Austin C/4 Seminars
Take a look at my Austin Study Notes, available to anyone as a free download; you should find some helpful to you in studying for Exam C/4.
Pass rates.
Good pass rates are the result of the hard
work of the participants—especially in the weeks between the end
of the Seminar and the exam itself—rather than the Seminar
instructor. Austin Austin C/4 (and old Course 4) Seminar
pass rates can be found here.
Comments by participants.
I've created threads on the
popular Actuarial (formerly Rebel) Outpost actuarial discussion site
(www.actuarialoutpost.com) and asked former participants in my seminars
to post comments there, pro or con. Here are links to the threads for Exam C/4 (and old Course 4).
Fees, payment, and registration.
The fee for seminar for the May exam sitting is $950. Payment can be made by check to Jim Daniel or by credit card over a secure connection. Since the seminar sometimes fills up, checks should be mailed for
next-day delivery; if an employer is paying and needs time to process
payment, I'll reserve the slot if a person with financial authority
sends me an e-mail of fax guaranteeing payment by the employer. In any
case, please complete a registration form and submit it to Jim Daniel.
The seminars.
The Austin C/4 Seminar is a traditional exam-prep intensive
seminar. It assumes that participants have already devoted appreciable
time to studying the material and are familiar with most of it. The
daily format is about 50% fast-paced lecture, 25% my
demonstrating problem solving, and 25% participants' working on
problems with guidance from me, for five days including a weekend.
Review Seminars are usually scheduled six-to-twelve weeks before the
exam. [Experimentation has shown that some people prefer "early-bird" seminars
11 or 12 weeks out, while others perfer the more traditional lead time.
Already being familiar with the main ideas in much of the material is
the key.]
- Dates. The following link is for registration and payment information on the currently-scheduled Austin C/4 Seminars:
- 21 – 25 Aug 2008
- 3 – 7 Oct 2008 SOLD OUT. You can get on a waiting list through The Actuarial Bookstore (payment fully refundable)
- 27 Feb – 3 Mar 2009 (form available in October 2008)
- 1 – 5 Apr 2009 (form available in October 2008)
- Format. Each day's session will consist of:
- 50% review lectures on the fundamental concepts most often tested
- 25% demonstrations of problem solving
- 25% guided practice solving problems
- Schedule. See the Austin C/4 Seminar Schedule for a detailed schedule.
- Materials.
- Participants are provided a collection of additional practice problems on the first morning of the Seminar.
- Bring the following materials to the seminar. You'll use these practice problems each day at the Seminar, so be sure to have them with you daily. And of course bring an approved calculator. Plus lots of scratch paper. Participants should bring to the Seminar the spring 2007 SoA/CAS Exam C/4 and any other released exams (available from the SoA exam archive at http://www.soa.org/education/resources/edu-multiple-choice-essay-examinations.aspx ) along with the SoA/CAS's sample questions (and solutions) for Exam C/4 available as Study Note C-09-08 from links on the website http://www.soa.org/files/pdf/edu-2008-fall-exam-c.pdf
- Although we'll not use them in the Seminar sessions, I recommend that you bring along for review as needed whatever textbooks or study manuals you are using to prepare for Exam C/4.