Strategy for Passing FAP modules, Interim Assessment, and Final Assessment

Last year I completed the FAP Modules, the Interim Assessment (IA), and the Final Assessment (FA).  I was able to pass all of these on the first try.  I figured I’d share some of the strategy I used, as it seems to contradict some of the conventional wisdom floating around on message boards.

Format
For those who do not know, the FAP Modules are a set of 8 self-paced online lessons (Modules 1-8) and two timed assignments (the Interim and Final Assessment).  Each module has a series of slides to review as well as assigned book reading.

A typical module might have 5 sections, each with 50-100 slides to read, and then refer you to 5 or 6 chapters to read in the various books that go along with the modules.  After you complete that, you will have an end of module assignment, which is generally a series of calculations and write ups you will have to do that relate to what you read.

The IA is a large scale series of tasks that you have a 30 day window to complete.  The IA relates to material in Modules 1-5.  You would complete the IA after Module 5, and submit it for review and graded (pass/fail).

The FA is a large scale series of tasks that you complete after Module 8, and you have 96 hours after starting it to submit your final result.  It is graded pass/fail as well.

Module Strategy
Each Module consists of a large series of slides, assigned book reading, and some case studies and handouts within the slides.  After you complete this material, Modules 1-4 and 6-7 have end of Module exercises to complete.  The IA and FA function as the end of Module exercises for Modules 5 and 8.

For each Module, I first downloaded and reviewed the End of Module assignment to get an idea of what I was going to have to work through at the end of the module.  I then read every slide straight through.  There are a lot of points in the slide where it says something like “now read pages xxx-yyy in book abc”, but I found it very disorienting to keep switching back and forth between the online content and the books.  So, for each Module I kept a document that listed every book reading that was assigned, and where it was assigned.  I used google docs, but a word doc or anything similar would suffice.  Each entry would read something like “s4s30 UAP ch.9”, where s4s30 stands for section 4, slide 30, and UAP ch.9 is the book and chapter it says to read.

I also kept notes in another section on the same document.  So, if a slide had content I thought was worthy notes I would either type a summary in my notes, or copy and paste the section directly into my document.  As I made the notes, I used the same s4s30 type notation to note which slide the notes came from.  This is useful when you are going back and want more detail on what you noted!

The Modules each contain various handouts to read and case studies.  I saved each of these into a folder on my computer, and read the handouts as they came up in the slides.  Many of the case studies require calculation work in a spreadsheet – so they essentially function like homework to reinforce the concepts.  For the case studies, I reviewed the assignment and the data, and decided whether I felt it was really necessary to follow all the steps to get the main ideas, or if I could just review the summaries.  Most of the time I did not work through the entire case study, but I did spend time with it to absorb the ideas.

After completing all the above, I would begin the book reading, going in order as noted in my document.  I highlighted my books as if I was studying them, and made additional notes in my document for main points I thought were worthy of note taking.  My document would have notes like “UAP p.132” and then a write-up to note something I thought was significant from page 132 of the Understanding Actuarial Practice book.

After completing all of the above, you will get to the End of Module (EOM) assignment.  Given as you reviewed this before starting the Module, you should have an idea of where you are going to go with the assignment.  I would usually start by just making some high level notes on each question, then going back and reviewed my document of notes to see what might apply to the EOM assignment.  Once I have all that together, I did the write up as assigned.

As you can see, I took a very studious and diligent approach to the Modules.  Many people on the Actuarial Outpost recommend not even reading the assigned readings, or skimming them at best.  Well, you might be able to pass the Modules that way, but that is going to hurt you quite a bit when it comes to the IA and the FA.  Instead of being lax with your preparation and trying to sneak through, it is much better to work through the material as intended and assure yourself of a pass.  You will find many of the same people who recommend taking shortcuts also complaining that they failed an EOM exercise or the IA or FA!  Well, I wonder why??  It seems pretty obvious.  Don’t shortchange yourself or the assignment!  You wouldn’t approach your work at your employer that way, would you?  Well, if you would, then maybe this isn’t the strategy for you.

Interim Assessment and Final Assessment Strategy
You have 30 days from when you download the IA to submit it.  The IA is more or less a bunch of EOM assignments strung together.  I’m not allowed to say much more about the contents of the IA, but strategy-wise if you have followed the above approach for the Modules you should be in good shape.  You will be referring back to the slides, the books, and your notes to answer the questions.

For both the IA and the FA, before I started writing I made a series of passes through the questions making detailed notes of how I wanted to answer each question.  I would end up with an outline of my answer for most questions, and then from there it was just a matter of filling in the detail and making it flow.

30 days for the IA is plenty of time.  I spent 35-40 hours on it, so you can portion out the time spent as you choose.  I preferred to take full days off from work to work on the bulk of it, as I found it easier to keep going for many hours once I got in the groove.  I also had a handful of nights where I spent 2-3 hours working on an additional question or touching up my answers.  As long as you figure out a way to get 40 hours in, you will have enough time.

As for the FA, you have 4 days from the time you download it to submit your final answers.  This is barely enough time!  Given that this blog is from the middle-aged career changer’s standpoint, if you have a family, it will be tough to find the time to do this.  I took 4 days off from work, worked every minute of those days outside of 3-4 hours a day spent on family obligations (ie taking care of my kids), and it was a race to the end.  I am lucky I decided on day 1 to start very fast, expecting to rest and just watch movies on my last day.  There was no resting or watching movies available by day 4, I was still working as furiously as I was on day 1!

All in all I spent about 40 hours on the FA, and I could have spent more.  Taking notes throughout the Modules really paid off at this point.  I would think anyone who didn’t do the readings would be very handicapped when attempting to give competent answers to the FA questions.  I’m not saying it is impossible, but if you did not take notes you will spend a lot of time going back through the books or slides.  That time would have been better used writing your answers on the FA!

How long does this take?
If you follow these strategies, each module should take 20-30 hours (most less than 25).  I spent 35-40 hours each on the IA and FA.

Good luck!