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Hardest exam to get into a profession?

I

invidia

Platinum Member
What's the hardest exam to take to get into a profession? I heard people spend years studying for the acutary exams and still only have a 2-3% of passing them. Is there anything harder that takes years of studying?
 
actuarial exams are very difficult. However you can usually get a decent job by just passing the first one out of ten. Each time to pass another exam=big pay raise. I heard it takes 15-20 years to pass them all.
 
Originally posted by: Kanalua
What, is an actuary like that guy on Along Came Polly (risk assessor)?
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In a nutshell, yes, they assess business risk (for insurance, pensions, liabilities, etc.) in terms of dollars somehow. As for exams, I think that the FE or MCAT would probably be much more difficult. Even the pharmacy licensing exam is probably more difficult than actuarial exams (which have about a 40% pass rate and take average of 10-12 years to complete).

Dave
 
Originally posted by: dave127
Originally posted by: Kanalua
What, is an actuary like that guy on Along Came Polly (risk assessor)?
Click to expand...


In a nutshell, yes, they assess business risk (for insurance, pensions, liabilities, etc.) in terms of dollars somehow. As for exams, I think that the FE or MCAT would probably be much more difficult. Even the pharmacy licensing exam is probably more difficult than actuarial exams (which have about a 40% pass rate and take average of 10-12 years to complete).

Dave
Click to expand...

i think the actuary exams are a lot more difficult because there are so many of them. a lot of people consider them to be harder than getting a ph.d. personally, i think the cfa exams are pretty tough too, but you dont have to remember the information afterwards and there are only 3 of them.
 
Originally posted by: 3cho
Originally posted by: dave127
Originally posted by: Kanalua
What, is an actuary like that guy on Along Came Polly (risk assessor)?
Click to expand...


In a nutshell, yes, they assess business risk (for insurance, pensions, liabilities, etc.) in terms of dollars somehow. As for exams, I think that the FE or MCAT would probably be much more difficult. Even the pharmacy licensing exam is probably more difficult than actuarial exams (which have about a 40% pass rate and take average of 10-12 years to complete).

Dave
Click to expand...

i think the actuary exams are a lot more difficult because there are so many of them. a lot of people consider them to be harder than getting a ph.d. personally, i think the cfa exams are pretty tough too, but you dont have to remember the information afterwards and there are only 3 of them.
Click to expand...


Did you take the CFA exams?


 
Originally posted by: dave127
Originally posted by: Kanalua
What, is an actuary like that guy on Along Came Polly (risk assessor)?
Click to expand...


In a nutshell, yes, they assess business risk (for insurance, pensions, liabilities, etc.) in terms of dollars somehow. As for exams, I think that the FE or MCAT would probably be much more difficult. Even the pharmacy licensing exam is probably more difficult than actuarial exams (which have about a 40% pass rate and take average of 10-12 years to complete).

Dave
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the FE is mind rape 🙁 but no matter how bad you do, as long as you're in the top 20% of the scores during that session, you pass
 
Yeah, see top 20% on an 8 hour exam is no joke. I'm in the process of taking actuarial exams (two down, 7 to go). I don't personally think they're as much difficult as they are a test of your discipline to study and willpower.

Dave
 
Originally posted by: silverpig
There are some pretty tough physics exams...
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Yeah, my M.S. and Ph.D. qualifying exams weren't exactly easy. The hardest ones I can think of would either be those or medical board exams.
 
The FE and PE exams are tough, but are very reasonable if you put in the time to study. I'm glad to have passed the PE back in the spring and don't have to worry with it anymore. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: glutenberg
Unless we have some MD/PHD/JD/etc. degrees, I think the question is going to bring some biased answers.
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Man, I want a MD/phD so bad, I'd KILL FOR THAT MOTHERFVCKER....then I'd help them and bring them back to life.
 
I think to be any 'certified expert' in any field pretty much requires a lifetime of dedication..

As for my work area, as an industrial engineer/programmer (with a political science degree), I think PE is an insanely underrated certification..

You have to get a 4-year engineering degree to qualify to take the 8-hour EIT (Engineer in Training) exam.. Then, you have to pass the EIT and study under a PE (Public Engineer) for a minimum of 4 years in order to qualify to take the 8-hour PE exam.
 
Fe and PE exams are very difficult because they test you on everything, even questions not in your line of work (civil Eng questions even if you are chem eng etc.)

medical board exams are pretty rough too, so much memorization.
 
cpa exam use to have like 20% passing rates... but they changed some rules around, you only need to pass one part of the exam at a time so the pass rates are much much higher now
 
Originally posted by: krunchykrome
CPA exam?
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Are you kidding me? CPA exam is a joke.


"Ohh darn, I failed one part, I can retake it over and over for the next couple years and not sweat the rest of the exam!"

What a crock. That's like failing HS physics and being able to retake it 2 years later for an A. CPAs are finance wannabes.
 
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