One page per exam.
No fluff, all receipts.
For every exam I've sat: the format, the realistic cost, my honest verdict, the materials that actually moved the needle, and how I'd study for it today.
My SOA Exam Journey
ASA, Associate of the Society of Actuaries · Next stop: FSA, Investment track See public timeline ↗
- P Probability Passed
- FM Financial Mathematics Passed
- FAM Fundamentals of Actuarial Mathematics Passed
- SRM Statistics for Risk Modeling Passed
- PA Predictive Analytics Passed
- ASTAM Advanced Short-Term Actuarial Mathematics Passed
- APC Associateship Professionalism Course Passed
- INV 101 Investments, FSA Investment Track Upcoming
📈 INV 101 is next, follow the study journal in public →
- P ✓ I passed this
Probability
3-hour CBT · 30 multiple-choice questions
“The gatekeeper. Conceptually beautiful, computationally brutal under time pressure. Master the distributions until they're reflexes, then drill timed sets, the exam tests speed as much as understanding.”
Open the hub → - FM ✓ I passed this
Financial Mathematics
3-hour CBT · 30 multiple-choice questions
“The friendliest front door to the profession. Interest theory rewards careful, systematic work more than raw talent, which makes FM the exam I recommend first to career changers and anyone whose calculus is rusty.”
Open the hub → - FAM ✓ I passed this
Fundamentals of Actuarial Mathematics
3.5-hour CBT · multiple choice, split FAM-L and FAM-S content
“The volume exam. Nothing in FAM is as conceptually hard as P, but the syllabus is enormous, spanning life contingencies and short-term insurance mathematics. The battle is coverage and retention, not difficulty.”
Open the hub → - SRM ✓ I passed this
Statistics for Risk Modeling
3.5-hour CBT · 35 multiple-choice questions
“The bridge to modern actuarial work. GLMs, time series, clustering, trees. This is the exam that most resembles what analysts actually do all day. If you enjoy SRM, you'll enjoy the job.”
Open the hub → - PA ✓ I passed this
Predictive Analytics
3.5-hour project-style assessment (written responses)
“Unlike anything before it: a business communication exam wearing a data-science costume. The modeling is SRM material. The challenge is explaining decisions in writing, clearly, under time pressure, to a non-technical audience.”
Open the hub → - ASTAM ✓ I passed this
Advanced Short-Term Actuarial Mathematics
3-hour written-answer exam
“The exam that made me an ASA. Written-answer format changes everything: partial credit exists, so showing structured work matters as much as final numbers. Credibility theory and reserving finally click here. This is real insurance mathematics.”
Open the hub →
The law of the road
~100 focused hours per exam hour. No shortcut has ever survived contact with the syllabus.
A 3-hour prelim wants ~300 hours. The free study planner turns that number into your actual calendar.
Plan my hours →