NEAS Time Series

[funk1]

Has anyone done anything yet? One week has gone by and I've not done squat. I might start some this week, but otherwise I'm proceeding with caution until they get approved...which I think will happen, but we just don't know when.

[DoctorNo]

I'm in the same boat, but it's only been because we've had too much billable work this week.

I did get the textbook, though. Yahoo!

[NewTubaBoy]

I did the first two modules, which were cake... like one problem in each section. It should start getting harder though.

[appleapple]

Have not started yet either. I should get the textbook later this week. I will probably start after Thanksgiving.

[rebeccap]

I am starting...today. Since I already took regression analysis from NEAS, the first two modules are the same, so I am not too behind.

[funk1]

With the Actex class officially filling up, people will need the NEAS class. The SOA VEE committee needs to approve this asap IMO.

[rebeccap]

With the Actex class officially filling up, people will need the NEAS class. The SOA VEE committee needs to approve this asap IMO.

Doesn't look like they will make the decision any time soon...

[MarsLasar]

I received the following email response from the SOA (asking, almost pleading, for an expedited decision on the NEAS classes):

"The VEE Committee is dedicated to making sure the courses are up to the standards established for VEE before any approval can be granted. However, that may require going back and forth with NEAS a few times before a decision can be made. Please be assured that we are moving on the issue, but need to be very careful of the outcome. Therefore, I cannot estimate the length of time it will require to complete the review process, nor can I predict the result at this time."

Any questions? :-P

[rebeccap]

This is exactly what I got as well.

No question...except what are you gonna do...in terms of me, I'll just have to sit here and wait.

I received the following email response from the SOA (asking, almost pleading, for an expedited decision on the NEAS classes):

"The VEE Committee is dedicated to making sure the courses are up to the standards established for VEE before any approval can be granted. However, that may require going back and forth with NEAS a few times before a decision can be made. Please be assured that we are moving on the issue, but need to be very careful of the outcome. Therefore, I cannot estimate the length of time it will require to complete the review process, nor can I predict the result at this time."

Any questions? :-P

[MarsLasar]

I am going to do the homework modules and hope for the best.
sigh...

[funk1]

I really don't see how the Time Series or Regression courses are any different than the already approved Economics and Corporate Finance courses (yes, I know there is a project component). Otherwise, I could understand the SOA's beef with NEAS. NEAS paints the picture like the "faculty" are actively involved on the message board to help students and that the homework is "rigorously graded." I could link 50 threads in the next 5 minutes where students were pleading for help or had a homework question and the "faculty" never bothered to help.
Twig, this is all your fault for dragging NEAS into the mud!! j/k hun :).

[funk1]

Another thing about NEAS. The statistics courses have a project component in them. Where are the details about this? It is no where on their message board. I know they have not been approved, but crap like that does not impress anyone. The class is now 12.5% over and participating students have no clue about this project.
I was optimistic about approval, but now I am extremely skeptical. Actex is full. What's a man to do...:headbang:

[Peter Lemonjello]

I received the following email response from the SOA (asking, almost pleading, for an expedited decision on the NEAS classes):

"The VEE Committee is dedicated to making sure the courses are up to the standards established for VEE before any approval can be granted. However, that may require going back and forth with NEAS a few times before a decision can be made. Please be assured that we are moving on the issue, but need to be very careful of the outcome. Therefore, I cannot estimate the length of time it will require to complete the review process, nor can I predict the result at this time."

Any questions? :-P

Yes, I have a question for the SOA:

SOA, What changed about the NEAS Stats course to cause you to recind your approval?

Sub questions:
a) SOA, did you mess up when you approved it the first time?
b) At what point did you decide it was not good enough?
c) What evidence do you have that the students that took the NEAS course have not sufficiently mastered the Applied Statistics material?
d) Is a high pass rate alone enough to withdraw approval?

