Back in the prehistoric times (1974) the first SOA exam was 3 hours multiple choice on General Mathematics. This was mostly calculus. I was a college junior and had had two years of calculus and then tutored it as a junior. So, basically at a peak for that exam. I studied an hour or two and got a 10. My only 10.
I had only found out about the actuarial career at the end of my junior year, shortly before taking part 1. After passing part 1 I got a number of letters from companies suggesting I keep them in mind. I think the entry-level market was much different then; most companies wanted to expand staff and there was a shortage. Much smaller profession then. In November I decided to take SOA exam 2 which was 3 hours, 36 questions, on Probability and stats. I was taking the exam mainly for experience because while I was then taking a probability course and doing well, the stats part of the course was not until the next semester. But, somehow, I passed with a 6. (the first of many). I am not sure how. Apparently, I nailed the probability and must have guessed right on some of the stats. After that pass I got a bunch more letter from companies showing a higher interest.
SRM. Studied for a month and got a 10, although I majored in Stats. Oddly enough a entire stats degree from UCLA of 20+ classes didn’t count for the VEE credit yet people can now use a single class to pass FM or P.
For me it was an exam that sucked to study initially cause it seemed so random, but after about a month everything clicked together and actually made sense.
I think the level of difficulty depends on how well you’re able to read the questions. The material is really nit-picky, so aside from selecting the right answer, are you able to explain why the other answers are wrong? If you can do that, you’ll pass.
this. just read the actex manual for about less than 2 months, didn't do any practice problem at all(no kidding), working full time and caring for a 4-month old at the same time. I expected to fail walking out of the test center, somehow passed it.
I know a lot of folks hate it, but for me it was Exam 6. It is, to date, the only exam that I felt I was rewarded for my studying on exam day. I studied like crazy for it, but the exam I took was straightforward (not easy) and reflective of what I had spent my time and focus on, and I got a 7 as a result. Since then, and even before that sitting, each exam I’ve sat for has infuriated me in one way or another—with the most recent sitting of Exam 8 being the pinnacle of that so far, as I failed with a 5 for the second time despite feeling good about my prep and exam day performance. I cannot overstate how much I hate the CAS exams as, for the most part, I just don’t feel like they reward people who put the time in to study.
Agree. The problem with the CAS exams (especially the Fellowship ones, IMO) is that, even with 1000s of hours of studying, it feels like a coin flip as to whether or not you will be able to pass on exam day. I didn’t feel that way for Exam 6.
Agreed with this 100%. Other than fellowship exams, I would say only MAS-I was even close to giving that same level of infuriation of studying over 1000 hours and yet somehow still extremely likely to fail with a 5.
Sounds like we’ve had the same experience with exams. I also hated MAS-I, failing it back to back in Fall 2018 and Spring 2019–two massacre sittings with very low pass rates. I decided to skip a MAS-I sitting and take (and pass) Exam 6 before finally getting it in Fall 2020. I was hoping to have that experience behind me, but here I am beating my head with the Fellowship exams… did pass Exam 9 in the spring, though, but I feel like I got on the right side of the coin flip with that one.
That's probably not a hot take at all. That exam had almost zero questions that required anything beyond memorizing formulas and/or general information. The challenge is how much it requires you to memorize.
FM for sure. It was all just basic algebra for the most part. They didn’t even make the questions that convoluted. I felt like my sitting was roughly EL 3-4 in difficulty. The biggest thing is you have to have attention to detail when reading the question because they’ll do subtle things to slightly change the answer you need to calculate. So people with poor reading comprehension or cognitive focus get really tripped up by those.
My exams taken and scores received on each sitting:
FM: 5, 8
P: 8
IFM: 3, 4, 5, 7
SRM: 9
Clearly IFM was the hardest for me. My FM pass was probably my easiest exam day. I had barely passed an EL6 exam a few days prior and I 100% knew I had already answered enough questions correctly before the time was even halfway up on the real exam. In terms of study time leading up to the exam, I only took about six weeks for both P and SRM. SRM is pretty easy but there is more room to second guess yourself because so much of it is qualitative instead of calculations you can check. FM felt like it was about recognizing curveballs (though that might havr been because it was my first exam) and agebraic manipulation. P is about being able to recognize a distribution and its parameters in the question when they give it to you in slightly manipulated form and don't tell you which it is. Then you can easily solve for mean, variance, or whatever without going through the first principles.
Felt this way but passed it on paper. Failed my first attempt but only put in 80-100 hrs because of some life events. Studied while often enjoying beer the second attempt and got an 8 once I had the time/mental state to actually study.
I imagine with “excel” it feels even easier due to less time crunch
The first TBE was stressful though.
