Hello all!
Introduction My name is Derek and I am a junior at the University of Washington Seattle Campus. I am an Econ Major projected to graduate Winter 2016 if all goes as planned! I plan to sit for exam P in May. I know there have been quite a few of these posts however I thought it would be cool to chronicle my experience as well as be able to receive help and encouragement along the way! I am brand new to Actuarial Outpost and excited to share with all of you... I seriously misspell Actuarial or Actuary every single time I type it!
Academic Background: I have only taken one calculus course in college and no probability courses. I did however take an intensive full year AP Calculus course as a senior in high school that at least gives me a point to begin. I also just took a 300 Level statistical method course, which once again doesn't cover much of the material, but at least provided me with minor exposure to a few topics. Regardless I recognized that this little background would not nearly be enough to apply to hold up under the "Been There Done That Rule." In order to jump start my studying process I spent around 40-50 hours during winter break learning multi-variate calculus, strengthening my integration ability, as well as brushing up on some other fundamental mathematical concepts where I found myself lacking.
Study Plan: I have both the Actex manual I received from a friend and a 6 month subscription from Coaching Actuaries. I am well aware of the risks involved attempting to take this exam without a strong mathematical background. I think I can overcome these risks and plan to spend 250-300 total hours studying, and give it my best shot! I am currently taking a very light 13 credit load with two breezy VLPA classes to fulfill grad requirements. I have been blessed with the opportunity to focus all my efforts on this process, without having to worry about a job in the meantime.
Study Plan Continued I will be following a pretty regimented study schedule aiming for 3-4 hours a day 6 days a week with at least one full day no studying at all. I will most likely spend 5-6 hours a day the last 3-4 weeks just working through practice problems. This gives me 8-9 weeks to learn the material with a goal of 150-200 hours spent and another 3-4 weeks to practice problems with a goal of 50-100 additional hours. When studying I sit with a stop watch and only count every second I spend fully engaged in the material. If I check a text message, start some laundry, even pet my dog etc I stop the timer. This is just a way to test myself and see where I am at after X hours studied and if I am getting the most out of my hours.
A Little Motivation:
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The Sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus”
― Alexander Graham Bell
I want to make the most out of my study hours and know that there is a difference between 300 intense, devoted hours spent pouring over the material and 300 hours spent half-assing it! :study:
A Call for Help I will be posting questions or concepts that I find challenging and would be very grateful for any and all help from everyone out there in the community. I realize that as a non-math major I may get stuck on some concepts that most of you find to be very elementary, please weather the storm and refrain from any negative feedback (I don't mind a joke here and there).
Some Personal Background I have lived in the greater Seattle area my entire life and am definitely a fan of the Pacific North West. I grew up playing almost every sport you've ever heard of and played basketball, baseball, and football in high school. I spend a lot of my free time outdoors running, hiking, or playing pick up basketball. I have a strong passion for economics and spend lots of time reading and listening to lectures fro a wide variety of sources. I have set in front of myself the goal of passing two exams prior to graduation to make myself as attractive as a candidate as possible. I haven't done too much research on the field but I think I would like to work at a consulting firm like Milliman in Seattle. I am a really laid back guy :beer: if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them or PM me anytime!
Also if there are any UW students out there who are aspiring actuaries feel free to contact me and we can link up sometime maybe grab some coffee!
Update (Where I am at as of now) So I have done a little bit of studying prior to creating this thread. Like I mentioned I spent some time over went break (40-50 hours) and worked through most of the pre-requisite material as well as through Section's 1-4 of the Actex manual. I have so far worked through every practice problem provided in the examples, as well as the problem sets (in the first 4 sections) and can pretty well say I understood most of the material. Anyways begining today I am taking the studying process full on and will be plowing through some of the material on transformations, MGF's, and Order Statistics (notoriously some of the more challenging material) just to expose myself and see what I am in for! I will update frequently thanks for reading :)
Introduction My name is Derek and I am a junior at the University of Washington Seattle Campus. I am an Econ Major projected to graduate Winter 2016 if all goes as planned! I plan to sit for exam P in May. I know there have been quite a few of these posts however I thought it would be cool to chronicle my experience as well as be able to receive help and encouragement along the way! I am brand new to Actuarial Outpost and excited to share with all of you... I seriously misspell Actuarial or Actuary every single time I type it!
