GH-Specialty Fall 2020

Anyone else here sitting in Fall 2020? I am, and I am also behind schedule on my studying. I was planning to sit in the Spring, couldn’t sit on the July date, so now I’m hoping I can buckle down and make this sitting count.

Last exam!

just registered after getting pass on FVA.

I have the Mate manual I am going to mega cram.

For trans candidates, LO1 was actually on the GHA exam before they split it, so I have seen >0 of the material before.

bookie is giving me +800 odds to pass on 5 weeks prep.

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SOA just released more information about the CBT exams: https://www.soa.org/globalassets/assets/files/edu/2020/fall/fall-2020-additional-details.pdf?epiprojects=33

There are also sample CBT questions/solutions:

PDF: https://www.soa.org/globalassets/assets/files/edu/2020/fall/fall-2020-gh-sample-cbt-questions.pdf
Excel: https://www.soa.org/globalassets/assets/files/edu/2020/fall/fall-2020-gh-examples.xlsx

through LO1. Not too bad so far. the material is presented a little clumsy. Looks like a lot of lists and a few formulas to know.

let the cramming continue.

Just got this email from the SOA:

Dear FSA Exam Candidates:

As promised, a demo video showing the Prometric testing environment for the fall exams is now available on the SOA website. While the demo will give you a good sense of what to expect on exam day, there will be slight differences in the actual exam setting.

About CBT Exam Timing

  • Once seated at your designated Prometric workstation, you will have 10 minutes to read through the instructions on navigation, saving and submitting your files. During the exam, 15 minutes of break time will be added to the advertised exam length noted in the introductory study note. When you take any break time, your exam timer will continue to count down. It is your choice when to break and for how long. All applicable Prometric security guidelines will apply if you take a break.

  • The clock will start to run as soon as you click on "Start the Test" and will not stop until you complete the exam or when time runs out. Note that you must upload your files before time runs out in order to submit them for grading.

Reminder : If you have not yet scheduled your exam appointment with Prometric, please do so as soon as possible. Please contact Customer Service with any questions.

Once again, we wish you well on your exam.

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So they just added 15 minutes to the exam, and you can use it to take a break or to have 15 extra minutes on the exam?

Here’s the video:

watching that demo is giving me a panic attack.

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I am taking specialty too and am freaking out! Like @LuckyHat, the demo video gave me a panic attack.

Im through LO2. ERM stuff is terrible to read. redundancy for the sake of redundancy. Hoping actual questions come from S&P gradings and ORSA.

the cram continues… 1 week to read and summarize LO3, then 1 week to mega cram.

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I’ve spent most of my time on LO2. I already have a handle on LO1 since I studied that for a prior exam. I’ve spent a ton of time memorizing ERM stuff, and I’m not at all confident that I’ll be able to regurgitate the correct information when required. Just trying to cram as much understanding as I can for the next two weeks.

I had taken the last sitting of GHA back in spring 2019, so I also have seen LO1 before. It is mostly unchanged which is nice.

ERM was hard to whittle down to a series of lists to study. Its going to be hit or miss for me. There is no way I memorize all of that. I decided to just skip the LTC and COOP sections, I dont know how that equates to testable material.

alright, back at it. Good luck guys. Last exam. Just do it.

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Hope you guys are doing well! I have spent most of my time on the ERM topics, as well. I’ve been using TIA with some flashcard supplementation from PAK. I still made my own flashcards, kind of synthesizing all of the seemingly important data from the TIA flashcards, the PAK flashcards, and the TIA condensed outlines. One more week of forcing myself through this stuff. Hopefully, it will pay off.

Good luck to you guys!

Are you guys able to take the test Close to your house? I have a Prometric center 30 minutes away, but they aren’t offering the test for whatever reason. Instead I’m getting a hotel and driving 3 hours to the testing center.

I had one about 45 minutes away, but it was at its COVID-limited capacity when I tried to schedule my exam. So then I scheduled mine at a place about 2 hours away. I’m generally an early riser, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Then I found out from my friend taking a different set of exams through Prometric that they just increased the capacity of our local testing center. Wasn’t going to pay that change fee.

I got lucky and was able to schedule at my ‘local’ Prometric, which is about 40 min away. I was extremely anxious when scheduling, the next closet one is 90 min away. I am used to about an hour drive to exam centers. I have gotten hotels in the past to avoid the commute. This CBT transition is pretty lame for people on their last exam… one more damn thing we have to figure out.

I just finished making my flashcards yesterday. 2 days of drilling cards, then 2 days of practice problems on calcs (with more card drilling). I usually give myself 2-3 weeks to do this part, but im trying to cram an entire study cycle into 5 weeks after passing FVA.

confidence is currently very low…

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You’ve got this, @LuckyHat!

Well, I think I failed. Too many questions I had no idea about, like all of #3. I did like the computer environment though. I felt like I could type much faster than I could write.

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I felt the same. I read the exam and thought ‘well, im screwed’.

I think I got most of the calc questions right. But first 4 questions I was all over the place. Felt like I just memorized the wrong list for every section. ORSA requirements to change the regulations? wtf was that. a reinsurance question that focused on disability, boooo. Testing EHM instead of ANY of the other DM sections, bah. No RBC calc, no capital allocation calc… dedicated ACO question… oof.

The calc questions felt almost too simple. I was expecting some very complex calcs since we had excel. Cant believe they asked a risk payment transfer question. I didnt study that much since it is straight off the GHC exam I took way back. I got most of it right, but was missing some weighting factor.

agreed the CBT was smooth. I do wish they would give you a dedicated time to upload answers. Kinda screws up my old ‘write until time expires’ method Ive been doing for years.

self scored on the spot at maybe 20-22 points. maybe a 3-4 score. I was able to finish the exam and answer/BS every question. but too many questions I knew what list they wanted, but I knew I didnt memorize it.

take 2 in april.

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