How You Study

[brandond]

Can I ask kind of a personal question? For those of you who use the ASM manual for FM/2 or any manual for that matter, after reading the material, do you have to study the solutions to the past exam problems that are given as the examples?

I am curious as to whether I should know how to solve these problems without seeing the solutions, for which the majority of them I cant, or is it common to have to see the solutions to understand how to solve them?

Just curious? Thanks.

[Veckatimest]

The first time through, I'd say I may have to look at the solution to about half or probably a little more of the problems. It's really hard to pick up all the little nuances and tricks after reading about the topic and only seeing a few examples.

One thing I find helpful is to read through the section once, struggle through some of the problems, and then read through the section again and finally continue working problems. A lot of times you'll just gloss over an important concept when reading the sections which is crucial to understanding many of the problems. However, I do feel that the ASM manual does a very good job of emphasizing important points.

BTW, brandond, I'm from Kansas City too. We could have studied together if I would have known. But I'm taking the exam tomorrow so...

[Majestic_Actuary]

I kinda follow the approach as veck. I do as much as the problem as possible and if I get stuck somewhere along the way I have no problem at looking at the solution for a clue to the next step in the problem and then trying to finish the problem on my own.

btw, I too am from the Kansas city area, didnt know there was so many people from this area on here.

[Cdnstnd]

My study habits for pretty much every exam i took so far usually goes like this.

Spend a lot of time reading through the manual, very carefully trying to fully comprehend everything. Usually just doing a few questions from each chapter to get a feel for the type of questions.

Closer to exam time, I will usually do around 1 practice exam a day, any question which I don't know how to instantly tackle or any question where i make a stupid mistake or just totally understand I will put a lil * next to it. I wont look at the solutions till i finish the exam...then any question which i totally get wrong I will look back and reread that chapter where its from and of course read the solution.

Next day repeat but after I'm done the new exam i go back and redo any question which has a * next to it (from the beginning) . So my practice exam marks usually go up a little bit after each one, for ASM FM ones it went 31/35 slowly up to 34/35.

In the end all I will do doing questions with * next to it. I also do the same thing for any of the SOA practice questions, this exam there isn't many so it didn't take long but for MLC with its 282 question it took awhile.

Anyways there is my strategy and every exam I wrote I felt extremely prepared and it hasn't failed me yet through MLC/MFE and I doubt it will for this one.

[brandond]

Thanks everyone, that helps.

[Bama Gambler]

Here was my approach ...

1. Learn the material as fast as possible. Back when I took the exams I did this with a manual or the textbook and then attended a live seminar. Now I recommend a TIA online seminar of course (since I'm the CEO of TIA ). My biggest concern is staying ahead of my study schedule. I work as many problems as I can during this step but not so many that I find behind schedule. Before I turn to a solution (or watch a video solution) I would spend 20-30 minutes trying to figure it out on my own.

2. After the live seminar I work nothing but problems. I start this step at least 1 month before the exam and preferably 1.5 months before the exam. At first I'll spend 20-30 minutes working a single problem but as it gets closer to the exam I'm quicker to turn for help from a solution, instructor or this forum. I work a few problems from a section and then move to another section. This way I keep all the material fresh. As it gets closer to the exam I really start to focus on speed. I need to be able to solve problems in under 6 minutes.

Also while in step 2 if I miss a problem then I put in a special pile to re-work. Every couple of days I re-work the problems I have previously missed. If I miss it again then it goes back in the pile.

During this step I avoid referencing my manual, online seminar or textbook at all costs. I'm done learning the material. I'm just trying to get my problem solving speed up to exam speed. I will reference my summary sheets often.

Up until about 2 weeks before the exam I will keep my summary sheets next to me while I work the problems for quick reference. With 2 weeks to go I'll put them away and try my best to work problems without them.

3. With about 1 week to go I work 1 or 2 sample exams. The primary purpose of the exam is to practice my test taking strategy. IMHO too many students use practice exams to get up to exam speed on working problems. It is too late to do this with 1 to 2 weeks to go.

4. Also during the last 1 or 2 weeks I review all the key concepts ("formula" summary sheets) every couple of days. I don't memorize much so these are more "head bobbing sessions". Yes I understand that, yes I understand that, and so on.

5. The day before the exam I usually just review my summary sheets and head to bed about 2 hours early knowing that it will take me longer than normal to go to sleep.

[Wolf Follower]

Originally Posted by Bama Gambler

Before I turn to a solution (or watch a video solution) I would spend 20-30 minutes trying to figure it out on my own.

I thought I was the only one stubborn enough to do this. I still haven't decided if I think it's a good use of time.

Anyway, I try to solve the end of chapter exercises myself first. If I have trouble I try to figure it out by re-reading the material and looking at the formulas, because I usually don't have them memorized yet. Finally, I look at the solutions as a last resort.

WF

[Bama Gambler]

It is a great use of time early in your studies, but as you draw closer to the exam I don't recommend it.

[peppy]

I only had 1 month to read through the entire 700 page manual. Basically I just started on page 1 and read the materials. Then I solved every problem on every problem set after reading.

Although for me, I had to stop at the end of chapter 3 to buy the BA II Plus calculator before continuing, so I just skipped to Derivatives Part 2 of the book and continued the same process. Once my calculator arrived and I was done with derivatives, I returned to Chapter 4 and continued until all the content was gone through.

I just finished the book 2 days ago, so I am basically skimming through the materials to remember formulas, concepts, solve simple example problems, ect. through about 100 to 200 pages per day. I have about 2 or 3 more days to do the practice exams after I've refreshed all the month's materials.

I think the important thing is to solve EVERY problem after each reading. When doing the problems, I will try doing it on my own. If I don't get it right away, I look back on the previous materials and formulas and try again. I usually won't spend more than 10 minutes on a problem, especially if it looks weird and unusual. I will just go to the solutions to learn how to solve these certain odd-ball problems and build those "tricks" into the normal content in the book. This seems to have worked well for me in learning the materials in a short time. The only thing that matters though is passing the test so I will have to see how this works.

[jprep]

Originally Posted by Wolf Follower

I thought I was the only one stubborn enough to do this. I still haven't decided if I think it's a good use of time.

Actually, I did this too, although admittedly much more for Exam P/1. The thing that's going to be quite different about this exam is going to be the theory-type questions.