Trying out SOA exam handscoring service

I faxed my handscoring application to SOA about three weeks ago. I didn't hear anything from them until last week and I thought perhaps the fax didn't go through and I would just forget it.

Surprise 1----I got an email from a staff in SOA last monday and I was told that I should wait for 2 to 6 weeks for the handscoring answer.

What? 2 to 6 weeks? By the time I got the handscoring result, it will be almost October and I have to register for the exam! Meanwhile, my intuition told me not to expect too much from this handscoring result and just foucs on passing M this time.

Surprise 2---Instead of really waiting for 2 to 6 weeks, I got the handscoring result from another email this afternoon.

And this brings a Surprise 3---which is no surprise.

" ACT has hand scored your answer sheet for Exam M at the Des Moines, IA Exam Location from the Spring/May 2006 session as requested.

There were no errors found in scoring.

Your original score that was reported to you was correct as stated."

Things to learn from this experience:

1. Just like my friend JS suggested, "YYNC, this is a FALSE HOPE and you are wasting $50!"

2. However, if you've been thinking about the "what-if" scenarios like " what if the SOA made a mistake on the answer that I didn't erase properly?" for a couple of days, use the handscoring service so that you can have a peace of mind.

Using 50 dollars to buy a peace of mind---it's a good deal afterall.