[Peter Gibbons]

"The VEE Committee is dedicated to making sure the courses are up to the standards established for VEE before any approval can be granted. However, that may require going back and forth with NEAS a few times before a decision can be made. Please be assured that we are moving on the issue, but need to be very careful of the outcome. Therefore, I cannot estimate the length of time it will require to complete the review process, nor can I predict the result at this time."


I received this message in an inquiry to the SOA also. A couple of weeks later I replied in the same email chain asking for an update, and they gave me the exact same canned response. I haven't felt this kind of frustration since before we brought the Bobs in to my company to do "a little housecleaning." I'm pretty sure my old boss, Bill Lumburgh, is spearheading this exam redesign. After he brought Initech to profatibility, he was pretty much allowed to write his own ticket.

[funk1]

soa is treating this approval as if it were another TPS report :)

[Frenchie]

Yes, I have a question for the SOA:

SOA, What changed about the NEAS Stats course to cause you to recind your approval?

I don't believe they rescinded approval, from the material I have from the last sessions, it was only approved through Summer 2005, or something like that. Now, it is going through a renewal type approval. Doesn't make it any more convenient for the students, but just an fyi.

[NewTubaBoy]

I don't believe they rescinded approval, from the material I have from the last sessions, it was only approved through Summer 2005, or something like that. Now, it is going through a renewal type approval. Doesn't make it any more convenient for the students, but just an fyi.


That's interesting... and I think that is true. I think that most people were looking at this as "They took away the approval and NEAS had to earn it back by proving the course is rigorous and worth it." It may just be a normal biannual reapproval process or something. I mean, the couse hasn't changed significantly (except for the addition of that project) which I don't think would cause the board to think it was a LESS appropriate class.

We'll see I guess.

[funk1]

That's a good point which I think is backed up by the fact that the NEAS corporate finance and econ classes are up and running without problems...pretty much proves that this is not about the SOA hating on NEAS' methods.
With that said, there are many people riding on this NEAS approval and I think the VEE Committee needs to put this at the top of their priority list. They can say it takes time, but they surely don't put weeks and weeks of analysis in for the hundreds of courses out there at universities.
The class is almost 1/4 of the way through. Hundreds of students are in need to know unlike a college class in BFE that may affect one or two students.

[NewTubaBoy]

agreed. I don't think the SOA is intentionally dragging their heels. I'm sure there are "issues" thought of some sort. Why else would it have taken this long. I have a feeling we will hear this week or next week. That would be nice.

[funk1]

Not sure what these issues could be though. The class is structurally the same as the Corp Fin and Econ online classes, except the stats class has a project component (why the stats would need to be beefed up with this as opposed to the other classes is unclear to me). IF there are issues though, NEAS is unaware of them b/c they are sitting and waiting for the SOA to approve and everything seems okay to them.

[Peter Lemonjello]

I don't believe they rescinded approval, from the material I have from the last sessions, it was only approved through Summer 2005, or something like that. Now, it is going through a renewal type approval. Doesn't make it any more convenient for the students, but just an fyi.

Recinded or failure to reauthorize, not much difference in my book. My question remains:

What changed? We had a course that was approved. Now, the same course isn't. Why not?

[NewTubaBoy]

We could all be completely over reacting to this. It could just be that the SOA is very busy. I mean, they did just administer all their exams and all. So if the NEAS is confident then I don't see why we shouldn't be too. I'm sure that the SOA just doesn't want people to push them around and say, "we need the course approved NOW." So they're taking their time and doing it on their schedule.

[funk1]

Good point Tuba, but it should be pointed out that there many students out there that have one component (time series or regression) from this summer's NEAS offerings and need the other now (and purposely planned to do it right after the fall SOA exams). So this particular decision is needed by a lot of people. My department alone has 4 people that need a decision on this...which is probably more than 90% of university courses that are pending approval.
The fact that the Actex class is full doesn't help circumstances either. There are not many online alternatives.
Tuba is right though. The SOA is probably very busy. The holidays don't help either. I'm pessimistic at this point and am planning on the CAS exam...if they get approved, then great.

