Talk me out of this

[Lee Mellon]

I'm sitting for CAS 8 this spring. It's the last time, one way or the other. I've been infected by the idea that the way to do this would be to take the exam in Paris, France. I live in the Pacific Northwet.

I received a mailer a few weeks ago offering pretty decent fares to Paris and the idea sort of got away from me. Has anyone here taken an actuarial exam in Paris?

[Gandalf]

I never took one outside the US.

But why, if you had only N days in Paris, would you want to spend one taking an actuarial exam? Not to mention others preparing for it or rehashing it?

[Troy McClure]

I can't imagine how great it would be to walk out of an exam knowing I passed and I had the rest of the week to spend in Paris. And, it would make a great story forever.

Then again, it would be pretty depressing to walk out knowing you failed, it might ruin your trip.

Depends on how likely you are to pass.

Also, depends on your attitude. My last exam, I walked out not knowing, and I had decided to never take Part 9 again - so either I had passed, and I had Part 8 left, or I had failed and I was done forever with exams. I was pretty at peace with the decision, so I think if I had walked out knowing I had failed, I would not have felt too too bad, and being in Paris would have been a pretty good feeling.

Don't discount jet lag (although, I think the exam is offered later there). I would probably get there two days before, and spend a week there after, if you can work out the timing/vacation time.

I'm not doing a very good job of talking you out of this, am I? :smile:

[Troy McClure]

On 2002-02-10 10:42, Lee Mellon wrote:
I live in the Pacific Northwet.


Just curious if that was a typo or not?

[Minerva]

Lee - For heaven's sake don't screw with your last exam sitting by putting yourself in an unfamiliar situation, let alone the travel stress. You're experienced enough to know that you need every psychological advantage you can get to beat these exams.

Go ahead and book the trip to start at say 5am the morning AFTER the exam (so you can do your packing AFTER) and get any necessary travel documents NOW (way BEFORE).

(How'm I doing - is this what you meant by "talk me out of this"? :wink: )

[Lee Mellon]

Troy - intentional, although it's nice out this very moment.

Minerva - I was there last summer and just fell in love with the city and the people. Yes, the jet lag would be a barrier, but I don't recall the last time I walked into an exam feeling well rested and good enough to kill (1983, maybe?). A trip the next day would be too distracting. I'd be thinking about packing while I was writing my exam in the emerald city dungeon.

I know this is a bad idea, but it seems like such a great bad idea that it must be good.

[Mick Fan]

Lee -- I'd say that you're nuts.

Would the exam be in English or French? If you had a question for the proctor, would you know enough French to get by?

[Macroman]

The proctors are not supposed to answer questions anyway. The instructions would probably be in French, but you should have them memorized by now...

Do you really think that a trip the day after an exam would be more distracting than the exam during a trip?

It sounds wonderfully romantic and I think I would like to take my last exam in Paris. What would you do if there is another air travel scare like 9/11 and they shut down all the airports for about a week?

Would the society let you take the exam in Seattle even though you had registered for Paris?

[Griffin 1]

Make sure you learn how to understand the difference in French between "There are 5 minutes left for this examination" and "Time has elapsed. Put down le pen".

[G. Ringo]

Why do you want to lose 9 hours of study time?

[corrected by Gregor Grub]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Gregor Grub on 2002-02-11 15:22 ]</font>

[Lee Mellon]

I thought maybe I'd study on the plane.
Taklked myself out of it, actually. Idea turned from a whimsical lark into a full-fledged production which took al the fun out of it. Back to hull13.

[Oh Yeah]

Go for it Lee! It sounds like a great idea. And you will study on the plane, because there is nothing else to do.

What a romantic vision: [/thick French accent on] A hard working actuary, locked away in his tiny hotel room. No time to enjoy the sites. The tower, the Champs-Elysees , no... no these will have to wait. For our friend has a larger goal. He must, no he will pass this last of horrid exams, and then maybe, just maybe, there will be time for love. [/thick French accent off]

Not only *should* you do it, you *must* do it. And report back here afterwards. I would do it myself, but I'm done with exams and my wife would never let me go.

It will give you more incentive to study. Because Troy is right, it will make a great story. But only if you pass.

[jets fan]

Lee, I don't know your situation, but would you have to deal with any young children you might have on the plane, airport, hotel rooms, etc? If that applies to you, it will cause additional headaches that you can do without right before an exam. If you're going to do this alone or if your family will join you after the exam, this might not be a factor.

IMO, the last thing I would want to do right before an exam is take a long plane ride and deal with the associated pain in the as* of it all. It's possible you could be sitting right next to someone else's screaming baby the whole flight - there are a lot of unknowns. I'm all for celebrating in style afterwards (which you would definitely be doing over there) and I usually like to get away from my house for a while right after an exam, but the whole thing seems WAY to iffy.

[Crystal Dragon.]

quote: "Talk me out of this"

ummm.... don't do it?

[E. Blackadder]

Lee, go for it! Springtime in Paris is not to be missed, and this could add a lot of fun to a dull chore. I speak from dissimilar experience:

My happiest experience taking exams (admittedly a low hurdle) was when I drove from DC to Birmingham (a former home town), passed an exam, played in a bridge tournament all week, then drove to Chicago (relatives), and passed two parts of the old CAS #3.

Maybe I should find out where the tournaments are in May... :grin: Or maybe I should visit my relations in San Francisco. Hmmm...

[Mr. Grim]

You live a d*mn interesting life, blackladder.

[Nature Boy]

On 2002-02-10 13:12, Lee Mellon wrote:
I don't recall the last time I walked into an exam feeling well rested and good enough to kill (1983, maybe?).

now that's probably a typo. you meant 1938, right?

whoooooooooooo