A Method I Didn't Have Yet: How I Passed Exam P

I passed Exam FM and Exam P 104 days apart while working an actuarial internship and taking three university classes. Like most actuarial numbers, though, 104 needs a little context: I didn’t start studying for P until May 17th, which left me 61 days from opening the material to sitting for the exam.

The Timeline

• April 4th: Sat for and passed Exam FM
• May 17th: Started studying for Exam P
• June 3rd: Switched to Coaching Actuaries’ Learn Complete + Practice
• June 8th: Started my actuarial internship
• July 17th: Sat for and passed Exam P

FM Was a Trial Run

By the time I sat for FM, I had already taken an FSU course built around the entire FM syllabus. My professor split it into four sections and gave us actuarial-style exams, so I wasn’t learning FM from scratch. I bought 30 days of Coaching Actuaries (CA) Practice and skipped the learning material. I basically used CA as my testing environment. I had never sat for an actuarial exam before, and I wanted a trial run before the real thing.

P was the first exam where nobody walked me through the syllabus. My math stats course covered maybe 20% of it, with zero emphasis on P, and probability had never come easily to me. Combinations, distributions, everything felt like a whole new beast. I transferred to FSU as a junior, and as a rising senior I wanted both preliminary exams done to be competitive for full-time offers.

As a rising senior I wanted both preliminary exams done to be competitive for full-time offers.

Finding What Worked

My original plan was to use another prep provider for learning and CA the same way I used it for FM, as a place to test myself. The other provider was a legitimate resource, but its structure didn’t match how I learn. I do best when the syllabus is broken into contained sections where I can read a concept, see an example right away, practice exactly that, and measure whether I actually understand it.

Peers had recommended CA, but what sold me was the structure and the sheer size of the question bank. On June 3rd, about 45 days before my sitting, I bought Learn Complete + Practice. Five days later, my internship started. Looking back, I wouldn’t have started earlier, since I felt prepared by exam day. What I’d change is buying CA for 60 days instead of 45, so I’d have had access to its tools and resources for 15 more days.

Peers had recommended CA, but what sold me was the structure and the sheer size of the question bank.

How I Actually Studied

I never made a day-by-day study calendar, and I didn’t study every day either. The usual advice is 2–3 hours a day. I did the opposite: 2–3 days a week, 6–8 hours at a time. I know that’s unconventional, but between my internship at Allied Trust Insurance Company and three classes, it was what worked for me. I’m not sure why long blocks work better for me; they just do. I don’t enjoy cramming, but I do enjoy spending a long stretch working on actuarial problems.

During my internship, I lived at my parents’ house, where I didn’t have a desk since I’m away at college most of the year. So I studied at the dinner table with soundproof headphones on and melancholic classical music playing. During those long blocks, I worked through each section in CA, then went back section by section with custom quizzes. I’d start at Level 3–4 questions and move up to Level 4–6 once I was getting about four out of five right. About 30 days out, I switched to custom practice exams.

That meant giving some things up. Plenty of nights that would have gone to video games or just relaxing after a long day at work went to Level 4–6 custom exams instead.

Plenty of nights that would have gone to video games or just relaxing after a long day at work went to Level 4–6 custom exams instead.

Building Muscle

My mom signed me up for an after-school chess class in second grade. I was a sore loser and got really upset whenever I lost. One day, my teacher, Mr. Sanchez, told me, “When you lose, it’s an opportunity to build muscle.” I took that to mean getting comfortable with not being right and treating each loss as a way to see what I didn’t know yet. Fifteen years later, I still hold that to be true.

That mindset carried into P. There were sessions where I’d work 10 hard questions and get maybe one right without looking at the solution. There was no single worst moment, just steady frustration. I treated each miss as a method I didn’t have yet. Slowly, problems that looked completely foreign started looking like ones I’d already seen.

It showed up at my internship too: studying for P helped me follow what my mentor was talking about, and hearing that you can model severity with a gamma distribution and frequency with a Poisson distribution showed me I was actually applying what I’d been studying.

Dos and Don’ts

Do

• Build your schedule around how you actually work.
• Switch resources if one isn’t working. I started P with another prep provider and moved to CA when that provider’s structure didn’t fit how I learn.
• Learn by applying. You don’t need to learn everything at once. Layer your knowledge and get comfortable through practice problems.

Don’t

• Copy someone else’s schedule or study time. I studied differently for FM and P because my background in each was different.
• Treat a wrong answer as a setback.

The Same 8

Even after weeks of studying, P didn’t really click until early July, about 2 weeks before my exam. By the time I sat for it, I felt confident, though still nervous, and I knew I’d passed when I walked out. My score came back as an 8, the same as FM, the exam I’d taken a full university course for.

P also gave me the confidence to study on my own. After a rigorous, deeply structured class for FM, I was a little afraid I couldn’t prepare the same way without a professor. Now I know I can prepare for later exams without one, and I owe a lot of that to CA.

If it hasn’t clicked yet, don’t worry. It may just be a method you don’t have yet.

Now I know I can prepare for later exams without [a class or professor], and I owe a lot of that to Coaching Actuaries.

About the Author

Steven Ferstenfeld is a senior at Florida State University pursuing a B.S. in actuarial science and economics, expected in summer 2027. He transferred to FSU as a junior and has since passed Exams FM and P, both in 2026. He interned at Allied Trust Insurance Company in summer 2026 and is now an actuarial analyst (OPS) on the Private Passenger Auto team at the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. On campus, he serves as director of advising for Future Seminole Actuaries (FSU’s actuarial club) and as an actuarial committee board member for Gamma Iota Sigma. He is seeking a full-time actuarial role upon graduation.