[NewTubaBoy]

Good point Tuba, but it should be pointed out that there many students out there that have one component (time series or regression) from this summer's NEAS offerings and need the other now (and purposely planned to do it right after the fall SOA exams). So this particular decision is needed by a lot of people. My department alone has 4 people that need a decision on this...which is probably more than 90% of university courses that are pending approval.
The fact that the Actex class is full doesn't help circumstances either. There are not many online alternatives.
Tuba is right though. The SOA is probably very busy. The holidays don't help either. I'm pessimistic at this point and am planning on the CAS exam...if they get approved, then great.

I agree with you, as there are about 4 or 5 at my company waiting for this decision as well. I'm annoyed and was very pessimistic, but feel now a bit better. I dont want to take the CAS exam because it's both time series AND regression. I have college credit for regression and dont want to have to restudy that material, you know? I've got my fingers crossed.

[funk1]

FYI to those interested, but the August administration of the CAS exam for stats had a ~75% pass rate....not too bad. Pass rates for econ and finance were just over 50%....which isn't stellar by VEE standards.

[cincinnatikid]

I don't know whether to be more frustrated with NEAS for apparently being unable to put together an acceptable syllabus where they give the slightest appearance of concern, or the SOA for dragging this process out so much with ambiguous statements and seemingly holding the online courses to a different standard than the 8-week rubber stamp they put on university courses based on a vague syllabus.

Either way, I have become completely de-motivated from working on the assignments, which I was really intending to start today before receiving my "not yet message" from NEAS today.

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[twig93]

Twig, this is all your fault for dragging NEAS into the mud!! j/k hun :).

I know you're kidding Funk/Buhlmann. But honestly, the idea that my ranting posts about NEAS might conceivably have something to do with all this mess makes me feel absolutely awful. I wonder every day, and occassionally at night if they had anything to do with this.:confused:

I have never said/written/emailed anything to anyone at the SoA on the topic, please be assured of that. I constantly wonder whether they just looked at the NEAS-published pass rates, or if it was something else that caused them to nix their approval. Certainly, if for any reason they'd asked NEAS to see a copy of the exams, that would have probably caused a bit of an uproar because by now I think we all know that the exams were unquestionably too easy.

Part of me is miffed at NEAS for this too. I mean how could they have possibly not realized that they were making it too easy? The first question on the regression exam last time gave you the answer in the question. The only thing it could possibly have been testing was reading comprehension, because it certainly wasn't testing anything to do with Regression! If they'd made the exams a little more rigorous from the outset, the passing percentages would have still been pretty high (maybe they would have dropped from the mid-90's to the low-90's or upper 80's) and the SoA might have been satisfied. All very preventable IMO.:shake:

But then part of me wonders if Bruce or Steve or one of the other precious few members of the SoA that actually post to AO might have seen my posts and forwarded them to the VEE committees. I don't know if we'll ever know, but if my posts had anything to do with it, you all have my sincerest apologies.

Good luck everyone, I hope the approval comes soon!

[Peter Lemonjello]

Don't sweat it twig, I doubt it is due to you. However, I do believe that exam committee members read these threads; I sure would if I were on a committee.

If the SOA decided to not renew the NEAS statistics charter due to the pass RATE, then I am miffed at THEM. I can very easily believe that 90% of the actuarial candidates taking a similar undergraduate class in regression and time series would / could get a B- or better. I sure hope the SOA decision wasn't based on NEAS pass rates.

Perhaps it is NEAS's sluggish web site that isn't up to standards. I wish someone would say what the problem is/was.

It would be very interesting to take a random sample of people that sucessfully completed the NEAS exam and have them take the CAS exam. You'd have to do it right around completing of the NEAS curriculum, to minimize knowlege loss (or gain). How would the NEAS students do?

