One thing many CAS exam candidates learn quickly is that studying is intensely personal. What works for one person may be ineffective, or even unbearable, for another. I asked candidates across LinkedIn to share the weird, creative, and unconventional study habits that helped them survive actuarial exams. The responses were thoughtful, funny, and reassuringly human. While no single method guarantees success, several common themes emerged.

Engaging (and occasionally quieting) the senses

Several candidates leaned into multisensory learning to strengthen focus, memory, and emotional connection to the material.

Emma Casehart and Julianne Borgardt both leaned on music as a powerful sensory anchor. Emma listened to the same album of lyrical rap for every study hour across her final four exams; that’s more than 1,000 total hours! By exam day, simply humming those songs put her straight back into “study mode.” Julianne had broader listening habits that relied on energetic, yet familiar instrumental music such as movie scores from composers like John Williams and Hans Zimmer or video game soundtracks.

Kelli Chupp built emotion directly into her memorization process. Believing that emotionally charged experiences are easier to remember, she would recite flashcards using exaggerated emotions such as sadly reviewing ASOPs or getting comically angry about capital allocation formulas. The shifts in tone helped break up monotony and made the material more memorable.

Color also played a surprising role. Ally Brehm used different colored flashcards for different topics and matched those colors to tabs and fonts in Excel notes, making it easier to “picture” formulas during the exam.

Jaden Henderson took a counterintuitive approach by deliberately reducing sensory input after studying. He would spend five to ten minutes in silence — sometimes walking, juggling, or simply staring at the ceiling. Rather than adding stimulation, this quiet reset helped him decompress after tough sessions and feel mentally clearer heading into the next one.

From passive review to active creation

These candidates learned best by actively creating — rewriting, restructuring, and reconstructing the material until it stuck.

Megan Loomis found that physically writing out answers was more effective than simply reviewing flashcards. Before checking herself, she’d write responses on scrap paper like old envelopes or junk mail, focusing solely on the act of writing to cement the material in memory.

Jake Marshall took a more visual approach by creating a PowerPoint deck for each exam, forcing himself to organize concepts and connections rather than summarize. His final review involved presenting the slides aloud to an imaginary audience.

Others rebuilt the material entirely. Robin Hayworth recreated old exam questions in Excel with randomized values, so each attempt tested method rather than memorization. Michael Lautermilch tracked every mistake he made on practice problems with a single error sheet, reviewing it daily to focus his final studying on his most persistent gaps.

Studying beyond the desk

For these candidates, studying didn’t always mean sitting still at a desk for hours on end.

David Fernandez memorized notecards in a quiet setting but did recall work while walking the same route through his neighborhood. His neighbors even began to recognize when he was studying based on whether he was looking at his phone. Kelli Chupp also benefited from movement, preferring to listen to lessons while walking rather than sitting still, which helped her stay more engaged with the material.

Others found that simply changing location made studying feel more tolerable. Jamie Doyle brought her study materials outside during nice weather to improve mood and reduce frustration, while George M. Belokas used his bus commute to review flashcards and reread materials. Ken Williams developed a remarkably consistent routine of studying at his local university campus, fueled by frequent Diet Coke breaks at the student center McDonald’s.

Rethinking the final days before the exam

Perhaps the most reassuring theme was how many candidates intentionally did less right before exam day.

Steven D. Armstrong and Charles Daggs both emphasized the importance of intentionally stepping away from studying the day before the exam. Steven structured his entire study plan, so he felt exam ready a week early, allowing the final day to be spent doing anything but studying. Charles did much the same, and both of them mention visiting museums, seeing movies, and even replaying favorite videos games as great ways to keep stress low. The goal wasn’t last minute learning, but entering exam day calm, rested, and mentally ready.

If there’s one clear takeaway, it’s that successful study habits are rarely textbook perfect. The common thread isn’t what candidates did; it’s that each intentionally built a system that worked for them. If you’re searching for a better study routine, don’t be afraid to experiment. The study habit that feels the strangest may be the one that helps carry you across the finish line!