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Course for P/1 July 2010 Exam
Actuarial Exam Preparation Courses by G.V. Ramanathan

 
The course is scheduled for April 10 - July 11. Registration will close on April 8, or earlier if class is filled.
 
 

This online course is designed to meet the needs of students preparing for the SOA / CAS Exam P / Exam 1. It will be like a regular academic course except that you won't have to travel and you won't have to be at a certain place at a certain time to attend the class.
 
How does it work?
 
Every week I will send you a reading assignment, some explanatory notes, a write-up summarizing the basic concepts, illustrative exercises, and a quiz. You may ask me questions at any time and I will try to respond as promptly as I can. Also, I will put up discussions of common interest on the web site or send them to you by e-mail. This interaction is the most important part of the course. There will be a forum page on this web site through which you can hold discussions with other students.
 
There will be a week of very intensive review. Students registered for this course will have access to 10 full length onlline practice exams.
 
During the course there will be three exams  They will constitute excellent practice for taking the SOA/CAS exam.
 
 
How will the exams be given?
 
I will send out the exam by e-mail and/or post it on the course web site at 9 A.M. Central time. You take the allotted time and send me your answers. Then I will send you complete solutions and we will discuss any questions you might have.
 
If something comes up and you are unable to take the exam at that time, that will not cause any problem. You may take it later, but not earlier. The reason is that I keep refining the exam until the last minute, based on the students' questions and performance in most recent quizzes.
 
 
PREREQUISITES:
 
A thorough grasp of Basics of Calculus (as taught in a three semester sequence in Mathematics Departments) is an essential prerequisite for this course. Some familiarity with the basic notions of Probability will help. Even though the SOA/CAS exam will not test Calculus directly, it will be tested through Probability. You should be thoroughly conversant with the following topics:
  • Absolute value function, exponential  logarithm functions
  • Limits, one-sided limits and continuity
  • Product, Quotient and Chain rules for differentiation
  • Integration by substitution and by parts
  • Geometric and exponential series
  • Double integrals, repeated integrals
  • Basic notions of Probability, random variables, expected value and variance.

Required Text for the Online Course:

PROBABILITY : A Study Guide for SOA/CAS Exam P/ Exam 1, by G.V. Ramanathan (For description and sample pages please click here )
 
Below is a sample assignment for the online course:
 
 
Registered students should complete this assignment preferably before starting the course and definitely before attempting the first assignment in the course.

In order to read the files I post and send, you will need Adobe Reader, which you can download from
 
 
Please make sure that you are able to read and print the test.
 
Schedule
(There may be minor changes)
 
 

April 10
Elements of Probability
April 16
Conditional Probability
April 23
Random Variables and Distributions
May 3
Moments
May 12
Multivariate Distributions
May 22
Multivariate Distributions contd
May 31
Midterm Exam 1
June 1
Discrete Random Variables

June 10

Continuous Random Variables

June 19
Continuous Random Variables contd., Normal Approximation

June 26

Exam 2

June 27 - July 10

Review and online practice exams

July 11
 

Final Examination

July 27 - August 7

SOA/CAS Exam

Tuition: 480 dollars US. (Does not include Study Guide). Registration will close on April 8 or earlier if class is filled. There will be no refunds after the first week of the course.
 
You may register at any of these places and also purchase the Study Guide.

OR

  • ACTEX (Tuition, Study Guide -Electronic Copy or Hard copy)

OR

At ACTEX and at the Actuarial Bookstore, it would be most efficient if you search under the keyword, "Ramanathan."