[Bühlmann]

Yeah, Twig...don't be hard on yourself. I don't blame the SOA at all for questioning NEAS's VEE courses. What irks me is that the econ and finance courses were approved pain free. Why should the stats be all that different? IMO, all VEE courses should be equal.
I agree with Peter Lemonjello.....their website is not up to snuff. I could link 50 threads where students on their message boards complained that the NEAS faculty would not answer their questions. If I knew of that and were on the VEE Committee of the SOA, I would question NEAS and say, "so why should I believe that your staff will be there to answer questions about this project you talk about?"

[NewTubaBoy]

I agree that it seems that they seem to be giving this class a more difficult review than they would from a Syllabus from a college course. I mean, the NEAS has a syllabus and covers all the material that a college course would. I don't think that the pass rate arguement is a valid one. The SOA has no way of knowing the pass rate at all these colleges. I mean, they could even tell the NEAS to make their exams more difficult if the needed to, but that doesn't make sense to me.

[NewTubaBoy]

Yeah, Twig...don't be hard on yourself. I don't blame the SOA at all for questioning NEAS's VEE courses. What irks me is that the econ and finance courses were approved pain free. Why should the stats be all that different? IMO, all VEE courses should be equal.
I agree with Peter Lemonjello.....their website is not up to snuff. I could link 50 threads where students on their message boards complained that the NEAS faculty would not answer their questions. If I knew of that and were on the VEE Committee of the SOA, I would question NEAS and say, "so why should I believe that your staff will be there to answer questions about this project you talk about?"

A few things.

1.) The Economics classes weren't "approved pain free". When they were originally approved they were approved for a longer period of time than the Applied Stats classes. So it's not like the board has recently approved them and looked at the Applied Stats classes harder.

2.) In defense of the NEAS.... the forums that we post in are labeled on their discussion board as "unmoderated forums". So maybe when people post on those boards requesting help from the NEAS they're just posting in the wrong place. Maybe they don't even look at them becuase they want them to be student only forums. Has anyone tried actually calling NEAS for help before outside of posting on the forum?

3.) I really think that everyone is making an ENORMOUS deal out of this whole "not being approved thing". If the NEAS isn't reapproved that means THE CLASS IS TOO EASY AND DOESNT MEET THE REQUIREMENTS. That's a big IF. I mean, no one has said anything or even HINTED at the fact that the NEAS isn't getting reapproved for this class. Yes, I'm taking the class now too, so it is inconvenient, but at no time did they ever force anyone to take this class. I mean, in all their material they specifically state, "This class has not been approved" and to take it at your own risk. Yes, I'll be annoyed if for some reason it doesn't get approved, but honeslty people... you all are sounding like it's the end of the world if it doesn't get approved.

[Frenchie]

A few things. 2.) In defense of the NEAS.... the forums that we post in are labeled on their discussion board as "unmoderated forums". So maybe when people post on those boards requesting help from the NEAS they're just posting in the wrong place. Maybe they don't even look at them becuase they want them to be student only forums. Has anyone tried actually calling NEAS for help before outside of posting on the forum?

True, but even when questions are e-mailed to them, you first go thru "Patti" who is someone who monitors the VEE e-mail box. She then relays the question to the "instructor" who, at their leisure, provide Patti with the response that she then relays back to you. Very inefficient. Particularly when the response is "Just do such-and-such. That is what the question asks." Um, actually no it doesn't which is the whole point of asking for clarification in the first place-- the questions are not clear." But whatever. I have decided to just give up on ever getting any assistance from them.

[Bühlmann]

2.) In defense of the NEAS.... the forums that we post in are labeled on their discussion board as "unmoderated forums". So maybe when people post on those boards requesting help from the NEAS they're just posting in the wrong place. Maybe they don't even look at them becuase they want them to be student only forums. Has anyone tried actually calling NEAS for help before outside of posting on the forum?


