Anyone else sitting for 7 this fall? How’s it coming along?
Hey amp. I am taking 7 this sitting. Since I was planning on taking it in the Spring before exams were canceled, I’ve had a lot of time to prepare. I’m down to just doing flash cards, practice problems, and memorizing formulas at this point.
I am, and I am really behind on preparing. I used a bunch of my study time for errands and personal things too. I hope I can catch up some.
I’m in a similar spot. I’m actually doubling up with 9 since I got tired of waiting around to take 7. Cramming 2 exams worth of material in my head is super stressful, but at this point I still feel pretty confident about 7 (9 is a different story lol). I’m planning on starting some practice exams for 7 in the next week or two. I think I’m finally used to doing problems in Excel.
Yeah… using study time for errands/personal stuff is always a good way to end up behind… There’s still about 2 months left though, which is plenty of time to cram in a bunch of knowledge!
Yeah I considered doubling up too but trying to fit that much information into short term memory sounds painfull. My company is also trying to limit expenses because of the effects of the economic downturn on the workers’ comp system. I think they were happy that I didn’t ask for another 2k for registration and materials.
Makes sense. What study materials are you using for 7? I’ve been using TIA. Just finished reading through all the review notes again this week. I think they’re pretty helpful since it sums up everything on the syllabus in about 100 pages.
I like pretending to use my study time for personal errands, but then using it to play video games instead and ending up having to do those errands after work so I can’t study then either.
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I did that for 8 some last fall after I felt like I was ready. Just used my study time to go home early and chill, it was super comfy.
I have been using the CF-RF joint seminar. I think it is really well put together. I used TIA for 6 and I didn’t like it at all. You have taken 8, right? Did you use TIA for that and if so, how was it?
Yeah, I passed 8 last fall. I used TIA only, no source and thought it did a great job. The instructor for 8 on TIA is the same guy who did 5, and he’s the best imo. I agree for 6 it wasn’t the best but I thought it was good enough. It let me pass 6 first try without touching the source so I’d call it a win haha.
Did my first full length timed past exam this morning. Excel is awesome, I finished in 1 hour 45 minutes and was well above the passmark. I’m feeling about as confident for this as I was going into 8.
I really do think passing both this and 9 is possible for me this sitting. Gonna focus on 9 mostly for a while and try to get to where I’m confident in that one too - I definitely have a long way to go there.
Nice! I did the 2019 exam as a practice and finished in about 2.5 hours. I barely passed but I felt good about the material. I still make dumb mistakes like mixing up cumulative and incremental claims or using a slightly wrong formula. Hopefully I can get my execution down by the time of the exam.
I agree that working in a spreadsheet is much easier. Just being able to type the essay answers is a huge boon. I remember my hand hurting so badly after exam 5 from writing for 4 hours straight.
Yeah, haha. I finished exam 5 right as time running out, so it’s really nice time won’t be an issue with this. I’m doing the older years currently before getting to the more recent exams, so that’s probably why they’re going so well - I know the 2017-2019 ones are quite a bit harder.
As for making sure you get the formulas completely right, just keep drilling flashcards in your downtime. I made a stack and I’ve been making sure to flip through them every couple days.
Hoping this thread can get some liftoff before the sitting. I know the AO thread wasn’t super active, but it was a good little community. Still pretty pissed at DWS for what they did.
For Hurlimann, are you guys bothering to remember the formulas with the alphas? CF doesn’t even tell us what alpha is. Or do you think we are guaranteed the generalized (simplified) case?
I’m memorizing the MSE formula for Hurlimann, but none of the other alpha stuff. Just MSE = E[alpha^2*(U_i)]*[Z^2/p+1/q+(1-Z)^2/t]*q^2
Worked through the 2012 exam this morning and found it really easy. Gonna keep doing 1 past exam a week or so while focusing on 9 until the beginning of November, then I’ll buckle down and focus on 7 for a bit. I feel extremely confident at this point for 7 and still have a ways to go on 9.
Thanks. I’ve found it easier to memorize everything else after some review and giving it time.
Has anyone converted old exams to Excel? If so, mind sharing?