So you want to be an actuary? Good luck.

Whoo boy! It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? My apologies. And I have no excuses whatsoever. I was just being lazy (as in too busy doing fun stuff along with important stuff to actually think about my blog). But since today is a very nervewracking day, I decided it’d be perfect to share a post. Right now, my stomach is forming tiny little knots (can’t feel them, but subconsciously I know they are there). Why, you ask? Well, even if you didn’t, I’m still gonna tell you anyways. Just cuz I can do that

Anyways, for the past couple months, I’ve been studying for this thing called Exam 1/P, an exam about probability. It’s the first test to take in order to become an actuary. Now since I get this a lot (I think only one person actually knew what I was talking about before I tried to explain it…and I’ve told 20+ people), an actuary is someone who calculates risk, usually in a business setting. For example, life insurance companies will employ actuaries to calculate how much the company should charge someone for life insurance based on gender, age, demographics, or other important key details that come from previously collected data. That’s my definition anyway. There’s different kinds of actuaries, but I have yet to figure out how they’re different.

So this test I’m taking today…I’ve heard brutal things about it. Like how it has a 40% pass rate (whether that’s overall or just for people taking the test for the first time, can’t be sure). And it’s three hours to complete 30 multiple-choice questions. Okay, so the time limit I can deal with. It’s the grade that has me nervous. Cuz it’s not like other standardized tests I’ve taken. It’s not based on how many right out of how many wrong (well, it is, but in a very difficult roundabout way) and it’s not judged against everyone else that took the same test in the same testing window (like the ACT and SAT…at least, that’s what I’ve been told).

*Several hours later*

So…yeah…just got back from taking the exam. Thought I did pretty good on it. Unfortunately the paper that gives me the preliminary pass/fail score said otherwise. Now I’ll have to wait eight weeks to get my official score. I swear, if my score is 5, I’ll be SOO mad (6 to 10 is passing, btw). Looks like I get to study even more and prepare for the exam again in November. And I was looking forward to concentrating only on Exam 2/FM and the Putnam this semester.

On that note, I now go to dig mushrooms in a corner.