Favorite type of exam question

[fallout]

My favourite type of question is along the lines of "Jane has chosen to invest in the following two bonds, Bond A is...." I always think to myself, well if the decision has already been made, why the heck am I trying to find expected returns etc...

I also like the questions that say "You are the chief actuary at ...". I always wanted to be chief actuary.

[Possum 2]

My favorites are questions concerning balls and urns. I am currently fleshing out a grand unified theory of everything that shows that everything can be reduced to balls and urns.

[TP]

This is going to sound rather nerdy for remembering this, but my all-time favorite question was on Course 3 a little while back.

It went something like this: Mr. Ucci had 3 hairs on his head. He uses the Hyperbolic to determine how long it would take him to go bald (i.e., lose all 3 hairs). Get it, Balducci = Hyperbolic. I figured all you Course 3 takers would get a kick out of it. I know I was laughing to myself during the exam, and proctor looked at me like he was going to rip my head off.

To the SOA: I just want to let you know that I appreciate the exam humor like that. It helps ease the mind in such a stressful sitting.

[Smash Puny Human]

You've gotta love the T-rex that eats the scientist.

[jerkweed]

No way, the sordid advertures of Lucky Tom rule!!!!!! :notworth: :notworth: :notworth: :notworth:

[Cynic]

I was laughing while I was doing the Balducci problem for practice, but I was crying (inside, of course) when I had to do it during the exam. I couldn't do it (that was my first sitting for C3).

Lucky Tom is not funny, just stupid (I guess that's one reason to laugh). I wish they were a little more creative with Lucky Tom.

Anyway, the bottom line is: no matter how funny a problem is, it sucks if you can't solve it.

[Toonces]

It went something like this: Mr. Ucci had 3 hairs on his head. He uses the Hyperbolic to determine how long it would take him to go bald (i.e., lose all 3 hairs). Get it, Balducci = Hyperbolic. I figured all you Course 3 takers would get a kick out of it. I know I was laughing to myself during the exam, and proctor looked at me like he was going to rip my head off.

I think there's some backstory to this...According to Batten's seminar, old questions used to say something like, "Assume a Balducci distribution" for this question. However, more recently, the official syllabus says to use "Hyperbolic" on all future exams, not Balducci. However this question writer found a way to sneak Balducci back onto the exam.

[Buru Buru]

Lucky Tom is not funny, just stupid (I guess that's one reason to laugh). I wish they were a little more creative with Lucky Tom.

I agree. When I took course 3 in November 2001, I fully expected them to have Lucy Tom be struck by some kind of terrorism in order to move with the times but it didn't happen.