CPCU 540 for the Finance Credit?

[no driver]

It depends on if your local Prometric site had appointments available, but you can take the exam any time in that window. You can also retake the exam once in the same window by registering again if you happen to fail.

[donny5k]

Originally Posted by no driver

It depends on if your local Prometric site had appointments available, but you can take the exam any time in that window. You can also retake the exam once in the same window by registering again if you happen to fail.

Paying $300 again?

[DrActuary]

Did anyone take the CPCU 540 recently? I am planning for the Oct - Dec window but feel lazy and bored to read the whole material - kind of still in the first chapter after 3 weeks - do not seem to recall anything that I read

I am planning to just do the CD- ROM questions. Would this suffice to give me a PASS or not? Please advise.

[no driver]

Originally Posted by DrActuary

Did anyone take the CPCU 540 recently? I am planning for the Oct - Dec window but feel lazy and bored to read the whole material - kind of still in the first chapter after 3 weeks - do not seem to recall anything that I read

I am planning to just do the CD- ROM questions. Would this suffice to give me a PASS or not? Please advise.

I found I was having trouble with retention until I started trying to answer the questions in the workbook (even then, sometimes I felt pretty stupid for not being able to recall details I had just read). The software helped me get a handle on my weaker chapters after I had gone through everything, but I don't think just answering those questions will prepare you for the real test. For one thing, I found that the question bank was kind of small and I kept getting the same questions when I would take practice exams. However, I didn't see many (any?) questions that were duplicates from the practice software when I took the exam.

At least push yourself to read through the material once so you have an idea of what topics the exam will cover.

[neofan]

I took the test earlier this month and I got the PASS notice.

I wasn't very motivated but the following will help you study more efficiently:

-Read the SMART guide, don't worry if you can't memorize all of them, try to read each assignment and make sure you understand all of them, this will help you memorize later, read them again, they're all very short BTW.
-Exam questions are more practical than the questions on Course Guide, none of the questions will require you to answer all of the bullet points, they ask at most 2 from a question so if you only remember a couple points it's OK. Based on my exam score range, I believe they give you credit for giving the right idea without having to memorize.
-Makre sure you get all the calculations right, they account for one third of the grade, they're rather simple compared to FM, there's even an annuity chart if you can't/don't want to calculate the PV or FV.

I like CPCU 540 a lot better than NEAS since you don't have to do home works for 2 months along with final exam.

p.s. I just received notice from SOA VEE Comm that my application is approved, this time I didn't even ask AICPCU to forward my grade, but instead I mailed my original score report on paper from AICPCU to SOA and 3 weeks later I received the notice.

[DrActuary]

What is the Smart guide. Is this the course guide that comes with the book or is this something different. I have four things for this course

Text book, Course Guide, CD - ROM and index cards. I am not sure if the smart guide is a different one.

Thanks!

[neofan]

Originally Posted by DrActuary

What is the Smart guide. Is this the course guide that comes with the book or is this something different. I have four things for this course

Text book, Course Guide, CD - ROM and index cards. I am not sure if the smart guide is a different one.

Thanks!

Read my reply earlier

http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actu...5&postcount=52

and

http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actu...5&postcount=53

Without using textbook, you'll miss like one question (3% out of 100 points), I spent about 30 hours at most, anything over 40 will be an overkill.

[I_will_make_it]

There is ton of memorization involved with this CPCU540. I have about 2 weeks until I sit for the exam so hopefully that will be enough.

[DrActuary]

less than a week into the exam, how is your preparation going for CPCU 540.

I completed reading the material from the smart guide now don't seem to recall any of them - need to do a second pass. Just praying to make it on the line and get a pass!

[volt]

I want to thank all of you who have written emails describing how to get the materials and sign up for the CPCU 540 test. What an easy way to learn Corporate Finance!

I took FM on November 10th and then took CPCU 540 on December 1st.
I used the Smart Aids, including the review notes and the course guide.
I took flashcards to the gym and studied them while on the elliptical trainer and bike. The practice exams on the CD were helpful. The trick is to set the number of hours of test for each assignment to 3 and then you get to see all the questions in the Q&A bank for that assignment.

Best of all was the tip to take the practice test in the back of the Course Guide. A few of those questions actually appeared on my test.

I especially liked that the material was focused on insurance companies and the insurance industry. I even looked at the textbook in spots.

Thanks again for all the advice.

If you are wondering which course to take and want to do it relatively quickly and painlessly (no homework), CPCU 540 is the way to go!! Just study the notes in this thread about how to do it.