour of exam, I was pulling in about half the recommended.

When I wrote it last year I put in probably 200 plus the Edge seminar. The thing with CSP is the memorizing a bunch of lists isn't really going to help you. It's better to have a good understanding of the concepts and be able to make reasonable recommendations based on the question parameters. It's much more of a consulting exam.

Also in terms of study time, it depends on if you've written DP. I passed DP in Nov 06 and there was a lot of overlap with CSP when I wrote it last year so I felt I didn't need to put in quite as much time.

[bluekayaker]

And did you pass CSP last year? I wrote and passed DP 6 months ago and I have noticed a lot of overlap. I'm hoping that helps. I guess my 250-300 hours this time will be comparbale to what you did. I hope you passed!! :)

I plan to spend lots of time on the QBS. I found it really helped last year. But i also go through all the cue cards too... for me the combo of the two worked.

[Roy Hobbs]

And did you pass CSP last year? I wrote and passed DP 6 months ago and I have noticed a lot of overlap. I'm hoping that helps. I guess my 250-300 hours this time will be comparbale to what you did. I hope you passed!! :)

I plan to spend lots of time on the QBS. I found it really helped last year. But i also go through all the cue cards too... for me the combo of the two worked.

I passed. The only memorizing I did was the QBS, it was really helpful.

Good luck!

[Sifto]

the answers to the QBS are straight from the flash cards. however, there is a fair bit of stuff in the flash cards which are not asked in the QBS so there is value in going through all the flash cards.

[Kenny]

I've logged under 50 hours for both work and personal time, plus the seminar which I found somewhat useful. Unfortunately I got completely slammed at work during March and wasn't bright enough to speak up until after 3/31. I am still planning on passing, I just need to spend as many waking hours as possible between now and 5/9 reviewing/memorizing to have a chance.

Here's to hoping work cooperates and stays slow.

[fappakman]

Well, seeing as this is my first attempt at a written exam, I have no idea what to expect. I'm basically going on the comments from the Edge that Ryan typically put in 90% of the recommended time. That's still 540 hours.

I believe however that there is a huge advantage for someone who has seen this content before, whether its their second attempt taking CSP or whether they had done the readings for DP in the fall. In this case, 50 hours per exam hour does not seem unreasonable.

I know I won't hit 600, and will be lucky if I hit 540.

[EweTupper]

What's QBS?

[Kenny]

Question Based Summary

[Kenny]

I don't know what to say. I'm not feeling too confident for 5/9/2008. But November and next May should be no problem (assuming there is enough overlap between CSP and DP)!

I still feel like I understand the material and I can answer questions if I have some notes to refer to, but I can't see to come up with what I consider a good response on my own. Nearly every answer I can't come up with on my own I think :duh: when I see the response or I think there's another list I need to memorize.

And did I mention I hate that stupid "duties" list. It shows up on nearly every exam so I am going to waste my brain cells on it and I promise it won't be on this sitting. I'm going to use it anyway, damn them :swear:

What are the differences between the FE and traditional actuarial approach to plan funding?
Duty of care
Duty of loyalty
Duty of impartiality
Duty to delegate
Duty to make property productive
Duty regarding co-trustees
Duty to act in accordance with trust agreement
Duty to comply with applicable regs
Duty to diversify

What do you think about that grader?

[3M]

And did I mention I hate that stupid "duties" list. It shows up on nearly every exam so I am going to waste my brain cells on it and I promise it won't be on this sitting. I'm going to use it anyway, damn them :swear:

What are the differences between the FE and traditional actuarial approach to plan funding?
Duty of care
Duty of loyalty
Duty of impartiality
Duty to delegate
Duty to make property productive
Duty regarding co-trustees
Duty to act in accordance with trust agreement
Duty to comply with applicable regs
Duty to diversify

What do you think about that grader?


This made me laugh out loud this morning (while I was taking a study break). Thanks.

As far as study progress and how prepared I am for this exam, I feel just like you do. I keep hoping that on exam day, I'll suddenly be able to remember all the right lists...

[Kenny]

This made me laugh out loud this morning (while I was taking a study break). Thanks.

As far as study progress and how prepared I am for this exam, I feel just like you do. I keep hoping that on exam day, I'll suddenly be able to remember all the right lists...
I'm glad my increasing insanity could be helpful. :tup: