I'm really struggling with this as I don't know anyone else who has done this yet and it's hard not having anyone else to speak to about it. I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't done it yet, but has anyone done the pre-course work for this recently? I have had an attempt at it but the data is not proving a good fit to the exponential distribution we are told to use and i'm worried that it's because i've done it wrong. Without knowing anyone else who's doing it, there's no-one to ask! Did anyone else find the pre-course work quite difficult, or is it just me?
Hi Ricegirl, I haven't done the pre-course work (well sce a couple of years ago ) but I would say... don't worry if things look off... it may be your reaction that they are testing (next steps on the presentation say...) also, even if you are wrong, the actual calcs only play a small part, it's all about the audit trail and presentation... so this may actually be a good *test* to how to react if the actual exam does go a bit belly up... would be a good example to show passing isn't about getting the numbers right! Good luck! CC
The exponential distribution not fitting the data could be the point of the exercise. It's a good opportunity for an actuary to add value if it doesn't.
Try plotting the graph and have a look at the shape - if it looks exponential you have calculated something wrong. However if it curves the wrong way or have some inflection points the exponential distribution won't be a good fit and you'll probably be expected to comment on it and suggest some alternative distributions.
Treat it like any other exam.... If the maths looks wrong, you should still press on and use what you have produced in your deductions. In a 'normal' exam you'd have to use your answers to comment if asked, so do the same now. The key reason for failure is often cited as not finishing so don't get hung up, press on and complete the write-up tasks etc etc. As someone pointed out above, its not the XL/modelling bit that gets the most marks. And of course, you can ask for help on the day. So don't forget to use that avenue if its XL functions you think are the issue. I think any cited reason for failure is not asking early enough. Good luck!
