On BattleDay

IMPORTANT: Our original article pertained to the traditional paper & pencil format of taking exams. Now all exams are being administered in a CBT (Computer-Based Testing) format at Pearson-Vue testing centres and we've made adjustments to reflect the CBT format. Please note, however, as this is a new process, our article will be a work in progress based on user feedback of the actual experience.

Time Management During the Exam

• Note: The better prepared you are, the more time pressure you'll be under because you'll be able to answer most (or all) of the questions. (If you are NOT well-prepared, then there will be less time pressure because there will be many questions you'll just have to skip.)

==> Most answers you can write in bullet points. You are tested on content, not grammar or style.

==> If you get stuck, don't linger. Take your best guess and move on.

==> You probably won't have time for review.

Exam Organization

You first need to understand how this exam is usually organized under the Integrative Question environment:

First quarter of exam	short calculations on Section A of the syllabus.
Second quarter of exam	mainly calculations on GLMs.
Third quarter of exam	mainly calculations on Section B of the syllabus (experience and individual risk rating)
Fourth quarter of exam	Mostly reinsurance and catastrophe modeling (Section C of the syllabus).

If you peruse old exams, you'll see that the topics almost always appear in the same order. It's very predictable, and if you understand this you'll feel much calmer during the exam. This is true even in the exams with Integrative Questions, except you don't really know where the Integrative Questions will appear. When they were first introduced it they tended to be at the start of the paper. Now it's reasonable to expect one IQ in any given quarter of the exam and for there to be two of them in total.

The First 5 minutes

Modifications for CBT format: When the exam was given with pencil and paper there was a cover sheet showing the point-values for each question. This cover sheet is now new window in the test centre environment. You cannot print this, but you will be provided with a marker and laminated scratch pad. You can still do the time management calculation explained below with appropriate modifications. You'll now have to make a note on your scratch paper which range of questions you want to allocate to each of the 4 one-hour periods during the exam. To avoid running out time, you must keep track of your time very strictly using the countdown clock on the screen.

• First look at the point-value of the questions and identify the Integrative Questions. Now go read them carefully — you need to decide if you feel you know how to tackle each IQ right away or if it requires more thought.

• On the sheet with the point-value of the questions, divide your time into four 1-hr parts. If you feel good about the IQ questions (or at least) one of them then you'll want to start with those. Otherwise you're really looking at a 3 hour exam followed by a one hour exam on the IQ questions. I've done a couple of examples: (This will be time well spent.)

Time Management 2019.Fall

Time Management 2018.Fall

→ For the CBT version of the exam, make a note of the range of questions you want to do in each hour on a separate sheet of scrap paper and don't use this piece of paper for anything else.

• The hard part is looking quickly at all the questions to know where they slot into your time management scheme without spending too much time.

Alice: "It sure was great when you had a 15-minute reading period — thanks CAS!"

• If the exam has 52 points then do this roughly as follows:
  • Section 1: 17 points (IQ questions if straightforward, otherwise strongest calculation problems.)
  • Section 2: 13 points (Next strongest calculation problems - you want to be gaining points as fast as possible.)
  • Section 3: 10 points (Yet more calculation problems.)
  • Section 4: 13 points (IQ questions if tough, or remaining problems.)

• Use your calculator to do this and on a separate piece of scrap paper make a note for which range of questions you want to do in each one-hour period.
• You have roughly 4.5 minutes to spend on each point on the exam but
  • The Integrative Questions can take double that if it's not immediately clear what you're supposed to do.
  • The lower point-value questions are generally quicker but some readings require more calculations than others.

Begin Writing your Answers

Hour 1:

• Start with Section 1. If the IQ problems are straightforward then this is a great confidence boost — otherwise your goal is to gain points rapidly to buy yourself time to tackle the IQ problems.
  • Keep an eye on your watch and aim to finish your first section within the first hour.
  • If you get to a problem that you can't do, don't linger. Quickly type in anything you think might be relevant and move on. You can almost always take an educated guess and get partial credit, even if it's just 0.25 points.
• As you work through the problems:
  • If you are satisfied with your answer, simply move on the next question.
  • If you are not satisfied with your answer, use the flag for review button. (if there's time.)

Hour 2:

• Move on to Section 2. This is where you'll either tackle the calculations you're most confident in (if you did the IQs first), or this is your next strongest set of problems.
• Aim for an hour on this section. If you've divided up your questions appropriately you'll have covered more than 50% of the exam though.

Hour 3:

• Move on to Section 3.
• These are your weaker questions or are readings that are tested less often (Bailey & Simon for example).
• If you are properly prepared for the exam, then you should have fewer questions in this section which gives you more time to think/compensate for feeling tired.
• Keep a tight eye on the time. You must finish Section 3 with one-hour or more left, especially if you haven't started the IQ problems yet.

Hour 4:

• Move on to Section 4. This is either the home stretch if you felt good about the IQ problems and tackled them first. Or it's a chance to slow down and switch gears from grinding through somewhat familiar material to carefully synthesizing the readings to piece together your answers.
• Sub-parts of IQ problems tend to build on previous parts. Skim each IQ first so you know if this is the case.
• Look for sub-parts where you know what to do. Even if you can't do the previous parts, make up a (plausible) answer to the previous part, state that you're doing that, and crank out the sub-part.
• The CBT environment really helps here as you can move your work around and link to a new cell should you figure out a previous part - no need to recalculate!

Exam is Over

• GO HOME & CHILL!!!!