Academic Background: I have only taken one calculus course in college and no probability courses. I did however take an intensive full year AP Calculus course as a senior in high school that at least gives me a point to begin. I also just took a 300 Level statistical method course, which once again doesn't cover much of the material, but at least provided me with minor exposure to a few topics. Regardless I recognized that this little background would not nearly be enough to apply to hold up under the "Been There Done That Rule." In order to jump start my studying process I spent around 40-50 hours during winter break learning multi-variate calculus, strengthening my integration ability, as well as brushing up on some other fundamental mathematical concepts where I found myself lacking.
Study Plan: I have both the Actex manual I received from a friend and a 6 month subscription from Coaching Actuaries. I am well aware of the risks involved attempting to take this exam without a strong mathematical background. I think I can overcome these risks and plan to spend 250-300 total hours studying, and give it my best shot! I am currently taking a very light 13 credit load with two breezy VLPA classes to fulfill grad requirements. I have been blessed with the opportunity to focus all my efforts on this process, without having to worry about a job in the meantime.
Study Plan Continued I will be following a pretty regimented study schedule aiming for 3-4 hours a day 6 days a week with at least one full day no studying at all. I will most likely spend 5-6 hours a day the last 3-4 weeks just working through practice problems. This gives me 8-9 weeks to learn the material with a goal of 150-200 hours spent and another 3-4 weeks to practice problems with a goal of 50-100 additional hours. When studying I sit with a stop watch and only count every second I spend fully engaged in the material. If I check a text message, start some laundry, even pet my dog etc I stop the timer. This is just a way to test myself and see where I am at after X hours studied and if I am getting the most out of my hours.
A Little Motivation:
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The Sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus”
― Alexander Graham Bell
I want to make the most out of my study hours and know that there is a difference between 300 intense, devoted hours spent pouring over the material and 300 hours spent half-assing it! :study:
A Call for Help I will be posting questions or concepts that I find challenging and would be very grateful for any and all help from everyone out there in the community. I realize that as a non-math major I may get stuck on some concepts that most of you find to be very elementary, please weather the storm and refrain from any negative feedback (I don't mind a joke here and there).
Some Personal Background I have lived in the greater Seattle area my entire life and am definitely a fan of the Pacific North West. I grew up playing almost every sport you've ever heard of and played basketball, baseball, and football in high school. I spend a lot of my free time outdoors running, hiking, or playing pick up basketball. I have a strong passion for economics and spend lots of time reading and listening to lectures fro a wide variety of sources. I have set in front of myself the goal of passing two exams prior to graduation to make myself as attractive as a candidate as possible. I haven't done too much research on the field but I think I would like to work at a consulting firm like Milliman in Seattle. I am a really laid back guy :beer: if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them or PM me anytime!
Also if there are any UW students out there who are aspiring actuaries feel free to contact me and we can link up sometime maybe grab some coffee!
Update (Where I am at as of now) So I have done a little bit of studying prior to creating this thread. Like I mentioned I spent some time over went break (40-50 hours) and worked through most of the pre-requisite material as well as through Section's 1-4 of the Actex manual. I have so far worked through every practice problem provided in the examples, as well as the problem sets (in the first 4 sections) and can pretty well say I understood most of the material. Anyways begining today I am taking the studying process full on and will be plowing through some of the material on transformations, MGF's, and Order Statistics (notoriously some of the more challenging material) just to expose myself and see what I am in for! I will update frequently thanks for reading :)
UW Student Journey to Passing Exam P
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