I'm thinking about giving up

[mr_spock]

I have a lot of anxiety regarding Exam M. I did really well on the first two exams so I thought I would be set***. But when I got the ASM study manual for Exam M I was completely intimidated. In fact, I am thinking about giving up on being an actuary. If all I had to do was take Exam M to become a fellow then I would put up with it, but I don't know if I can take seven more exams if they are all like Exam M. It is just too mentally grueling.

On the other hand, I really hate the idea of giving up and feel that I have invested a fair amount of energy into becoming an actuary already and I would hate to throw it all away.

I would GREATLY appreciate it if someone could provide some encouragement, or help me develop some motivation.

***The reason I did well on the first two exams is because I have been taking probability and finance courses in college. Also, exams P and FM covered far less material than Exam M.

[wat]

I have a lot of anxiety regarding Exam M. I did really well on the first two exams so I thought I would be set***. But when I got the ASM study manual for Exam M I was completely intimidated. In fact, I am thinking about giving up on being an actuary. If all I had to do was take Exam M to become a fellow then I would put up with it, but I don't know if I can take seven more exams if they are all like Exam M. It is just too mentally grueling.

On the other hand, I really hate the idea of giving up and feel that I have invested a fair amount of energy into becoming an actuary already and I would hate to throw it all away.

I would GREATLY appreciate it if someone could provide some encouragement, or help me develop some motivation.

***The reason I did well on the first two exams is because I have been taking probability and finance courses in college. Also, exams P and FM covered far less material than Exam M.

Well, if it's any consolation, the path to ASA has gotten considerably shorter. You no longer have to take exams like Course 5 & Course 6 (both of which were about 5 1/2 hours each). Now, you "only" need take 2 2-hour multiple choice exams with the modules.

Plus, there are some that do not obtain their FSA's, but still are quite active in their actuarial role in their respective companies. Career ASA's don't quite have all the privileges that FSA's do, but they are still members of the society.

[PistolPt01]

Spock, I totally understand what you are going through. I got my ASM manual last week and was totally dumbfounded, just doing the first 2 lessons. I was so '''''' I blasted the author (probably unwarranted).

But anyway, Dont give up yet man. There is alot of material but we have ALOT of time - 5 months is enough time. I did well on P and FM too. It might be the manual.

I just got the ACTEX study guide and it seems alot like Cherry's ASM FM manual - the authors talk to you like a person, and dont write like its a textbook!

Lemme know how things go. Start early and it takes the pressure off 3 or 4 months from now after youve finished all the material and can set aside ALOT of time to review it all :cool:

[djerry81]

quitter.....just joking but ''' its really that hard....I hope you guys keep giving insight on how you passed this exam....im sure your not going to quit this far into the process...

[Irish Blues]

M is a lot of life contingencies. It looks hard and there's a lot of material, but you can pretty much break it into life contingencies and loss distributions.

For life contingencies, the big things you need to know out of Batten's Actuarial Mathematics are Chapters 3, 4, and 5. Everything else is built off of these three chapters. Get 3, 4 and 5 down and the rest should follow.

The loss distributions stuff really isn't that difficult (find a set of Mahler's notes on this), it just looks difficult. A lot of it is sort of common sense once you get it down - it's just given in mathspeak so it looks nasty.

[wat]

quitter.....just joking but ''' its really that hard....I hope you guys keep giving insight on how you passed this exam....im sure your not going to quit this far into the process...

Practice problems, practice problems and more pratice problems.

Of the 300+ hours I'd studied for M, I'd estimate that about 200 of those hours were spent actually doing problems and figuring out the solutions.

I ended up with a decent score and passed the first time around. Just keep at it, and have faith that it will click before exam day.

[.Godspeed.]

For life contingencies, the big things you need to know out of Batten's Actuarial Mathematics are Chapters 3, 4, and 5.
Don't you mean Bowers? Batten writes a supplement.

And to the original poster, don't quit just yet. The material looks very daunting early on (especially the life contingencies), but just keep with it, and it will come.

[bv12]

After studying for, taking and probably failing the exam M this spring I think the following is the best way to study for it. Read through the material, whether it be the books or a study manual, fairly quickly one time through (alot of it will go right over your head but you will understand it later). Then do practice problems and if you can't do any, use the book to figure out how to do them. Then read through the material again and this time you will understand it much better after having done some practice problems and put it to use. Lastly do practice problems and, most importantly, atleast 1 or 2 full practice exams. I didn't have time to read though the material a 2nd time like I am suggesting here but I think it would have greatly helped. The material will make alot more sense after you understand how it is used in problems.