preparation for batten course 3 seminar

[palatka]

i'm considering going to a seminar with batten for course 3 and was wondering how much preparation is needed for it to be useful. i'm struggling with the life con material and i'm wondering if its worth going if i don't know the material well.

[Alya]

i'm wondering if its worth going if i don't know the material well.

Yes it is. He will go over all the formulas (very fast, so be ready to write a lot) and do some problems. Of cause it is better to give his problems a try before the seminar, but you will have a chance to do this the night (and early morning) before the class.

[Double Down Trent]

Actually, I think Alya completely misses the point on Battens method of teaching. He gives you a few formulas, but the main value from his seminar is how to think about these problems - not rote memorization of abstract formulas.

I don't know when the seminar you are planning to attend is, but if you have 3-4 weeks before that seminar, try to learn and understand as much as you can from chapters 3,4,5 of Bowers. You don't have to have these completely mastered, but at the very least you should have mastered what all of the symbols mean and know some basics about solving the problems. Batten will usually send out a problem set separated out by chapter from Bowers. Read Bowers carefully, read the appropriate section from Batten's Manual (Pay special attention to the formulas with an asterisk - truly reason your way through what these formulas mean, don't just memorize. If you understand their meaning, you won't have to memorize), do a few problems from the manual and do the first half or so questions from Batten's handouts. He always puts the older, easier questions first so just pay attention to them so you have the basics down.

Do this for Chapters 3,4,5, of Bowers and you will definitely be in good shape to pass at least the Life Con part of 3 by the time the seminar is over.

Note - I have previously taken Batten's seminar and tried Alya's method. Due to a family crisis, I ended up missing a lot of study time and failing 3 that sitting. When I went to study for it the next sitting, I remembered none of the formulas I had memorized and had to start from scratch. If you follow my method, or something similar, it won't add too much time to your studying compared to memorizing, but you will be much better prepared for the exam. And if you fail - which is definitely not a long shot for any of us on a first attempt at this exam - you will not have to go back to the beginning next sitting.

[drctypea]

i have some book by Batten and London called "Life Contingencies adn Ruin Theory." I really havent looked at it too much as I have focused on the text, arch manual, and old 150 questions. Has anyone heard of this book and if it is at all comparable to the material that Batten hands out during his seminar, or if it is worthwhile going through. any comments on this text would be appreciated as i cant make his seminar. thanks

[retaker]

The Batten/London book's problems weren't like the ones he did in the seminar. When I went to the seminar he did old 150 questions which is good but aren't like course 3 questions. I'll give you a big hint for the exam. That Batten/London manual is a hidden gem for course 3. The questions in the book are very much like the actual ones you will see. If you look closely at the manual and the past course 3 exams you will even see that some of the problems are almost identical, and not like the old 150's.

The problems in the manual are more difficult all around and require actual "first principles" knowlege of the material rather than just mathematical crank and bang techniques like the old 150.

This is just one of the ways Course 3 is different and more difficult than 150. The exams are harder now!

By the way Batten goes fast and doesn't like to go back over stuff so you had better either be smart as crap or have seen the stuff before.

[Alya]

He gives you a few formulas, but the main value from his seminar is how to think about these problems - not rote memorization of abstract formulas.
All i meant to say is that one does not need to know all the material before going to the seminar. He gives much more than a "few formalas" - he gives the ONLY few formulas that you NEED to know. His main point is that these 10-15 formulas per chapter are enough to do any problem. This means that even if have not seen this material before you are not totally lost.

And I do believe that the best way to prepare is to try to do his problems (the ones he sends out before the seminar). They are sorted by chapters, so if you know how to do the first 5 and the last 5 from the chapter you can move to the next one to save some time for now.