Is CT8 the hardest of the CT Subjects in terms of the technical difficulty of some of the maths involved? Not that this implies that it need be the hardest to actually pass, although the pass rate in the April exam was rather low. The recent exam certainly contained some tricky questions (eg Q8). However, let's hope the pass rate is high (50% plus).
In my opinion CT8 is one of the most interesting CT subjects to study. The course is demanding and technically difficult in some places but not impossible. The problem lies in the exam questions. The Institute and Faculty seem intent on setting questions not to test understanding but rather to ensure that you have difficulty in both understanding the question and correctly answering it. I know that on the face of it my statement sounds OTT but if you actually read their questions you can only sensibly conclude that I am right. I was lucky enough to be exempted from this exam but I am familiar with the questions. So yes, it is the most difficult CT exam to pass.
Maybe I'm only half way through CT8 and so far I don't think it is that much harder than CT4 or CT6 say. The maths is unusual (integrating wrt a random variable is the devils work), but I think it is conceptually easier than some of the other subjects. On the other hand if I fail this one in March then perhaps I will change my opinion of it! Some of the Maths in this is well covered by http://mathworld.wolfram.com/QuantumStochasticCalculus.html
CT8 is the toughest I think CT8 is the most difficult. I'm waiting for the results today and I wouldn't be surprised if it's the first exam I fail. After sitting all the CTs (three of them as 100 series) here is my ranking of difficulty - hardest exam at the top : CT8 CT4 CT5 CT6 CT3 CT1 CT7 CT2 What do you think?
Ranking I'm not sure that ranking them matters as the difficulty appears to vary a bit by when you sit the paper, and it doesn't really matter because we have to do them all anyway. When it somes to choosing I've picked mine on what seemed to go well together not by how hard people think they are. But yeah I guess i agree with what you have put down. I now can't wait to start the SAs and STs as I gues they aren't going to get easier!
I have sat CT4 and CT8 this time round. I have passed just CT3 and CT1 already. Many people have commented to me that it's a brave but good idea to attempt CT4 and CT8 since if I pass those I break the back of the CT series as the rest of them should be easier.
for what its worth - i reckon it's the hardest (being now the last CT I've studied) Also the thing about the exam questions I seem to find is they dont seem to have any easy questions. If you compare with, say, CT4 and CT6. CT4 and CT6 are both tough exams. With lots of hard questions. But they usually have at least 1 or two nice easy questions also which you can build some confidence on. CT8 exams seem to be FULL of hard questions! Exam 3 days away - good luck anyone else who'se taking!
You poor poor people - ct8 - I'm so sorry for you all, I may even light a candle for you on the date of the exam. Chin up! You can do this - really you can. Good luck - you're going to need it and much more!
The material in the core reading isn't that difficult. However, the examiners often include things that aren't in the core reading. Curveball questions are more frequent on this paper than on other papers.
Definitely agree with Rozencus. Though I would also say that both CT4 and CT8 contain an unbelievable amount of gibberish in the notes. It can take ages to wade through it all to get what you actually need to know.
Hi5, possibly. However, I have also passed 103, where martingales and brownian motion were part of the Course, so maybe I'm just jaded. What do you mean by wiki's?
Hi, To be frank, i think there was this such model made by an english man for the projection of some thing, based on inflation rate. In other words i have forgotten. See, its that hard, that i have forgotten already! hehehe Anyway I think i am in for really hard work for Ap07
I can say with some degree of certanity that CT8 before CT4 is no advantage. Regarding vice versa, I guess its the same.
Hi Dha, which part of the course is gibberish? I'm studying CT4 now, so what's the best strategy in terms of studying these notes?
Hi ActStudent. There's no one part of the course you can leave out. But chapter 6 in particular (in CT4 that is) doesn't explain stuff very well and can make some things seem an awful lot harder than they are. It's been a while since I sat CT4, so I don't remember the details. But I'd definitely advise when you're reading through it to get a really good grasp of the basic stuff (most of the stuff up to chapter 6 is quite doable), and if there's stuff you really don't understand, just skip over it and come back to it later. With CT8, most of the Wiliemodel and chapters 13/14 can be safely ommitted, as can a lot of the rubbish they have on Ito processes.