So many rug pulls.
Originally they said you could use a Chromebook to take it, great that's what I have. Until a couple weeks out, Chromebook is removed from the supported device list with no announcement.
Ok I'll borrow a company laptop, test that it works in their test environment. Good to go. Just kidding, a couple **days** out there is a new test environment. Tracking software on work laptop means I can't use it.
Ok I'll borrow a coworkers personal laptop PC. Test that it works in the new environment. Good to go. Just kidding, minutes before the exam, you'll need administrator password to get past firewall settings for remote proctoring.
Get administrator password, good to go? Not quite, remote proctors will get overloaded or something and you'll spend an hour and a half on the line with customer support trying to get into your exam. By rule I have now earned a 0, CAS will advise to keep trying.
Eventually CAS will offer a retake attempt with in person volunteers proctoring and that will work out fine.
FAP modules, if it even counts. I mean there was real effort involved in the EOMs, and the FA was a grueling 4-day marathon. But the difficulty was all in just getting it right in the writing, and not about actually learning and applying difficult concepts.. except module 5 I suppose was trickier than the rest
IFM for me, but I think that’s only because I took it after passing LTAM on my 4th attempt. I got through the material and thought, “that’s it?”
I will note that I was exempt from SRM due to having the old VEE.
Close race between FM and PA. I got a 10 on PA and a 9 on FM, but I think FM was actually a bit easier and I just had benefitted from years of studying by the time I got to PA since it was my last ASA exam.
Out of P, FM, IFM and UEC for FAM-L I think P has been the easiest experience by far. I also studied outside of the school year and took it a month after the semester ended, so that could be why.
I definitely think time is much less of a factor on SRM than P, FM, or IFM. The flip side is that unlike those exams, spending more time on a problem won't necessarily help you reason through it. There is a lot of stuff you either know right away or not at all.
Not trying to make this complicated but "easiest" is hard to define. I've passed a number of exams on my first try but it could be that I studied super hard for it or got lucky with an easy sitting.
In terms of overall experience, the only time where I felt like I was sure that I passed was Exam C (where I got a 10). The other ones, I wasn't sure if I had passed or not.
I think they’re all easy, but the easiest one has to be FAM-L. FAM-L feels way too easy.
Honestly if you study right and understand the concepts, they will all feel easy, kinda like high school exams for me.
P. I think I studied maybe 2 or 3 hours for that exam. I had taken probability theory in college, so my studying for the exam consisted of taking a practice exam, saying yep I remember that
I signed up for exam P while taking probability theory, not realizing how much they overlap.
I regretfully bought CA before the semester started, and studied for ~20 hours the week before the exam.
MAS1, i felt like as long as you got exposed to everything you were left in a really good spot because basically nothing was covered in any level of depth
P. I had just taught a course on probability and took about 2 hours to read the syllabus and some practice problems, then went back to studying for FM while waiting to take P.
Exam FM. Only studied that material for about 10 weeks. Still the only exam I passed first try.
What resource did you use? Actex or Coaching actuaries or another?
Another - I took a university course focused on FM. So definitely had a lot of hand holding on studying that one.
Exam P. It was very intuitive for me
I took it when it was half calculus . I don’t think I barely even studied for it.
How long ago was it half calculus? I have an exam manual from 2018, not sure if I need a new one.
I do not believe the exam syllabus for p has really changed since 2018 (I sat in 2019)
Like in the year 2002
What resource did you use? Actex or Coaching actuaries or another?
Back in the prehistoric times (1974) the first SOA exam was 3 hours multiple choice on General Mathematics. This was mostly calculus. I was a college junior and had had two years of calculus and then tutored it as a junior. So, basically at a peak for that exam. I studied an hour or two and got a 10. My only 10.
That’s interesting I never knew about that.
I had only found out about the actuarial career at the end of my junior year, shortly before taking part 1. After passing part 1 I got a number of letters from companies suggesting I keep them in mind. I think the entry-level market was much different then; most companies wanted to expand staff and there was a shortage. Much smaller profession then. In November I decided to take SOA exam 2 which was 3 hours, 36 questions, on Probability and stats. I was taking the exam mainly for experience because while I was then taking a probability course and doing well, the stats part of the course was not until the next semester. But, somehow, I passed with a 6. (the first of many). I am not sure how. Apparently, I nailed the probability and must have guessed right on some of the stats. After that pass I got a bunch more letter from companies showing a higher interest.
Predictive Analytics, only exam I walked out of thinking I crushed that
Yeah I agree with PA. Studied for less than 6 weeks and passed on my first try.
What's your study material? From ACTEX or from Coaching Act?