Wrong. Here is post on the Time Series message board by NEAS in the "Course Questions" section. They ARE supposed to respond to student questions....and to my knowledge, never do. And also, unmoderated just means that anyone can post. I'm not trying to rant here. Just trying to establish the facts about this.


Course Questions


Updated: May 24, 2005


Question: If we have problems with the material or the homework assignments, how do we get help?


Answer: The NEAS faculty answer students’ questions about the material and homework. Much explanatory material is sent with each textbook assignment as well. Post your questions in the appropriate module of the discussion forum.

[NewTubaBoy]

Wrong. Here is post on the Time Series message board by NEAS in the "Course Questions" section. They ARE supposed to respond to student questions....and to my knowledge, never do. And also, unmoderated just means that anyone can post. I'm not trying to rant here. Just trying to establish the facts about this.


Course Questions


Updated: May 24, 2005


Question: If we have problems with the material or the homework assignments, how do we get help?


Answer: The NEAS faculty answer students’ questions about the material and homework. Much explanatory material is sent with each textbook assignment as well. Post your questions in the appropriate module of the discussion forum.

Good point, I guess I just misunderstood what unmoderated meant. I still think points 1 and 3 that I made are valid.

[kquick]

Does anyone know about the level of difficulty of the Econ and Corp Finance courses offered by NEAS? Why is there a problem with Applied Stats?

I am worried about the tone of the letter that NEAS sent out yesterday. They said that they are not sure if the courses will be approved in time to administer final exams. I'm inclined to wait and see if these courses are approved before doing the work.

As far as the difficulty level, I checked out the CAS transitional exam that was given this past August. That exam is 1.5 hours with 15 questions. It is covering a lot of material, but the questions seemed straight forward. I'm thinking maybe I should have just taken that, but now that I've already paid over $200 for only half the Applied Stats credit, I don't know if my employer will be thrilled with that.

[rebeccap]

Does anyone know about the level of difficulty of the Econ and Corp Finance courses offered by NEAS? Why is there a problem with Applied Stats?

I am worried about the tone of the letter that NEAS sent out yesterday. They said that they are not sure if the courses will be approved in time to administer final exams. I'm inclined to wait and see if these courses are approved before doing the work.

As far as the difficulty level, I checked out the CAS transitional exam that was given this past August. That exam is 1.5 hours with 15 questions. It is covering a lot of material, but the questions seemed straight forward. I'm thinking maybe I should have just taken that, but now that I've already paid over $200 for only half the Applied Stats credit, I don't know if my employer will be thrilled with that.

Your concerns are certainly most-sincerely shared by others like me.

[Bühlmann]

I still think points 1 and 3 that I made are valid.

I agree that your points 1 and 3 are valid, but I would like to add something to your third point. I know the SOA VEE committee is probaby very busy, but there is a sense of urgency about the NEAS class because a large number of students stuck in the transition need to know about it. If the SOA has a stack of 400 courses to approve, then NEAS needs to be moved to the top of the list because hundreds of people are waiting to on it. This is in contrast to the university classes where at most a dozen or so students might be impacted.
Furthermore, I'd like to add that many university classes are a joke as well. All the VEE committee sees is a syllabus from the class. I think NEAS is probably getting a more thorough review than the other "experiences." I mean, easy or not, NEAS does cover the syllabus options like most university courses that are getting approved. The volume taking the class should not be a factor either. A class is a class. I've had more than my fair share of joke courses (including PhD level chemistry courses at a prestigious university).

