Course 7 Pretest Study Time

[rabbit]

Anyone have a feel for the absolute minimum study time for this test?

Is two weeks of *full-time* study possibly enough?

Thanks ....

[Me]

You mean 70-80 hours?

Yes, that's probably plenty.

[troublemaker]

I hope you're right for those of us writing February 1st and haven't started studying yet.

[jedekiah]

I don't know, I think two weeks is really pushing it. There's about 600 pages of reading, and while a good portion of it is pretty easy (well, easy compared to course 8V, it's all relative) there's no getting around the sheer volume. And I would imagine that since the test is open book, the questions get pretty nit-picky. I've been studying since the beginning of December, not full time admittedly, but 10-15 hours a week. You could go through it all in two weeks, but would you remember it? I certainly wouldn't.

[Me]

The main thing I would suggest is to higlight as you go through it. Also use little tabs to mark all the chapters and subsections. This is so you can find things easily. If you have time left, re-read all the highlighted stuff. If you have a lot of time left make yourself little outlines and study them, though you can't bring them with you into the test.

Remember, there's little harm in giving it a shot. A large percentage of people pass (compared to a normal exam), and it's cheap to take it again. Plus you don't have to wait 6 months or a year. Just give it the best try you can.

[Anonymous]

3 weeks was definitely do-able. 2 weeks should be if you're willing to study and focus. You can't treat the pre-test like a complete joke (pass rates are falling) but if you read it through twice, jot down some notes in the margin, and put appropriate divider tabs in (which is well-worth the time it takes) you should be fine. It's just a matter of how fast you can read.

[RedDog]

This is from the Sample Pre-Test from the Actex from last year.

Question:
A forecast has been based on minimizing the sum of squares of a linear model. Which of the following names is most appropriate from a systems perspective?

Answer: A linear forecast equation based on normal errors.

I have been unable to find this answer anywhere in the Study Notes. Can anyone point me to the reading and page?

[Anonymous]

On 2002-01-17 12:47, RedDog wrote:
A forecast has been based on minimizing the sum of squares of a linear model. Which of the following names is most appropriate from a systems perspective?

Answer: A linear forecast equation based on normal errors.


LRF Chapter 2 ("Systems Approach"), page 16.
"Most people who discuss forecasting models _don't_ call them forecasting models. They find other names such as regression...models. In short, they name the model not for its objective but for its method. The fact that the model is named on the basis of means rather than ends tneds to diver the researcher's attention form what he is trying to do, to how he does it."

[JO]

This test sucks big time.
I hate it.

[Phee]

I remember when I took the pretest (in the Futurism study note) they make mention of ENRON. I can't really remember what was said but I'm pretty sure it was in the section on 'visioning.' Anybody have the study note handy?

[JO]

On 2002-01-18 06:23, Phee wrote:
I remember when I took the pretest (in the Futurism study note) they make mention of ENRON. I can't really remember what was said but I'm pretty sure it was in the section on 'visioning.' Anybody have the study note handy?


Good job..

"The Enron Corporation was a regional gas supplier located in Houston, Texas 10 years ago. It adopted a vision that set it on the path of tremendous growth. They were going to be "the first gas major." In energy industry terms, that meant a fully integrated, international supplier of natural gas. Up to that time, gas was primarily a regional business industry, little national and no international. The gas industry was also divided into exploration companies, production companies, transmission companies and retail companies. Enron wanted to be all of it, and in 10 short years became that.

Now they have a new vision: To be the first energy major in the world. To that end, they are acquiring electricity generation and transimission companies so that it can produce, transmit and deliver any form of energy from the field to the home or business. Having succeeded once, they are a better than even bet to do so again."

Faith, as it seems, was not without any sense of irony..

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: JO on 2002-01-18 08:32 ]</font>

[RedDog]

In Applied Futurism, why does it say the primary uses of Decision Modeling are to "Assess the Current State" and "Project Future States" on page 52 when it says in the summary that its primary uses is to "Choose the Preferable State"? What do you think are the primary uses? I guess it could be all 3, but certainly choosing a preferable state makes sense since it is "Decision" modeling.