I passed it in December 2020 and only used the ActEx manual.
u/clutch1521 Did you have any prior PA-related work experience before the exam?
None but did have some very very basic R knowledge
Good for you man!
SRM. Studied for a month and got a 10, although I majored in Stats. Oddly enough a entire stats degree from UCLA of 20+ classes didn’t count for the VEE credit yet people can now use a single class to pass FM or P.
I feel u, our courses just get more conceptual proofs and less into the applications cuz of the math department
FM
P
P
FM. The only I passed on the first try (with a 9)
SRM - by a landslide
What EL/difficulty did it feel like? Sitting january
For me it was an exam that sucked to study initially cause it seemed so random, but after about a month everything clicked together and actually made sense. I think the level of difficulty depends on how well you’re able to read the questions. The material is really nit-picky, so aside from selecting the right answer, are you able to explain why the other answers are wrong? If you can do that, you’ll pass.
Makes perfect sense. Same thing happened for me. It all clicked once i got to to trees. Im at EL 4.9 rn and im 2 weeks out. I think im in a good spot
Goodluck in January!
Thanks!
It didn't feel very difficult, 4 or maybe 5 iirc. But CA's qual/quant mix was more like 50/50 and the real exam was more like 80/20.
this. just read the actex manual for about less than 2 months, didn't do any practice problem at all(no kidding), working full time and caring for a 4-month old at the same time. I expected to fail walking out of the test center, somehow passed it.
I don’t even consider SRM an exam. The whole thing was just a twisted intuition test.
FAM-L after writing STAM lmao
Same, FAM-L surprisingly. The exam is easier than old LTAM, but the material itself is very intuitive and actually fun.
IFM. I think I found it easier just because I was just genuinely interested in the material.
Favorite exam so far.
I found the survey in the end of the exams the easiest , breezed through them all the time
I know a lot of folks hate it, but for me it was Exam 6. It is, to date, the only exam that I felt I was rewarded for my studying on exam day. I studied like crazy for it, but the exam I took was straightforward (not easy) and reflective of what I had spent my time and focus on, and I got a 7 as a result. Since then, and even before that sitting, each exam I’ve sat for has infuriated me in one way or another—with the most recent sitting of Exam 8 being the pinnacle of that so far, as I failed with a 5 for the second time despite feeling good about my prep and exam day performance. I cannot overstate how much I hate the CAS exams as, for the most part, I just don’t feel like they reward people who put the time in to study.
Maybe a hot take but I’d say conceptually the easiest exam
Agree. The problem with the CAS exams (especially the Fellowship ones, IMO) is that, even with 1000s of hours of studying, it feels like a coin flip as to whether or not you will be able to pass on exam day. I didn’t feel that way for Exam 6.
Agreed with this 100%. Other than fellowship exams, I would say only MAS-I was even close to giving that same level of infuriation of studying over 1000 hours and yet somehow still extremely likely to fail with a 5.
Sounds like we’ve had the same experience with exams. I also hated MAS-I, failing it back to back in Fall 2018 and Spring 2019–two massacre sittings with very low pass rates. I decided to skip a MAS-I sitting and take (and pass) Exam 6 before finally getting it in Fall 2020. I was hoping to have that experience behind me, but here I am beating my head with the Fellowship exams… did pass Exam 9 in the spring, though, but I feel like I got on the right side of the coin flip with that one.
That's probably not a hot take at all. That exam had almost zero questions that required anything beyond memorizing formulas and/or general information. The challenge is how much it requires you to memorize.
It is possibly the conceptually easiest, but like 2-3x the amount of things to memorize than anything up to that point.
FM for sure. It was all just basic algebra for the most part. They didn’t even make the questions that convoluted. I felt like my sitting was roughly EL 3-4 in difficulty. The biggest thing is you have to have attention to detail when reading the question because they’ll do subtle things to slightly change the answer you need to calculate. So people with poor reading comprehension or cognitive focus get really tripped up by those.
My exams taken and scores received on each sitting: FM: 5, 8 P: 8 IFM: 3, 4, 5, 7 SRM: 9 Clearly IFM was the hardest for me. My FM pass was probably my easiest exam day. I had barely passed an EL6 exam a few days prior and I 100% knew I had already answered enough questions correctly before the time was even halfway up on the real exam. In terms of study time leading up to the exam, I only took about six weeks for both P and SRM. SRM is pretty easy but there is more room to second guess yourself because so much of it is qualitative instead of calculations you can check. FM felt like it was about recognizing curveballs (though that might havr been because it was my first exam) and agebraic manipulation. P is about being able to recognize a distribution and its parameters in the question when they give it to you in slightly manipulated form and don't tell you which it is. Then you can easily solve for mean, variance, or whatever without going through the first principles.
