How to prepare for APMV

[foflower]

Could you who have ever taken APM before give me some tips for preparation?

[Will Durant]

I know some will disagree with this advice, but read the source material. Do not rely on study notes. JAM has its very valuable place, but only after you have done a thorough reading of the material on your own.

[invisibulman]

I know some will disagree with this advice, but read the source material. Do not rely on study notes. JAM has its very valuable place, but only after you have done a thorough reading of the material on your own.

Then let me be the first to disagree... to a point. I have never been the type to rely heavily on the source material. I'm a study guide + practice problems kind of person. That said, i did use the source material quite a bit more than i have in the past. Sometimes the detail in the study guide simply isn't sufficient. I used the source material as reference to fill in the blanks when this was the case. Any book with study problems is golden. Use them for all they are worth since you may have trouble finding exam problems that are still relevant. The SOA study notes... i have no use at all for them. Never read a single one. A quick synopsis of the main points (via study guide) is usually more than enough to score you quality points.

[Allacalander]

In theory, Will has the right idea, but realistically, who has the kind of time to read all the source material? I barely have time to read the study guide.

[Will Durant]

The only information I can provide is that I read the source material, made my own study notes, and passed. YMMV.

[vshchen]

Since I am far behind the suggested schedule, I'd like to choose to read through either books or SOA study notes. Which do you think is more useful and important to the exam? Almost the whole section 1 and 8 are on study notes. I think I will read the study manual directly.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience.

[hamstrman]

If I read all of the source material last year and 60% of the material changed, can I get away with reading only the study manual this year? I mean, the readings changed, but the topics aren't so far off. In fact, some of them are exactly the same topics, but maybe more updated. I have absolutely no time to read the source material. I also took and passed FETE, so that helps with some overlap as well.

This year, I am reading the JAM detailed outline and marking down anything I don't get or want more details on. Then I transfer what I consider important from the detailed outline to the condensed outline and look to the readings to answer my questions as I go along. Then I make my own flash cards out of the enhanced condensed outline... I hope it works. Reading the source material didn't do much for me as I read all of that, 2 study manual and made my own cards last year and bombed. I think it was trying to get this great understanding of the material that killed me and wasted time that could've been better spent just straight-up memorizing. Thoughts?