Took GH-FV this past week and feeling confident in my performance. Assuming I get the expected Pass, I’ll be jumping to Specialty.
For those of you who have taken GH-SP, what is your preferred study materials?
1)TIA
2)MATE
3)PAK
or some combo of the above.
Thanks!
My preference is TIA, but I don’t know if I passed yet. I made my own set of flashcards, synthesizing material from TIA flashcards, TIA outlines, and PAK flashcards. I felt fairly prepared.
I am also interested in the answers, though I am pretty unlikely to switch.
Hi all!
We have received a lot of complements about our material and these comments really motivate us to work harder. It is my honor that we will be releasing our study manual around Thanksgiving and flash cards will be shortly after.
For detail and sample, please visit www.PAK study manual.com
As always, we are here to help. Please email me at francisyung@pakstudymanual.com if any questions
Francis
The Infinite Actuary - GH Specialty Online Course - ready very soon!
Welcome to this new forum everyone!
There were a couple of syllabus updates for Spring 2021/Fall 2021, but the majority of the material has stayed the same. The TIA updates are in progress, and the Outlines, Videos, Flashcards, etc etc will be ready very soon! In the meantime, we already have a number of students beginning the process with the material that is already in place.
https://www.theinfiniteactuary.com/GHspec
For those unfamiliar with TIA, our online course offers:
We’ve helped thousands of students through these exams, and I love being a part of getting you through these final steps in your FSA journey. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions! (derek@theinfiniteactuary.com)
I just found out I passed GHDP-A! Now for my last exam: Specialty!
Is the SOA planning to release the solutions for the Oct 2020 sitting? Took that and… fail!!! So, hoping to have better luck with this next sitting. Eager to look through the past exam and see what my weak points may have been.
I have used MATE for all my FSA exams (including recent fail of fall 2020 SPC).
for best results I have 1: At least skimmed actual source material, 2: blindly read through Mate manual at full speed, 3: Re-read Mate Manual, but this time creating my own outline- this is by far the hardest and more helpful part. This step alone can be 4-6 weeks. The goal is to have a ~25 page outline of all topics that covers 90% of likely exam questions. 4: do practice problems, referencing the Mate manual and updating my own summary.
for the fall sitting I only had 5 weeks. I was able to read the Mate manual and create my own outline based on it. But I only had 3 days to work practice problems and review my outline in front of the exam. I like having 3+ weeks to do this.
I used to use ASM manuals. I always just like to read, understand, practice; everyone solo.
I know others that love TIA and have had success with it. they like to have some one explain the concept as opposed to trying to decipher pages of text. Id say of the others I know taking exams, ~75% are using TIA.
My method kinda works for me. With the key being efficient use of study time. I have wife, kids, house, job, etc. I dont have 300 hours to study for a sitting. For Spring20 FVA, I only got like 50 hours in. I took SPC in the fall first attempt with ~30 study hours. So I need a method that allows me to process the material to memory asap.
Happy to have found this place!
I’m retaking Specialty in Spring after passing DPA, but only getting a 4 on SPC. Does anyone know when registration for the Spring sitting will open?
I’ll be taking Specialty in the Spring for the 3rd time after getting 5’s both previous sittings. I’m feeling pretty frustrated. And BEYOND ready to be done with this crap.
The registration is open now!
Is anyone else having trouble booking a spot at Prometric?
I’m having issues too. I got the confirmation email but all local Prometric locations are showing no available seats already.
I’m assuming it must be an error. Did you end up getting through?
It’s not an error. I’m not taking specialty and I had to search relatively far from my location to get a seat for my exam.
You have to keep checking different prometrics until you get a success.
How many did you check before you found one? I’ve checked about 10 within 200 miles that are showing no availability
I’m in NJ and taking FV-A & FV-C. I was able to find slots for both within two of the closer Prometrics. Apologies for asking the obvious, but did you get a “no availability please check other locations” message?
Not sure if this is your issue but when I was searching, I did the map search->clicked the location->chose the date-> and then got to a page where there wasn’t anything obvious to select. However, i eventually noticed the drop down on the right side of the page that populates as blank. I had to go into the drop down to select the available time slots for me.
10 sounds about right (maybe less but definitely more than 5), but it was way closer than 200 miles. That’s a huge radius!
I don’t think that’s it. For unsuccessful locations, the entire calendar was blank. After I did find a successful location I checked back some other locations again just to make sure and they still didn’t have the availability. So it’s unlikely to be an issue with what we’re clicking. [I did get spots for both portions of my exam]
I can’t get passed the calendar page. There’s no click-able dates at any of the locations.
Turns out the local testing centers are closed exam day.