Prep for Exam PA

Benjaminr

What resources and study methods have you found effective for Exam PA?

CalebWetherell

Benjaminr This was posted on Reddit with a good bit of upvotes:

I didn't read anything. I clicked through the modules to get the gist. I went through the TIA R course, because I didn't know R at all. My recommendation is to study the models themselves. Know how to word a model interpretation and analysis for any GLM model they can throw at you.
They were so general. I feel like they didn't actually teach anything themselves. If any information in there is new (regarding communication/professionalism), definitely spend some time there. They relied on outside material to teach you R. I recommend you pick one that works for you; I didn't like the text...kinda boring.
The 2 sample problems were great. I only focused on one of them, but they give you a general structure that you should follow. Super useful.
Honestly, I don't know if the first sitting was representative. I thought my knowledge would stick me at a 3, but apparently I passed. Seems like a lot of people were surprised. I don't know if this leniency will continue.

TRyanMyBest

I have a coworker that exclusively used the Actex manual to pass the June 2020 sitting and swears by it, so that's what I'm rolling with.

BigPeePee

TRyanMyBest I swear by the SOA modules. No need to buy anything else.

SamC

Hi Benjaminr,

I saw that you asked me a question on Actuarial Outpost but I was unable to answer it because the website stopped working for me.

"What do the 28 hours of videos cover? Do you go over past exams, review all topics on the syllabus, etc.?"

The videos along with the study guide are a comprehensive study tool. The videos cover everything including the basics of R programming, framing the business problem so that predictive analytics can be used, data exploration and visualization, introductory modeling, generalized linear models, tree-based models (difference between bagging and boosting, etc.), unsupervised learning such as kmeans, hclustering, hiearchical clustering, and most importantly, communication and writing. This is a big part of the exam and the writing templates, exercises, time-saving tips, and video examples will save you about 1-2 hours on your real exam.

As for study resources, take a look at the CAS Monograph V - Generalized Linear Models for Insurance Ratemaking which is a famous Casualty paper on GLMs that covers all of the material on PA.

You can see examples of our tutorial videos in our Fall 2020 Study Guide . It sounds like you have this already but I wanted to let you know that Sections 8.6, 12.4, 14.2 had videos and solution samples added last week.

Best regards,
Sam
Course Instructor at ExamPA.net

actuarymapa

How is everyone feeling about this exam? I'm using Actex and still trying to get through all the material. Feeling a bit nervous as the exam gets closer.

BigPeePee

Stop stressing. Easiest exam ever.

CalebWetherell

Some nerves are good... It makes you work harder. Keep doing those practice problems 👍

BigPeePee

CalebWetherell Not for modern-day SOA exams. Everyone studies 1 week and passes. FSA is a joke now.

CalebWetherell

BigPeePee Keep your trolling in the Banter Box 👮

BigPeePee

CalebWetherell Not trolling, unfortunately.