Item set approach strategies

CFA Level II
#1

As the ‘month of the mocks’ has almost already begun it may be time to get some advice on how to tacke those bastards. Here I found some nice article with a couple of strategies: http://konvexity.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/how-to-attempt-item-sets-in-cfa-exams/ Can you guys put your 2 cents in and share your insights how you approach item sets?

#2

Personally after doing many item sets (but not yet whole mocks) I found that reading and answering questions in sequence (without reading the entire set before) is quite good for me - backward induction strategy in the article above. However I’m wondering whether the info necessary to answer each question is distributed in order from the beginning of the set ie e.g. info to the first question would be contained in the last paragraph. Any experience with this in official CFA mocks/exams?

#3

Thanks or link. I’ve done one mock - I generally would check out the answers before/during reading and answer as I read.

I finished the exam way too quickly, and made a few stupid mistakes. So, I am thinking of reading the questions first, then read the entire set. While reading the problem, I will underline/mark information needed to answer the question.

#4

I read the first question and then start reading the item set while trying to solve the 1st question. If I get the answer to that one:

Step 1: I stop reading

Step 2: I mark the answer

Step 3: I read the next question

Step 4: I continue reading where I left off, trying to answer that question.

#5

Hey this actually looks like a really good strategy, especially given my terrible retention skills… Thx for sharing!

#6

That’s what I’m talking about blackomen. The only thing I’m wondering about is whether the CFA Institute will mix the content of item set so that the information provided is gonna be in diferent order than questions asked.

#7

Look at CFA Institute’s sample and mock exams, and their past exams. They’re likely to maintain the approach they’ve used in the past. (I believe that they tend to provide information in the vignette in roughly the same order as the exam questions, but that’s not a guarantee.)