[NewTubaBoy]

I agree that your points 1 and 3 are valid, but I would like to add something to your third point. I know the SOA VEE committee is probaby very busy, but there is a sense of urgency about the NEAS class because a large number of students stuck in the transition need to know about it. If the SOA has a stack of 400 courses to approve, then NEAS needs to be moved to the top of the list because hundreds of people are waiting to on it. This is in contrast to the university classes where at most a dozen or so students might be impacted.
Furthermore, I'd like to add that many university classes are a joke as well. All the VEE committee sees is a syllabus from the class. I think NEAS is probably getting a more thorough review than the other "experiences." I mean, easy or not, NEAS does cover the syllabus options like most university courses that are getting approved. The volume taking the class should not be a factor either. A class is a class. I've had more than my fair share of joke courses (including PhD level chemistry courses at a prestigious university).

I think its for all your points that the class will eventually be approved

[Bühlmann]

Yeah, it will eventually get approved. NEAS will eventually do everything the VEE committee asks them to do. It just may take some time. Some of us are in more of a hurry than others. Some students don't get their Exam C raises until they complete their Appl. Stats VEE. Those are especially the ones who want this process sped up asap.

[NewTubaBoy]

Ahhh.. I understand. I didn't realize some people had to wait to get the exam four raises until they get the VEE credit. Strange.

Well, I hope it goes quickly.

[Bühlmann]

Ahhh.. I understand. I didn't realize some people had to wait to get the exam four raises until they get the VEE credit. Strange.

Well, I hope it goes quickly.

My company does not do this now, but they are implementing it next year. And I know of companies now that do this currently. They also require you to get econ and finance credit before awarding the FM raise. I personally disagree with that kind of policy as I think passing an exam deserves it's own distinct merit increase. Since the VEE topics were deemed not worthy of being tested, they should not be worthy of consideration when giving exam raises. They were taken off of the exams and employers should not associate them with the exams themselves. But I digress....:)

[appleapple]

I guess we can speculate forever, but while we are at it:

It seems to me that the delay in approval should not be NEAS being too easy. After all, they do require two courses for the one VEE credit. Granted it has harder questions, the CAS exam is only one 15 question exam for total stats VEE credit.

[kquick]

I don't want to do the homework for Time Series, only to not take the final exam in January. I would have to put more review time in when (and if) I am able to take the exam in March. That's in the event the courses are approved by then. And they may not be. Which would mean we have to wait until July for the final exam. This is efficiency?

[Chicago Joe]

The risk with not doing the homework, though, is if it finally gets approval in early January. Then we'd suddenly have to rush through the course in a very short time in order to be prepared for the exam. I haven't done much of the homework yet, but I'm tempted to get rolling on it in order to avoid this kind of situation.

We should have expected a nightmare like this when we saw the final was scheduled for Friday the 13th...

[Bühlmann]

The risk with not doing the homework, though, is if it finally gets approval in early January. Then we'd suddenly have to rush through the course in a very short time in order to be prepared for the exam.

If the course does not get approved until early January, NEAS will not have time to get all of the proctoring and payments organized to administer the final exam. Approval will need to happen by mid-December or else you can kiss the Fall sitting of this class good-bye.

[twig93]

I don't want to do the homework for Time Series, only to not take the final exam in January. I would have to put more review time in when (and if) I am able to take the exam in March. That's in the event the courses are approved by then. And they may not be. Which would mean we have to wait until July for the final exam. This is efficiency?

Here's the thing about doing the homework. At some point, you're going to have to be tested on Time Series. Most likely it will be through NEAS. (I find it very hard to believe that NEAS will not do whatever it takes to ultimately win SoA approval back.) Perhaps it will be through the CAS exam. Perhaps you will go back and take a college course. But at some point, you're going to have to learn the material.

Doing the homework is moving you forward in that goal. Even should I be wrong about NEAS getting approved, doing the homework will still help prepare you for the CAS exam. So it's not like you've lost anything. Sort of like studying for an exam and failing it. If you're going to be retaking the exam, it's not like the time you spent studying before is a total loss, because it contributed to your learning the material. Doing the homework might not be the optimal method of study, but it's not too inefficient either.

Were I in your position, I would do the homeworks. I would also keep an eye on the CAS exam registration deadline and if it's going to pass before an announcement is made about VEE, I would register for it, just to be safe. But I would remain hopeful that NEAS would ultimately gain approval.

