Pass ratio for Course 1

I copied the passing Cand. #'s into excel and found that there were 2096. Anyone have an idea of how many actually took the exam? Obviously, looking at the highest Candidate # doesnt do you any good. Someone here had posted 5000+ had taken, and was wondering if anyone had more specific numbers for Course 1.

[snoo]

I did the same thing, and came to the same conclusion, but they're either going to pass over 40% or about 6500 people took the exam to make the pass ratio close to 33%. Makes me wonder where they set the pass mark, I passed, but I have no idea how many I actually got right, I felt good about 33 of them though...... hmmmm.

[Mr. BoH]

I think that the passing percent had to be higher than previous years. I don't think *that* many more people took the exam than in the past.

For what it's worth, I thought that the exam was considerably easier than past exams. Maybe the SoA didn't agree with me and thought we were all just really prepared.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

You'll have to wait a few weeks for a definitive answer.

Now, facts:
Number of Attempters:
May 2000: 2667, effective 2350
Nov 2000: 2526, effective 2333
May 2001: 3498, effective 3120
Nov 2001: 3524, effective 3123

Speculation: the first two were confusion-based. Anywhere from 3300 to 3700
If so, then the pass rates, based on your count, is 56%-64%! I think my range is a bit low, based on the pass rate expected ranges.
I'd have to guess above 4000.

[neofan]

Well, either so many more people took the exam, or everyone was doing so well that they decided to let go those who got over certain number of questions right (pass), without regard to the curve.

It makes me wonder, how hard it'd be for course 1 for Nov 2002 sitting after letting so many pass this time. I heard this happened to course 3, which last yr's exams were fairly easy while the most recent was a killer with fewer candidates, percentage wise, passing (May 2002). They've discussed this right after the exam in May indicating C3 was much more difficult.

[VernSchil]

I just graduated from a university with a huge engineering college. I spoke to several electrical engineers and computer scientists who were heavily considering actuarial jobs since the high tech industries were butchered during the recession and for the most part the job market for actuaries was unaffected. I'm sure this was a factor in the high number of passers as I'm willing to bet A LOT more people took exam 1 this time.

[neofan]

I just graduated from a university with a huge engineering college. I spoke to several electrical engineers and computer scientists who were heavily considering actuarial jobs since the high tech industries were butchered during the recession and for the most part the job market for actuaries was unaffected. I'm sure this was a factor in the high number of passers as I'm willing to bet A LOT more people took exam 1 this time.

When I took the exam, I swear to god, I see a lot of students who just party and came totally unprepared and were not even aware of the standards of conduct during the exam (swearing, not carrying proper calculator), , it made me wonder if you want these type of people into the industry, this was at University of Minnesota. Perhaps a lot of people see the ranking in career almanac and want to get in, but they overlook the time involved and required to pass the exam, even for course 1, most thought they can just study for a few hours and pass.

I'm quite certain that Nov course 1 will be more difficult, if not much more difficult in order to keep the supply of entry-level actuaries to a reasonable level.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Those people will get weeded out or assimilated. For some, especially their first exam, I would reason that the strict conduct and attitudes of the proctors during the exam is a bit of a culture shock. (The actuarial culture is a bit quirky.)

[FIOB]

I hadn't noticed that actuarial proctors were any stricter than any other kind. They have to make sure conditions are the same (as much as possible) at every location. I once took a CFA exam where the proctor wouldn't let me use an eraser. The instructions said the only thing we could have at our table was pencils, calculator and spare batteries. Since my eraser was not attached to my pencil I couldn't use it. I complained, and so did some other people I suppose, because the next year the intructions said we could also have erasers.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Compare it to, say, SAT, where kids routinely cheat, or any college course exam, where the instructor is burying his book into his head (a difficult feat). Some don't realize that this is important and most exam takers are full-time professional workers.
It seems that actuaries' influence on the CFA's professional standards are becoming apparent. Only a matter of time until it's assimilated. Heh-heh-heh.

[ghost]

I heard this happened to course 3, which last yr's exams were fairly easy while the most recent was a killer with fewer candidates, percentage wise, passing (May 2002). They've discussed this right after the exam in May indicating C3 was much more difficult.

In fact, there are lot more people who have passed C3 and C4 this sitting.
C3
May 2002 - 744
Nov 2001 - 605
May 2001 - 651

C4
May 2002 - 564
Nov 2001 - 491
May 2001 - 409

Either there is a sudden increase in the people taking these exams or suddenly the overall test-taking skills of the population is increasing or that the SOA has decided to lax its standards and increase pass-rate to 50%.

[Oscar]

or, as I suspect...many people are on their 3rd + attempt by now; therefore the pass rate would be higher, not just because the SOA decided to pass more.