Location, Location, Location

An often overlooked aspect of the actuarial exams is the exam site. It is given consideration when you are registering for the exam, and then it becomes completely secondary to learning your exam materials and working problems until a couple of days before the exam. At that point it enters the picture again; you start to plan out your route to the location and go shopping for some new ear plugs. You might torture yourself by recalling stories of exam site mishaps (like the fire alarm going off in the middle of the exam), but really, all you can do is keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best — an unobtrusive proctor, a quiet room, a steady table and a clock that you can see. To shed a little light into the world of CAS exam sites, Future Fellows reached out to CAS Examinations Coordinator Bob Craver.

Simply enough, “Exam sites are generally chosen by need,” said Craver. The locations used are those that have actuarial students needing a place to take their exams and volunteer CAS members who are willing to proctor. Many times a company will volunteer to host the exams, thereby providing the space and the staff. Otherwise, the CAS will arrange a location and will reach out to local CAS members to administer the exams. In the continental United States, the CAS tries to have an exam site within an hour and a half drive for each candidate. According to Craver, outside of the U.S., the sites are set-up where “candidates tend to cluster. However, there may only be one site in a given country.” The designated exam space needs to accommodate the number of exam takers in the area, which can vary quite a bit. The largest sites are in New York City and Toronto, which may see up to 70 candidates for a single exam. Chicago is another large location, which could have 40 exam-takers sitting at one time. Some sites may have just a handful of students who are taking exams.

Despite the differing numbers of exam-takers, the exam sites are all given the same instructions in terms of administering the exams. Additionally, Craver said he “always tell[s] the proctors, as they’ve taken the exams before, to try to make their site the way they would have wanted it when they were candidates.” Craver also encourages sites to follow the philosophy of “the more space the better,” for the candidates, but quarters can still feel cramped at times due to different circumstances. Exam locations change often, and some preferred spaces aren’t always available on a consistent basis.

If you have feedback on your exam location, you are strongly encouraged to share it via the post-exam survey. The survey gives candidates the means to confirm excellent sites and to provide feedback on site improvements. As the examinations coordinator, part of Craver’s responsibilities are to “look at the data from the exam surveys and determine if there is a consistent problem happening at the site either on a continuous basis or for a given sitting.” Since the surveys are anonymous, though, the students need to identify the exam site they are commenting on in the free form survey response. Without including the exam location, little can be done. However, when candidates include the site name and there has been a problem at the site, “it usually becomes very clear as the same story keeps appearing repeatedly. If it is determined that there is a procedural issue at the site, then they are contacted with the data from the surveys and given a chance to make necessary adjustments.” Although students can provide feedback on any issues at their exam location, some recurring problems such as “outside construction noise, fire alarms, traffic, parking or weather” are beyond the CAS’s control.

If your company is interested in becoming a CAS exam site, please have a company representative reach email Bob Craver at bcraver@casact.org.