Of course it's easy for me to say all this since I managed to get through while NEAS was still approved. You should see me whine in other forums about not knowing the date of the FAP exam! I do sympathize with those of you who have half the VEE credit through NEAS...

[kquick]

Twig,

yes it is easy for you to say this since you have the credit and don't I kick myself for not having taken time series last session, but my reasons for doing so were legitimate. Of course your advise makes sense and is rational, but I think to be honest, most of us are looking at the most efficient way to get through these exams. So, yes, I have to do the HW at some point, but it is more efficient in my mind to do it closer to when I will be tested on the material.

Don't get me started about the first FAP exam! Waiting until August to take it and we have no idea of knowing when the second exam will be given. I don't even think they've finished writing it or the final modules yet! So much for my ambitious goal of getting my ASA by the end of 2006.

[Bühlmann]

ASA by the end of 06 was my goal as well. I whipped up on M and C this year and now I may be left hanging. GRRRRRRRR!!!!!

[MarsLasar]

What would it take to get your ASA by the end of 2006? Just the first 4 exams and the FAP modules (with the two exams)?
Is this correct?

[kquick]

Yes, that and the APC course. Buhlmann, I am there with you.

[cincinnatikid]

ASA by the end of 06 was my goal as well. I whipped up on M and C this year and now I may be left hanging. GRRRRRRRR!!!!!

To think you would let a small delay set you back....

Course 6 in the Spring, Course 8 in the Fall, APC in December and you're still on track, plus you don't have to wait on the modules b/c they (assumedly) will all be released by then.

:tup:

Disclaimer: I do not endorse this method and am only throwing this out as a POSSIBLE (though not likely or recommended) option for the desperately aggressive and criminally insane....Please, please, please do not shoot me.

[Bühlmann]

Course 6 in the Spring, Course 8 in the Fall, APC in December and you're still on track, plus you don't have to wait on the modules b/c they (assumedly) will all be released by then.

I just switched tracks and have been in managed care for a few months. I'm not ready for exam 8.

[Frenchie]

Does anyone know about the level of difficulty of the Econ and Corp Finance courses offered by NEAS? Why is there a problem with Applied Stats?

I am worried about the tone of the letter that NEAS sent out yesterday. They said that they are not sure if the courses will be approved in time to administer final exams. I'm inclined to wait and see if these courses are approved before doing the work.

As far as the difficulty level, I checked out the CAS transitional exam that was given this past August. That exam is 1.5 hours with 15 questions. It is covering a lot of material, but the questions seemed straight forward. I'm thinking maybe I should have just taken that, but now that I've already paid over $200 for only half the Applied Stats credit, I don't know if my employer will be thrilled with that.

Are you saying you have taken the other half of the course, or do you mean you paid the money for the Time Series course? If it's the latter, I think you can get a refund. I had registered for it when it was still an approved course and then deferred till now. When I realized there were problems, I just went ahead and registered for the Actex course and sent NEAS an e-mail and they refunded the money back to the employer (I'm no longer with the same company). It didn't take any time at all. As a matter of fact, I got an e-mail the other day confirming the resolution of the refund with my former employer (they chose to apply the funds to another student's class).

[kquick]

Are you saying you have taken the other half of the course, or do you mean you paid the money for the Time Series course? If it's the latter, I think you can get a refund. I had registered for it when it was still an approved course and then deferred till now. When I realized there were problems, I just went ahead and registered for the Actex course and sent NEAS an e-mail and they refunded the money back to the employer (I'm no longer with the same company). It didn't take any time at all. As a matter of fact, I got an e-mail the other day confirming the resolution of the refund with my former employer (they chose to apply the funds to another student's class).


I have already taken the NEAS Regression course. Therefore, I would like to finish up the VEE requirement through NEAS. Looks like I will wait for approval.