Review core probability before starting MAS-I specific material

MAS-I assumes solid probability foundations. If Exam P was more than a year ago, spend two weeks reviewing distributions, moment-generating functions, and conditional expectations.

Master maximum likelihood estimation end to end

Practice writing the likelihood, taking the log, differentiating, and solving. Know how to compute the Fisher information and construct confidence intervals from the MLE.

Study the Neyman-Pearson lemma and its applications

Understand how the likelihood ratio test relates to the most powerful test. Practice setting up the rejection region and computing power for simple versus simple hypotheses.

Practice Bayesian analysis with conjugate priors

Work through Beta-Binomial, Gamma-Poisson, and Normal-Normal conjugate families repeatedly. Know the posterior distribution, posterior mean, and predictive distribution for each.

Build intuition for sufficient statistics

Know the factorization theorem and practice identifying sufficient statistics for common families. This topic is tested both directly and as part of estimation problems.

Study simulation methods with specific algorithms

Practice the inverse transform method step by step for several distributions. Know when to use acceptance-rejection and how to choose the envelope distribution.

Practice regression diagnostics systematically

Know how to compute and interpret leverage, Cook s distance, and studentized residuals. Practice identifying influential observations from diagnostic plots.

Study time series by fitting models to small datasets

Work through ARIMA model identification, parameter estimation, and forecasting on datasets with 10 to 20 observations. Hand calculations make the concepts concrete.

Focus on the connections between frequentist and Bayesian approaches

Some problems ask you to compare Bayesian credible intervals with frequentist confidence intervals. Understand how prior information affects posterior inference.

Take at least four timed practice exams

MAS-I is 4 hours long with 40 questions. Build stamina by simulating the full exam experience, including the 6-minute-per-question pace.

MAS-I Study Tips