Passed C, starting MLC!

I passed C!  Yay!

I thought the exam was pretty tough, but fair.  I was able to answer 24 confidently, make a somewhat confident guess on 5, and I made pure guesses on 7.  Yes, I know that adds up to 36 questions, I must have double counted one in there!

I have been starting to study for MLC in the fall.  The spring sitting was super tough, only about 30% passing.  I'm not sure what that means for fall - I could see the SOA both leaving it at the same level, but also I can see them dialing down the difficultly a little bit.  I just have to prepare for the high difficulty level!

One thing I did learn from C (and MFE as well) is that you really have to prepare for the second tier of exams (MFE, MLC and C) so much more than you had to for P and FM.  I plan to put in the same level of dedication I put into C, but I am a little short on time this time (4 months), so hopefully I can get to the point I need to be at in time!

After reviewing the samples available for various study material, I decided to purchase the Actex book, the ASM book, and the TIA seminar.  While that might seem like a lot of material, I have really found having multiple sources to be a big value add.  Being able to refer to another source when you are having difficulty with a concept really helped me with C.  In retrospect, I wish I had done this for MFE as well.  The $200 extra cost for another study manual is small compared to the value of time saved studying and increased chances of passing.

I am currently on TIA section B, and plan to do about one section per week (the sections are A-J) through the week of Sept 8, leaving the next 2 months for intense problem working and solidifying the concepts.  While I always start with the intention of doing problems as I first review the material, I know at some point I will want to rush through all the material so I can get to purely problem working.  We'll see how that goes!

It will be awesome to be done with the prelims, assuming I pass of course.  I am looking forward to taking the FSA exams and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

My current MLC schedule (according the the TIA sections) looks like this:

Section	Week Ending
A. Prerequisite Review	7/7/2012
B. Survival Models and Life Tables	7/14/2012
C. Insurance Benefits	7/21/2012
D. Life Annuities	7/28/2012
E. Premium Calculation	8/4/2012
F. Reserves	8/11/2012
G. Markov Chains	8/18/2012
H. Multiple-Decrement Models	8/25/2012
I. Multiple-Life Models	9/1/2012
J. Other Topics	9/8/2012