How to Create an Efficient Study Strategy

By Brea Fried

Studying for actuarial exams can be a very time-consuming process. When you’ve got other obligations on top of studying, such as school, work, and family, it may feel like it’s impossible to fit studying into your schedule at all.

Since 2017, I’ve helped hundreds of exam candidates on their journey to passing their first exam.  And of course, one of my highest priorities for those candidates is to make their studying as efficient as possible.

So, in this post, I’m going to be sharing the 3 parts that I include in every study strategy that I create so that exam candidates are able to get studying done both quickly and thoroughly.  Fortunately, you can include all 3 of these things in your own study strategy too!

Part 1: A Study Schedule

The first thing I create for each exam candidate is a study schedule.  You should create this for yourself too, before you even start studying at all.  I have sample ones that you get here for Exam P and here for Exam FM.

A study schedule will ensure that you have enough time to fit in all the necessary studying before your exam date. It also helps to keep you focused and efficient because you have specific goals that you’re aiming to achieve.

I recommend starting to study at least 14 weeks before your planned exam sitting.  For most people, this is sufficient if they have about 3 hours to study each day of the week.  If you don’t have that much time each day, then you should start earlier.

There are three key stages that I include in every study schedule.  Usually, each stage takes about ⅓ of the available study time.

 

Stage 1

The first ⅓ of your study time should consist of going through your study materials and understanding the topics that will be tested on the exam.  If time allows, it’s also a good idea to do a few practice problems from the end of each section in your study materials too.

Doing those practice problems allows you to double check your understanding, and also to see how that material may be tested on the exam.

Stage 2

The second ⅓ of your study time should be spent doing practice problems.  There are tons of free problems available online from various different sources, including the SOA and The Infinite Actuary.

You can also get questions from your study materials.  Most of them come with 100s of unique practice problems that you can use during this time.

When you’re going through this stage, it’s absolutely essential that you fully understand the solution to any problem you get wrong.  This is not the time to rush things or gloss over them. Infact, this is exactly what Mike and Roy recommend in their post about making the most out of practice problems.

That article also suggests (which I completely agree with) that you should take time to redo each practice problem that you get wrong.  This will help engrain the concepts into your mind, so that any similar questions will be easier for you to answer correctly the next time.

Stage 3

The last ⅓ of your study time is best spent doing practice exams in exam conditions.  

Exam conditions means that you’ll treat these exams just like you would the real exam!  So that means timing yourself for 3 hours without any breaks. You should take the exam in a quiet setting, away from any distractions and without access to your study materials or the internet.

Roy and Mike have an excellent article here explaining an exam day routine that you could follow too.

The goal during this stage is to eventually reach 80% correct consistently on exams.  80% is likely higher than you’d need to achieve on exam day, but it’s best to be over prepared than on par.  

Based on my experience, if you’re able to reach 80% consistently then you’re in great shape for the exam.

Part 2: Accountability Partner

Creating a study strategy (as mentioned above) is a great start to studying.  But one of the most common traps that exam candidates fall into is that they fall behind on their study schedule.

When exam candidates have so many other priorities other than studying, it’s extremely difficult to make studying a high priority.  This is especially true prior to registering for the exam because the date isn’t finalized yet.

That’s why I’ve found accountability to be an extremely important part of any study strategy.  It keeps you motivated during times when you’d otherwise put studying off. It also helps to keep you focused on the task at hand.

So, if you want to make sure your approach to studying is as efficient as possible, you should find someone to keep you accountable to the study schedule that you’ve created.

This could be someone else that’s writing the exam at the same time as you (a study buddy), a good friend, a family member or a co-worker.  Just make sure it’s someone you can rely on to be consistent with checking in. An accountability partner that doesn’t check-in isn’t going to help!

Have your accountability partner check in with you once or twice per week so that you feel that studying is an obligation rather than just an option.

Part 3: A Place to Go for Help

When I was studying for my first few exams, I recall many times when I felt completely stuck.  I would sit at my desk for hours just trying to figure out what the author of my study manual was trying to say, or how he came to a certain conclusion in a practice problem solution.

I wasted tons of time, and it made my studying very inefficient.  That time could have been used for much more productive things. But, unfortunately I didn’t have anyone to ask for help.

So, that’s why I offer Q&A support for all the exam candidates I work with.  This gives them a place to get their math-related questions answered quickly so that they don’t have to spend extra time trying to figure things out themselves.

Finding a place where you can get this type of support will be extremely helpful while you’re studying.  There are a few different places you could go.

 

Where to get help

Study Material Providers: Some study material providers offer this type of Q&A service included with their study packages.  Usually, it’s a forum setup, where you can ask your question and an instructor will come in regularly to answer any questions.

Forums and Groups: There are several forums (such as Reddit and Actuarial Outpost) and Facebook groups that you can ask questions in too.  Usually the actuarial community is very helpful and willing to answer any tricky questions you have.

 

Getting an All-in-One Study Strategy Package

As I mentioned above, all 3 of these parts are included in the study strategy that I create for each exam candidate that I work with.  I believe they’re all absolutely essential for ensuring that your studying is as efficient as possible.

Unfortunately, it’s sometimes difficult to find all 3 of these pieces separately and at the quality level you need them to be.

If you’re finding yourself in that situation, the best solution would be to join me in the Study Strategy Program.  The program offers step-by-step guidance to passing Exam P or FM.

You’ll get:

• A personalized study schedule with daily goals.
• 2 weekly accountability check-ins.
• Specific performance targets to aim to achieve.
• A forum to get all your questions answered (no matter what the source of your question).
• A pass guarantee where I pay your next $225 exam registration fee if you don’t end up successful on exam day (min 14 weeks in program).

To learn more details about the program, you can go here.  Mike and Roy’s readers can enjoy 10% off their first month of the program too (until June 30, 2019), just by using coupon code RETHINK.