Earning your CPCU® designation means putting in a lot of study hours. To get the most out of your study time, here are some of our favorite study strategies.

Ace your AINS® & CPCU® exams with the help of our study materials!

1) Reading/watching does not equal learning

Whether you are learning the content through videos or reading text, it is important to remember that watching & reading do not . In fact, reading is more like pre-learning; it’s only when you review the material again or apply it to something that you’ll start to retain large portions of the content.

That’s why we recommend against relying solely on The Institutes’ textbooks to prepare for your exam. Adding in our study guides and The Institutes’ practice questions will help you effectively review the material and give you a chance to put your understanding to use. Doing both of those things will go much further in helping you cement the information into your brain than through just reading alone.  

2) Reward yourself

If we’re being totally honest, studying can sometimes feel like a chore, so give yourself something to look forward to by incorporating small rewards. For example, if there’s a Netflix show that you’re totally addicted to, give yourself to watch 15 minutes of it for every 20 pages you get through.  

3) Block out interruptions

Most people know that distractions while studying are not good, but they don’t realize how taxing it truly is. That’s because your brain requires extra effort to switch gears, even if you don’t consciously realize it.

To illustrate, imagine that for each separate thing you are trying to do, you have to do it in a different room in your house. As you switch back and forth between looking at your phone and reading the textbook, for example, your brain is basically running back and forth between the two different rooms. It would be a lot less tiring on your brain, if you just stayed in one room and finished what you needed to do, so try to study in an environment that won’t unnecessarily exhaust your brain.  

4) Don’t be afraid to switch things up

Sometimes, it takes a little trial and error to figure out the best way to hit your stride, so be willing to try different things. Try changing up your study location, such as at home versus a library versus a coffee shop, to see if one clearly works. You can also vary your study times, study days, or even your style of review.  

5) Utilize technology

We live in an amazing era where everyone basically carries around a high-powered computer in their pocket (aka, your phone). There are tons of apps that you can use to review and practice, anytime and anywhere. Our favorites include:

• The Institutes’ S.M.A.R.T. QuizMe app [practice CPCU exam questions]
• Quizlet [online flashcards]
• Focus Booster [timing/scheduling app that incorporates the Pomodoro study method]
• Office Lens [scan your notes and convert them into digital, editable files]
• YouTube [use it to find alternative explanations of concepts you are struggling with]

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6) Go at your own pace

As helpful a resource as the CPCU Candidates Facebook page is, it can feel intimidating or even discouraging to watch others breeze through their courses in weeks when it’s taking you months or even years. But this isn’t a race, and there’s no rule that says you have to go at whatever speed everyone else is. Your circumstances are unique to you, the most important factor is in choosing a pace is that it’s effective for you. Don’t feel pressured to keep up with someone else’s schedule if you simply aren’t retaining the material by going at that pace.
 

7) Ask for help

There is no a single person who knows everything, of course, and many of people who got their CPCU designation were blessed with advice and guidance of some sort along the way. Asking others for help or feedback is a much more efficient way to make progress than taking on all the struggles by yourself. If you need help with any aspect of the CPCU journey or the concepts you are studying, reach out to colleagues who have experience in that area of insurance, throw up a post on the CPCU Candidates Facebook page, or see if someone at your local CPCU Society can provide guidance.
 

8) Schedule your study time

It’s much easier to get into a study groove if you schedule time for studying right into your calendar. This also allows you to break up the task of preparing for your course into smaller segments (like a chapter a week, for example), which makes the whole prospect of passing an exam much more approachable. For more tips on setting up a study plan, try checking out our post on How to Make a Study Plan.
 

9) Utilize all the resources you are given

No matter what study materials you use to prepare for your CPCU exam, most of them come with multiple components. Our advice is to try everything at least once, because you never know which materials you’ll take to.

For example, buying The Institutes’ basic study package will come with not only the textbook, but also a white course workbook and access to online videos. Make the effort to check all of them out, not only because you paid big bucks for them, but you never know if you might discover that you really like one of those study aids in particular.

Ace your AINS® & CPCU® exams with the help of our study materials!

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