Studying Hard vs. Studying Effectively: How I Scored 10 on ALTAM

One of the biggest lessons I learned while preparing for ALTAM is that studying hard and studying effectively are not the same thing.

For a long time, I thought success came from putting in as many hours as possible, reviewing everything, and cramming until I felt prepared.

Eventually, I realized that the system I used mattered just as much as the effort I put in.

The Class That Changed My Approach

I first learned this lesson in college in a class with only two major exams. To earn an A, I needed an 88 exam average. For the first exam, I did everything I thought I was supposed to do:

• I went to lecture.
• I completed the homework early.
• I reviewed the slides.
• I spent the 5 days before the exam cramming all of the material.

By the time I walked in, I genuinely felt like I knew the slides like the back of my hand.

Then the score came back.

I got an 85.

The class average was a 75, so objectively, it was a good score. But I still felt defeated. I had tried my hardest and still fell short of the grade I wanted. The issue was not my effort. It was my approach.

Changing My Approach for the Second Exam

For the second exam, I changed my study system completely. Instead of letting the material build up and trying to cram it all at the end, I reviewed cumulatively every weekend. I would go back through almost all of the slides I had covered up to that point, not just the newest material and not just the topics I felt unsure about.

Since the class did not have many practice problems, my main strategy was repeated exposure and active review. I read through the same slides multiple times, but I tried not to read them passively. Each time, I focused on whether I actually understood the ideas, whether I could remember the details without immediately looking back, and whether I could connect the newer material to the older material.

That repeated review made a huge difference. As I learned new content, I made sure old content stayed active. By the time the second exam came around, the earlier material did not feel like something I had to relearn. It was still fresh because I had been reviewing it the entire time.

The content for the second exam was harder, and I honestly felt less confident going in. I remember thinking there was no way I would do better than I did the first time.

Then the results came back.

The median was a 55.

My grade was a 91.

Same amount of time and effort, but a completely different level of mastery.

Bringing That System to ALTAM

That experience shaped how I prepared for ALTAM, where I ended up scoring a 10. I treated the process more like a school course: learn the content deeply, then practice it actively.

I did not just passively watch lessons. I worked through examples during the Learn portion, and I was not afraid to spend a lot of time on one lesson until I truly understood it. I remember spending multiple days simply rewriting the same MLE estimate derivations until they became intuitive.

Once I finished a unit, I did not just move on and forget it. While learning future sections, I continued doing problems from previous units. That cumulative review was one of the most important parts of my preparation.

I think this is where a lot of candidates accidentally make the exam harder for themselves. If you do not continuously review old content, then by the time you reach the final unit, you often have to relearn the earlier material all over again.

I am sure many people have experienced this with an exam like FAM, where the syllabus is so broad that earlier topics can feel unfamiliar by the time you finish the last section. I wanted to avoid that with ALTAM.

My goal was to make sure old material never became 'old' in the first place.

By exam day, I did not need to cram the main content because I had been reviewing it the entire time. I did not just know the material, I had mastered it.

Use the Formula Sheet Early and Often

Another crucial part of my review was using the Coaching Actuaries formula sheet cumulatively. By exam day, you should have reviewed the entire sheet to the point where you are confident in every formula.

The formula sheet should not be something you glance at near the end of your preparation. It should be part of your active study process.

Spring 2026 ALTAM Question 1* was a perfect example of why this matters. It included an Excel question that rewarded candidates for something as simple as typing out MLE formulas that could have been memorized from the formula sheet. Many people left it completely blank.

Those are the kinds of points that can easily separate someone who passes from someone who fails.

(*Editor's note: The SOA released the actual exam questions for ALTAM after the sitting was over, so for this exam, this is public information.)

CA Problems vs. SOA Past Exams

I also think it is important to understand the difference between Coaching Actuaries problems and SOA past exam problems.

Coaching Actuaries questions are great for learning the content and building a foundation. They helped me understand the mechanics of the material and get comfortable with the core ideas.

SOA past exam problems are what taught me the exam. As I worked through more past exams, I started to see:

• Which topics I still needed to strengthen
• Which topics were most likely to come up
• How the exam actually tested the material

That changed the way I reviewed and helped me focus my effort where it mattered most.

Exam Day Experience

My experience on exam day was good. I did not walk in expecting a perfect score, but I did feel prepared.

ALTAM is not the kind of exam where you can assume everything will go perfectly. There will almost always be something that feels difficult, unfamiliar, or easy to overthink. But once I worked through the questions I was most worried about and they turned out to be manageable, I felt like I was in the clear. At that point, I knew my preparation had put me in a strong position to pass.

That is how I would describe ALTAM overall: you cannot necessarily expect a perfect score, but with effective and voluminous studying, you can reasonably expect to pass.

Brief Summary

My biggest takeaways from preparing for ALTAM were:

• Studying hard matters, but studying effectively matters just as much.
• Cumulative review prevents old material from becoming unfamiliar.
• Redoing missed problems multiple times builds real retention.
• The formula sheet should be part of your study process throughout your preparation.
• Coaching Actuaries problems are great for learning the content.
• SOA past exams are what teach you the exam.
• A strong foundation makes your final review much more useful.

My Final Advice

My biggest advice is to use spaced repetition, redo the problems you get wrong, and keep old material active while learning new material.

Do not assume that recognizing a solution means you can reproduce it on exam day.

Redo missed problems with notes, without notes, and then again days later. That is where real retention happens.

My last tip is a bit controversial. A lot of people recommend taking the day before the exam to relax. Personally, I do not.

I think the day before the exam is your opportunity to cram the niche minutiae from problems you have previously gotten wrong into your head so you can carry it forward into the exam. It is also the time to lock in any formulas you were still iffy on.

One thing I would specifically recommend doing the day before the exam is glancing through the entire formula sheet and making sure you know every formula on it. You should not be trying to learn the entire syllabus the day before, but if there is a formula on the sheet that still feels unfamiliar, that is exactly the type of small detail worth reviewing one more time.

My last tip is a bit controversial. A lot of people recommend taking the day before the exam to relax. Personally, I do not.

Little things like that can help you push yourself above your natural limit on exam day.

If you feel like you are putting in the work but still hitting a brick wall, it may not mean you are incapable of learning the material. It may just mean your current approach is not getting the most out of the time and effort you are already putting in.

For me, changing my study system may not have been the difference between failing and passing, but I do think it was the difference between getting a 7 or 8 and scoring a 10.

About the Author

Patrick F. is an actuarial analyst at a consulting company and an ASA candidate, currently one requirement away from ASA. His path into actuarial work was not perfectly linear. He earned a computer science degree and spent about 2 years working part-time while passing exams before landing his first actuarial role.