hey jonny , mind to elaborate more on how BattleActs is different than the others ? aprreaciate this !
I took much more time on this one than any prior exam I think. Only about 20 minutes remaining after initial run through all questions. Not sure if was due to the exam itself or my making a point to answer in excruciating detail after my experience last time around.
I didnât think questions were necessarily challengingâŚyou either knew that particular topic or you didnât. I have no real gauge how I did though. Thought I aced the last one and got a 5, so who knows. 
My sentiment after this sitting confirms exactly how big a hit my confidence took last time around I think.
Sure. They also have a YouTube channel with some intro videos that might help give you a starting idea.
BA was made pretty recently, so it still has some typos here and there. But it does a great job of shrinking the material down into digestible parts, like @knoath mentioned. It was actually originally created specifically for exam 6 because there is so much material (it has since expanded to exams 5 and 8), and I found it made everything way easier to remember. The wiki articles have suggested mnemonics for memorizing lists (There are a lot of lists to memorize) and they also include little anecdotes and personality into the reading to keep you awake and interested. The wiki articles have built-in quizzes, and attachments to reference, and links to other wiki articles whenever they reference a different chapter. The articles are sorted by importance based on how often they are tested, and they also suggest how long you should spend on each article. Basically everything is really well organized.
The quizzes are where I spent 80% of my time. There are 2 types: flashcards and problem templates. The flashcards are great because you can assign 5 different colors to them however you like. They also show you how much time has lapsed since the last time you attempted that flashcard, and whether you got it right or wrong. Getting a right answer gives you points based on how important the card is, and your score decreases over time if you donât see the card for a while (since youâre more likely to forget the answer.) The material on these cards is sometimes a simple fact, sometimes lists, and sometimes a formula (pretty similar to other seminars). However, BA also incorporates past exam questions into the flashcards, and links to the examinerâs report for each one (which is really helpful to see all the different acceptable answers). It helps give you an idea of how important a topic is too, because you can immediately see every single time an exam question came from that chapter since 2012 just from looking at that chapterâs cards.
The problem templates are great for memorizing the few formulas you need for exam 6. Essentially it takes an old exam question, populates random numbers, and makes you calculate the answer. You even get practice in Excel if you copy it over and do your work there. Using the templates, I was able to basically review all of the calculations on the exam in a single day a few days before my exam so they would be fresh in my brain.
The forum for BA is decent - there arenât as many posts as other seminars because itâs newer. But Graham (the instructor) responds pretty quickly and will give you a shoutout in the article if you come up with a good memory trick to share with people.
TIA is the only other seminar I know enough about to compare. I think the videos are sometimes helpful and sometimes too boring. I liked using videos for past exams but not this one. TIA has a lot more detail in their flashcards/chapter outlines, but I definitely felt sufficiently prepared on exam day using mainly BA.
The most important things are to put enough time into studying, and to make sure that you are spending your time efficiently. Also, try not to entirely forget everything during your first pass. My advice is after you read an article, do the flashcards for that article until you can get them all right. Then try to get them all right again the next day. Once you get them right twice, you can probably leave that chapter alone until your next pass. I found my retention was about twice as good if I reviewed the cards 2 days in a row on my first pass rather than just once. Hope that helps!
1 Like
Ah that makes me nervous. Historically, when I come out of an exam feeling confident, it usually means I failed. But I thought I prepared so well for this one and I actually felt good coming out of it. I finished my first pass with 40 minutes left but thatâs because I skipped some of the bigger questions that confused me the first time around. I managed to attempt everything with 15 seconds to spare, so if I failed Iâm gonna have a real hard time knowing what to do differently.
Best of luck to you, me, and everyone who sat for 6 this time. Eta on results is still 6-8 weeks right? So probably around July 5th at the latest then?
Now that I read this I did skip 2 questions initially. Think I had 30-ish minutes left? 15 minutes left after dealing with those 2, and reviewed some others during that time.
