Exam 8 vs Exam CSP

[Math333]

If I take Exam 8 for the first time next November and fail it, I'd need to take Exam CSP instead the following May. Does anyone know how similar Exam 8 and CSP would be? (Maybe 80% the same, 30% the same, etc?) Would you advise me to try for Exam 8 next November?

[E]

I'm not even sure the SOA knows what exam CSP will look like yet.

[Farmer Mac]

I don't think exam CSP will really be as hard as a Course 8 - if it is, then I will consider travelling around the world...

...until they make the process easier again -
which they inevitably will once they figure out that my building superintendent can now get an ASA, and getting an FSA will not be worth it for anyone.

The worst thing is that I already have one of the essay exams - and I get credit for modules. I guess my greatest crime is not starting the process two years earlier or two years later (I would either have the easy ASA or finished FSA b4 conversion). This has to be the only system in the world with such lopsided conversion rules.

Congrats to the SOA. The system will ensure continued high standards for go-getters who strive to be successful examination wizards in the business world.

[Deja vu]

I don't think exam CSP will really be as hard as a Course 8 - if it is, then I will consider travelling around the world...



What's your first stop? Australia is nice this time of year.

The SOA never said that they would make the FSA easier to get. Since the ASA is going to be way easier, the travel path from ASA to FSA is going to get much harder. The only statement they've made is that DP and CSP will be 8-like. FSA salaries are subject to supply and demand factors, and guess who determines who gets to join the club? Companies have said that they need more ASAs (or cheaper ASAs) that are better trained in the inter-workings of an insurance company. That is the impetus behind the new exam structure. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just life, but I'm not going to hope the CSP is easier. I like making sure my life is easier. Two 8-like exams will only leave me sleepless at night.

To quote Mocciolo in his 8v intro "this is a MONSTER exam." I think 8 is at least twice as hard as 5/6. A) there is more, higher level material and B) the E&E committee has gone on record stating that they expect a significantly deeper understanding of the material than in the 5/6 exams. I DO wonder if the SOA has considered the impact a few years down the road when all the DP/CSP candidates will not have had the experience of ANY 5/6 "warm up" essay exam. To toss not just one, but two of these at students who have not taken any essay exams will make getting an FSA pretty difficult. And I doubt the FSA club will be enthusiastic about giving FSAs to others that will have had a much easier total path to walk ... and they shouldn't.

You may not agree with it, but this process is as much about the ability to pass as it is about the content. College is the same. How relevant is the material you spent years learning in college? The real lesson there was to learn how to learn. Is this exam process really different? A few years after you get your FSA, the insurance world will be a different place, so this hidden process is a good thing to be good at.