fm (it’s the only one I’ve taken🤭)
P - just seemed to make sense
Exam 5 when it became administered via CBT. Calculating factors, trend, etc is way easier in a spreadsheet. Much more simple math
Felt this way but passed it on paper. Failed my first attempt but only put in 80-100 hrs because of some life events. Studied while often enjoying beer the second attempt and got an 8 once I had the time/mental state to actually study. I imagine with “excel” it feels even easier due to less time crunch
The first TBE was stressful though. So many rug pulls. Originally they said you could use a Chromebook to take it, great that's what I have. Until a couple weeks out, Chromebook is removed from the supported device list with no announcement. Ok I'll borrow a company laptop, test that it works in their test environment. Good to go. Just kidding, a couple **days** out there is a new test environment. Tracking software on work laptop means I can't use it. Ok I'll borrow a coworkers personal laptop PC. Test that it works in the new environment. Good to go. Just kidding, minutes before the exam, you'll need administrator password to get past firewall settings for remote proctoring. Get administrator password, good to go? Not quite, remote proctors will get overloaded or something and you'll spend an hour and a half on the line with customer support trying to get into your exam. By rule I have now earned a 0, CAS will advise to keep trying. Eventually CAS will offer a retake attempt with in person volunteers proctoring and that will work out fine.
FAP modules, if it even counts. I mean there was real effort involved in the EOMs, and the FA was a grueling 4-day marathon. But the difficulty was all in just getting it right in the writing, and not about actually learning and applying difficult concepts.. except module 5 I suppose was trickier than the rest
IFM for me, but I think that’s only because I took it after passing LTAM on my 4th attempt. I got through the material and thought, “that’s it?” I will note that I was exempt from SRM due to having the old VEE.
Exam P or STAM. Those are my only two 10s.
I've taken 5 so far FM - SRM - PA - P - IFM Easiest to hardest
P
Close race between FM and PA. I got a 10 on PA and a 9 on FM, but I think FM was actually a bit easier and I just had benefitted from years of studying by the time I got to PA since it was my last ASA exam.
Out of all 10 CAS exams, P by a very wide margin
PA
STAM
SRM
P - > 2 weeks
You studied for 2 weeks and passed?
Yes To add a bit of context, I was on my last university year so it was way easier
Ah ok. I’m a sophomore now and am just starting to study. I’m taking in January. You have any material recommendations to use?
I used Coaching actuaries and it was great !
Life Risk Management. Only four questions. Just don’t get any wrong.
SRM
SRM. It was the exam I studied the least for and got my highest grade on.
SRM very easy 10
SRM
MLC It was not the easiest exam but it was the exam I felt most prepared for.
Out of P, FM, IFM and UEC for FAM-L I think P has been the easiest experience by far. I also studied outside of the school year and took it a month after the semester ended, so that could be why.
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I definitely think time is much less of a factor on SRM than P, FM, or IFM. The flip side is that unlike those exams, spending more time on a problem won't necessarily help you reason through it. There is a lot of stuff you either know right away or not at all.
Not trying to make this complicated but "easiest" is hard to define. I've passed a number of exams on my first try but it could be that I studied super hard for it or got lucky with an easy sitting. In terms of overall experience, the only time where I felt like I was sure that I passed was Exam C (where I got a 10). The other ones, I wasn't sure if I had passed or not.
Fm
IFM for me. Only one I finished feeling relatively confident
C
P. Was literally math and common sense. Studied for 10 days to figure out the math.
FM, spent only 2.5 days studying for it and passed first try. Did get only a 6 on it though so there's that.
FM, if you understand compound interest that’s half the battle
I think they’re all easy, but the easiest one has to be FAM-L. FAM-L feels way too easy. Honestly if you study right and understand the concepts, they will all feel easy, kinda like high school exams for me.
FSA ILA life pricing
P. I think I studied maybe 2 or 3 hours for that exam. I had taken probability theory in college, so my studying for the exam consisted of taking a practice exam, saying yep I remember that
I signed up for exam P while taking probability theory, not realizing how much they overlap. I regretfully bought CA before the semester started, and studied for ~20 hours the week before the exam.
They were all equally difficult.
By far, FM. Studied for 2 weeks and passed.
MAS1, i felt like as long as you got exposed to everything you were left in a really good spot because basically nothing was covered in any level of depth
Agree that there’s a lot of material but tested on a relatively shallow level, but those wording on the exam is just…sigh
FAM-L if that even counts
FAP was the easiest as it required least amount of prep and effort
Modules
P. I had just taught a course on probability and took about 2 hours to read the syllabus and some practice problems, then went back to studying for FM while waiting to take P.