Iâm assuming weâre back to the 6-week timeline this time around. I havenât seen any confirmation of this though.
hey thanks for the detailed explanation. can definitely tell you felt good about BA.
but i am not too comfortable with the notion that BA might not cover everything in the syllabus (not sure if this is what you implied when you said TIA has more detail in the flashcard).
From my experiences with CAS exams (i have taken 5,7 and 8) , they like to test you on some small part of texts that you thought is not important, and often this separates the passing candidate from the failing candidates. Still undecide which one to buy yet âŚ
The way Iâd characterize BA is that they give less detail on the rarely tested readings, but make you practice the heavily tested material probably more than other seminars. I put in a lot of hours over 4 months, but I never felt like I had run out of things to learn or review. They also admit that itâs really tricky to know which details might get tested, but honestly by the end I felt like there was no room left in my brain to learn anything else anyway because there are 65 different sections of the material. Luckily 85% of exam questions come from the top 24 according to BA. I still read all their chapter summaries though and felt like almost nothing on the exam caught me completely off guard.
Obviously it doesnât matter to me which one you get. I just think more detail is not necessarily better for this exam, because you can usually get almost all of the credit on any question by knowing the basics really well, and the pass mark is typically 70%.
And all of this comes with the caveat that I mightâve failed without realizing it lol. But I felt good coming out and thatâs the best I can ask for.
Oh one last thing - I think people typically agree that 6 is generally one of the more predictable exams because itâs been around a while and covers a ton of material. If they test something obscure or new to the syllabus, itâs pretty unlikely to be worth a lot of points. I havenât taken 7, 8, or 9 but Iâve also heard what you said, how small things can be worth a ton of points. And same with the MAS exams. Luckily I havenât seen much of that with 6 based on past exam questions.
i am kinda relief to hear exam 6 is predictable. anyway i think i will go with TIA because they have videos (not really for exam purpose, just i think is nice to hear from a qualified and experienced practicing actuary on their view on certain law and regulation, and how relevant are they to our everyday work), and like you mentioned, the amount of time spent studying is the deciding factor to pass the exam. Wait for your good news here on your exam 6 result !!
1 Like
Hi! I saw your note and wanted to let you know that Casual Fellow also offers an online seminar for Exam 6. Casual Fellow has been providing exam preparation tools since 2012 and is a premier provider for Exam 7. You can find testimonials at www.casualfellow.com.
Thanks!
Michael
PASSSSSED. Wow, i thought i did terribly.
TIME FOR EXAM 8!!
4 Likes
Passed as well!! Congrats to everyone who made it over the 6 hump and hang in there for those who didnât. (This was my 3rd go around)
3 Likes
Passed finally as well. Technically 4th attempt, though the first one was hardly an actual attempt. Keep at it!
4 Likes
Really glad you got it this time brother. Letâs get Exam 8!
1 Like
Anyone know what âRequest Verificationâ is for?
I snuck through with a 6 on my first try! Really felt like I did better than that, but no complaints here. I suppose with the high pass mark itâs hard to do much better. Iâve only beaten a 6 on one of my passes so far, itâs starting to become a point of pride
1 Like
Guys, random questions here
- how long does it take to get the official ACAS in our trancript ?
- understand that we will get the Online course result right away , but when will we get it in our official transcript. Think my company only recognise official transcripts
No idea. Thereâs some info on the ACAS application indicating youâll get official notification by the 2nd wednesday of the month as long as youâve submitted by the first wednesday of the month, but thatâs all I can tell you at this point. I submitted Monday as I was on vacation all last week, so wonât actually see anything until next month Iâm assuming.
thanks man.
so we have to actively apply for ACAS membership instead of them granting us automatically?
What about the online course ? i took OC1 but quite sometime ago, i cnt remember how long i takes for CAS to update the official transcript
I still need COP to get acas. Damn it.
Looks like I wonât be able to go to SD