Hardest Preliminary Exam?

[MarsLasar]

What did you think was the hardest preliminary exam?

For me, it was definitely exam 1 (now P). That exam kicked my butt worse than all the rest. I think it is hard for different reason's than the others...it is where you first get introduced to the SOA style of exam, which for me, was vastly different from college. After I passed that exam, the rest came fairly easily using the same techniques.

[GefilteFish144]

I took the preliminaries before 2000. Back then Exam 100 (CAS 1) was just calculus and linear algebra, just took me 2 weeks to study for that. 110 (CAS 2) was probability and statistics, then there was 120 (CAS 3A) on regression and time series and 135 (CAS 3C) on numerical methods. After that the SOA/CAS split off, though many SOA people took CAS 4B on loss distributions. There was a CAS exam on life contingencies (4A), and while it was probably not as intense as the SOA counterpart (140) it was definitely the most difficult one to learn.

[ReserveRage]

Most challenging material (Exam M/3) or hardest to pass (Exam C/4)?

[LossLimit]

Originally Posted by ReserveRage

Most challenging material (Exam M/3) or hardest to pass (Exam C/4)?

I agree but somehow getting into exam 1 i found the most difficult. I think I studied the most hours and had to sit for it twice something I've learned how to avoid.

[ReserveRage]

I can see how Exam 1 would be the toughest if one didn't have any calculus or probability. I guess there has to be people who go into this profession who've never seen an integral before E1. I always assume everyone was like me and had a full 3 semesters of calc and 1 or 2 semesters of prob/stats.

[Alto Reed on a Tenor Sax]

Originally Posted by ReserveRage

I can see how Exam 1 would be the toughest if one didn't have any calculus or probability. I guess there has to be people who go into this profession who've never seen an integral before E1. I always assume everyone was like me and had a full 3 semesters of calc and 1 or 2 semesters of prob/stats.

I took exam P after 1 year of AP calc in high school....8 years prior. No math in college. No probability, no stats. I had even forgotten how to bubble in a Scantron sheet.

It was hard as hell, but I passed it, and now at least I don't have a rude awakening ahead of me, like some people might who pass three or four exams without ever seeing material that they had not already covered in their college Actuarial Science program.

[GefilteFish144]

I would think that Exam 1 would be easiest for anyone who will be moving on to the higher exams, just because of the "weed-out" aspect of it. By the time you move on to 3 or 4, many candidates who had given up after unsuccessful attempts at 1/2 will not be there to bring down the curve. I remember when I passed Exam 1 I left almost 1/3 of the questions blank and got a 10.

[Alto Reed on a Tenor Sax]

Originally Posted by GefilteFish144

I would think that Exam 1 would be easiest for anyone who will be moving on to the higher exams, just because of the "weed-out" aspect of it. By the time you move on to 3 or 4, many candidates who had given up after unsuccessful attempts at 1/2 will not be there to bring down the curve. I remember when I passed Exam 1 I left almost 1/3 of the questions blank and got a 10.

FM has been becoming very popular as a first exam, because it's so short. Even after the new material is added in 2007, I imagine it will still be popular.

[remilard]

Originally Posted by Alto Reed on a Tenor Sax

FM has been becoming very popular as a first exam, because it's so short. Even after the new material is added in 2007, I imagine it will still be popular.

Short and requires almost no prerequisites other than simple algebra. They could ask a continuous interest question that requires integration as opposed to a basic formula but it seems that they aren't exercising that option. I think the duration/convexity stuff on the two released FMs also didn't require differentiation but I might be remembering that wrong.

Thats not to say its easy. It had the lowest pass percentage of any SOA preliminary in the Fall.

[Kazodev]

Originally Posted by remilard

Thats not to say its easy. It had the lowest pass percentage of any SOA preliminary in the Fall.

Isn't that kind of skewed/biased just a little bit? People that make it through 2 and move on to higher exams are probably a little more persistent than the ones who stop at 1 or 2? Thus you get a more "dedicated" pool of exam takers for later exams. Just my 2 cents.