Post CAS 3 Plan: 4 or 5 or both

[ramanujan]

I would like to get suggestions as to what exam should I take next, assuming that I will pass CAS 3, the exam I sat for this fall.

Exam 4 or 5 or both?

I am thinking about taking both with major emphasis on 5. In the most likely case that I pass 5 and fail 4, I could take both 4 and 6 togather and hope to pass both.

What do you guys think?

[Becoming An Actuary]

at the very least, take CAS 5 since it's only offered in May....4, on the other hand, is offered in the spring and in the fall...there's a tonne of material for CAS 5, so make sure to emphasize 5 (if you're considering taking 4 also) cuz you don't want to study 5 again...from what i hear it's brutal...

[ZamboniGuy]

Why would you take 5 over 4? I'd think you'd want to move to 4 while 3 is fresh in your mind, and if you pass you can take 6 in the fall then 5 next spring. Whether you want to take 2 exams at once I have no idea; sounds painful to me.

[modelthry]

I would like to get suggestions as to what exam should I take next, assuming that I will pass CAS 3, the exam I sat for this fall.

Exam 4 or 5 or both?

I am thinking about taking both with major emphasis on 5. In the most likely case that I pass 5 and fail 4, I could take both 4 and 6 togather and hope to pass both.

What do you guys think?

Don't overplan right now. It's easy to do that right after an exam, when you're still pumped from studying.

[Loki]

I took (and passed) 5 and 6 last spring/fall (I was really dreading part 3!). These are VERY different from 1, 2, and 3. There is a lot of new terminology, lots of new concepts and they are less computational. The exam itself contains mostly short answer questions.

I would say that if you have work experience doing ratemaking and you feel comfortable with ratemaking procedures, take both. There is a ton of reading (it took me 75 hours just to read and comprehend the material the first time through and I've had lots of experience). The other thing about 5 is that the policy forms and coverages is long and DRY! So boring that I found it very difficult to keep studying.

Maybe the best thing would be to glance over the papers on part 5 and see how difficult you think it will be.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

[ramanujan]

Thank you guys!!

I agree that I might be overplanning and its going to be lot of hard work if I take two exams togather. But on the other hand, what do I have to lose? Let's be a little ambitious. After all I did pass 1 & 2 at the same time.

[ahow]

I would write out a list of when the exams you still have left are offered and make your decision based on that. I am foregoing 4 the next round because if I take 4 now, it will give me 4 spring and 2 fall exams. With the 4 skip, I will have 3 fall, 3 spring. Of course, this is all contingent on me passing all my future exams (insert sarcastic laugh here).

[ramanujan]

ahow,

That's an interesting perspective!!

[the yellow dart]

Thank you guys!!

I agree that I might be overplanning and its going to be lot of hard work if I take two exams togather. But on the other hand, what do I have to lose? Let's be a little ambitious. After all I did pass 1 & 2 at the same time.

Passing 1 and 2 at the same time is to passing 4 and CAS 5 at the same time as KFC is to chicken.

In all seriousness: I usually discourage people from taking two exams at once. Nothing is worse than killing yourself for six months only to get two 5's. The fact that the tests have entirely different formats can't help things. However, there are a couple of factors which may make it doable:

Are you employed? For how long? Are you familiar with PC Insurance policies? Have you done any trending, on-leveling, etc at work? The more comfortable you are with these topics, the better for CAS 5.

Have you taken college courses in Econometrics and Statistics? Did you ace said classes? Did you fully comprehend the loss distributions part of CAS 3? The more comfortable you are in these areas, the better for Joint Exam 4.

Remember also that the pool of candidates taking CAS 5 is much smaller than Joint Exam 4. And some of them have been working in the field for quite awhile.

Like I said, I'd advise against it. If you feel comfortable about 4, take it and relax for a bit. If you're not employed, use the time to find a job. If you are employed, your employers will probably feel more comfortable that you're focusing on just one exam.

Whatever you choose, I wish you the best of luck.

[ramanujan]

Thanks Yellow Dart.

I have been employed for a few months and have done some pricing. While not being an expert...I am comfortable.

Taken some graduate level statistics...again not an expert but did get good grades.

I think my understanding of Loss distribution part is quite good.

It seems not many people buy the idea of taking two exams together, I guess I will start studying soon and will review my strategy after a couple of months.

[Macroman]

....

It seems not many people buy the idea of taking two exams together, I guess I will start studying soon and will review my strategy after a couple of months.

This is an excellent idea. If you want to pursue the two exam idea you can focus on the exam you intend to take for certain up until shortly before the registration deadline and if you are totally comfortable (I don't know how this is possible, but) then decide to take the second exam. This strategy is likely to make more sense if you are set on taking 5 next session and iffy on 4 than the reverse.

[ramanujan]

Thanks Macroman.

At least someone has a thumbs up for my plan.

Any suggestions for study plan and study material?

[Zephyr]

Way to go. I think you should try both and pass both of them. Even if you get two 5s...it will be woth the effort ! Afterall to master risk we need to gamble.

Good Luck.

[sticks1839]

I would write out a list of when the exams you still have left are offered and make your decision based on that. I am foregoing 4 the next round because if I take 4 now, it will give me 4 spring and 2 fall exams. With the 4 skip, I will have 3 fall, 3 spring. Of course, this is all contingent on me passing all my future exams (insert sarcastic laugh here).


I'm in the same boat and this is the approach I've been thinking about. I would hate to have to wait extra time for ACAS or FCAS because I passed all Fall and not all Spring exams. But I'm more worried about passing first try, so I'd like to take 4 while 3 is fresh in my mind. I'll be contemplating the double as well though...

