Let's see if I did my math correctly - how long do UFE attempts take?
A quick piece of math to share with you all.
Math?
I know, for a blog run by a CA, there's really very little math, eh?
Don't act so shocked - in my day job I'm really more of an auditor than an accountant, despite what the "A" stands for in CA.
Yes, this photo's only tenuous connection to math is the presence of the "30". Nothing says "I hope I'm going to carry the one correctly" like a speed limit sign. ... What? You try and find a better accounting related photo in my vacation photo collection!
Anyway, a reader wrote in to ask how much time I spent studying for the UFE and the related preparatory exams.
I've written on this subject several times, but after a quick search of my archives, I don't think I bothered to try and figure out the total. So here we go.
We'll estimate the number of weeks first, then convert that to hours at the rate of 40 per week. This is a bit of a 'cheat', since sometimes you're doing 50-60 hours a week - especially during the SOA, I would say - while during UFE prep days a 30-35 hour week is not only possible, but recommended to avoid burnout.
So, let's break things down by exam:
- CKE: you study for two weeks before the exam itself - while enjoying the Christmas holidays, and get a couple of weeks of training from your company, either when you start, throughout the fall, or usually a combination of both. Total: about 4 weeks. Some people study more. I didn't, I had to spend some quality time in the hospital. Fun. I'm probably forgetting a week, so let's make it five.
- SOA: some people spend the month before the exam getting ready. I kept going to work instead, a choice I clearly don't regret. I did some prep work the week before, then spent three months attending the SOA, attended firm-provided training, and wrote the exam. Total: about five weeks.
- UFE: studying was completely on hold until results came out. Then studying started in earnest. That was roughly nine weeks - let's say ten to account for some time I forgot about.
This adds up to twenty weeks, or 800 hours.
I probably shamelessly low-balled the estimate. If you include time spent meeting with my mentors - yes, plural, reviewing cases during the 'off-season' - that is, in the springtime between the CKE and the SOA, writing my posts here at ACS, and doing other studying-related things, that's easily another 5 weeks, or 200 hours worth.
So I think it's reasonable to estimate the time spent studying was at least 1000 hours for the successful year spent preparing for the UFE in Ontario.
You can see that someone who starts studying earlier, and how takes more time off, say in May, to study can easily hit a higher total, tossing in another 150-200 hours or much more.
I don't think it's necessary, though, unless you really think you're going to get the Gold Medal. But that's another story.
Speaking of loosely stories, the July spam count is 902. A troubling increase, unfortunately - in June there were only 788 pieces of junk mail.
Today's special trivia: bonus points to the first person who correctly identifies the general area where today's loosely-math-related photo was taken.