[NewTubaBoy]

I don't see why any reason you would take 5 before 4. So you take 5, pass. Then you go back to 4. Then you come back and 5 is offered again, but 6 isn't, so no matter what you do you're going to be "not on track" to pass all in order. You're going to have to take some out of order if you skip 4 to do 5. If you take both and pass that's another story. I would recommend taking 4 (since it's so close to 3). Then you can get all those mathy exams out of the way... then you can focus on the upper exams... whether it be 6 or 5. If you fail 4 one time, and pass you can take 5. If you pass the first try take 6. It doesn't matter.

I think it's stupid to say, "well, I'd have x number of spring exams and x number of fall exams". This arguement is only valid if you pass all your exams on the first time. Just take them one at a time and don't plan the next 5 years of your life.

[Lex]

Hey,

I have 1,2, and 4 and just wrote the CAS3. It wasn't my first time with 3 and I don't think I passed (thanks Statistics portion! lol..) Anyway, my advice would be to just pick one. C4 has a lot of material to cover. I'm planning to write C5, and have briefly looked at some of the material, and there is a lot of reading.

[hzhang]

I thought that it's much easier to take 3 and 4 together than 4 and 5 together. There is some overlap between 3 and 4, while 5 is completely different style exam from prelim exams. Passing one exam at the first attempt on a full-time job is not easy, let alone trying to make sure that you will not end with 2 5's. I will strongly vote against the idea of taking two different style exams at the same time, unless you're super genius...

[Turkey Club]

I think it is a very good idea to plan out your tests early. If you have no tests to take because of poor planning you are losing the time value of getting your ACAS, FCAS, raises and bonuses early.

It might not be likely that you pass every exam the first sitting but that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea to plan your test taking out.

What if the exams you fail are the Spring exams and you pass all the Fall exams? Then you are setting yourself up to have to sit out two fall sittings with nothing left to take while still having to pass exams 7 and 8 in the spring. You are delaying getting your ACAS and FCAS by a year because of poor planning. The only time when planning your tests out early wouldn't matter is if the exams you fail are the fall ones while you keep passing the spring ones.

I'd skip Exam 4 this sitting and take Exam 5 so that you are set up with future exams in each sitting. I don't see why that is a bad strategy.

[sticks1839]

I'd skip Exam 4 this sitting and take Exam 5 so that you are set up with future exams in each sitting. I don't see why that is a bad strategy.

I've read a lot of posts that suggest taking 4 right after 3 because of how similar the material is. So you could make arguments that you should take either one next. That's why I'm going to try both, but will be going hardcore after 5, which is first, to make sure I at least (well hopefully) pass that one. Then if need be I can take 4 again in the fall. I'm looking at the 3 week gap between tests as a sign to go for it. Probably 70% or more of my studying is always in the last 3 weeks anyway.

[NewTubaBoy]

I think it is a very good idea to plan out your tests early. If you have no tests to take because of poor planning you are losing the time value of getting your ACAS, FCAS, raises and bonuses early.

It might not be likely that you pass every exam the first sitting but that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea to plan your test taking out.

What if the exams you fail are the Spring exams and you pass all the Fall exams? Then you are setting yourself up to have to sit out two fall sittings with nothing left to take while still having to pass exams 7 and 8 in the spring. You are delaying getting your ACAS and FCAS by a year because of poor planning. The only time when planning your tests out early wouldn't matter is if the exams you fail are the fall ones while you keep passing the spring ones.

I'd skip Exam 4 this sitting and take Exam 5 so that you are set up with future exams in each sitting. I don't see why that is a bad strategy.

I mean, I'm not saying that you shouldn't plan out your exam track... I'm just saying when you've got a TON of time left... like thinking whether to take 4 or 5, it's kinda stupid. I understand that if you have 3 exams left... or something like that it's smart.

That wasn't my main point anyway, it was that the material is so similar between 3 and 4 and that taking two would be stupid.

[sticks1839]

I mean, I'm not saying that you shouldn't plan out your exam track... I'm just saying when you've got a TON of time left... like thinking whether to take 4 or 5, it's kinda stupid. I understand that if you have 3 exams left... or something like that it's smart.

That wasn't my main point anyway, it was that the material is so similar between 3 and 4 and that taking two would be stupid.

By the time you have 3 exams left, there's nothing really to plan because (well hopefully) you won't have any left that can be taken either Spring or Fall.

That's the big dilemma here. Take 4 to take advantage of being familiar with material of 3, but (assuming all passes) end up sitting out a fall session at some point because there are no exams left to take. Or take 5 to even out the Fall/Spring exams left, and hope that you don't forget material from 3 that can help you with 4 making 4 much harder. OR take both and pray you're disciplined enough to not end up with two 5's.

[NewTubaBoy]

By the time you have 3 exams left, there's nothing really to plan because (well hopefully) you won't have any left that can be taken either Spring or Fall.

That's the big dilemma here. Take 4 to take advantage of being familiar with material of 3, but (assuming all passes) end up sitting out a fall session at some point because there are no exams left to take. Or take 5 to even out the Fall/Spring exams left, and hope that you don't forget material from 3 that can help you with 4 making 4 much harder. OR take both and pray you're disciplined enough to not end up with two 5's.

I just think that by planning like, "Ok... I've got 3 fall exams and only 2 spring exams... better do this instead of that" is stupid. Things are going to work out how they work out and if you end up with two either a spring or a fall exam left... oh well, you'll surive. I don't think most people will benefit from planning becuase things change... there is going to be an education redesign next year and they're moving the exams from 9 to either 7 or 8. Plan if you want to, but don't plan so much as to overlook the small steps in between.