Anyone remember me??? you don’t need to… here is the link to my post last year http://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-level-ii-forum/91324038
After suffering what I will call ‘the biggest challenge of my life’, ‘when darkness befell me’… I finally can smile and enjoy life like I used to before first attempt of CFA Level II in June 2011)
In my post last year, you will note that I stated how much I have been accorded the ‘genius’ title by my colleagues at work and in schools. Needless to say, I am a person who has attained a GPA of 720 in GMAT and has received numerous awards for doing well in exams.
Last year, I said that June 2013 CFA Level II exam was the easiest I have ever sat for; it remains so. I actually went for the retabulation last year, but like many have warned others, it’s a waste of time; I received an email two weeks later stating that ‘CFA Institute has retabulated your score and your score remain as it is’. It didn’t tell much.
For those who don’t know what I am talking about, see highlights below:-
June 2011: Band 10 >70: FRA, Ethics, Eco, Alter, Corp Fi 50-70: Equit, QM, PM <50: FI, Deri
June 2012: Band 10 >70: FRA, Ethics, Alter, Corp Fin, Econ 50-70: FInc, QM <50: Equit, PM, Deri
June 2013: Band 9 >70: FRA, Corp Fin, Ethics, EQuit, Econ 50-70: QM <50: Deriv, FI, Altern, PM
I registered for June 2014 CFA Level II in October 2013, at that time my wife had realized she was pregnant with our second baby. When we went to see the gynae/obs in Dec 2013, a scan was done and an expected delivery date was given as 7th of June 2014. It was the craziest thing I have ever heard. I wondered if I was to make it to the exam room come June…I made it though… Did I prepare more than I prepared the past 3 years exams??? NO… here is why;
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Because I thought I won’t have a chance to sit for the paper. After all, being there when your baby is born is the best gift you can give them.
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I thought I could do the exam any time. My 3 years in Level II had made me a master of the concepts. I am always honest when I say that I don’t know why I failed in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
I decided that I was gonna concentrate on reading questions. I therefore printed all the mock papers that I had; starting from 2010 to 2014. I did each of those mocks 5 times, each time spending hours to read the answers with the carefulness of a good surgeon. I then went through the EOC questions in the CFAI curriculum (but only the multiple choice questions). I did this until I got tired of the questions.
By 5th June 2014, I still wasn’t sure I should go to the exam room on 7th. I always hoped the obs would change the expected delivery date but it never happened. Like she had in the days and months prior to the exam, my wife encouraged me to go do the paper. She would promise she was gonna be fine; mind you, we are expats in the US, we didn’t have a relative to stay with our other kid (now 2.4 years) but for a good a neighbor who took care of him. On 6th 7pm ET, my wife told she didn’t think she was ready to deliver since she had not felt or seen a sign; she told me we should take advantage of that - and so I took advantage of it. I barely slept on the night of 6th.
As early as 4am on 7th, I took a taxi to go to Manhattan for the exam; I couldn’t stomach driving-I don’t know, I was scared - failures in the CFA Level II exam had drawn out all the exam-confidence I have ever had in my education life. I however got to the exam centre in good time, all the time I thought of my wife and how she’s gonna get our daughter in a hospital where there is no relatives of ours.
About the delivery; my wife went into labor upon my arrival from the exam and on the night of 7th June, we welcomed our daughter into the world. It was my 48 hours without sleep.
To cut the story short, I did the exam and although I saw it harder than the prior year’s, I thought I had a chance of passing because Ethics, FRA, Eqty, CF, QM, Econ, and Der was a cup of tea. AI and PM was a monster that I tackled slowly trying to remember every detail of some concepts I have learnt elsewhere in my education life. Early days after the exam, I thought I am gonna pass but with each day passing, I forgot what the exam questions were, many peeps posted in AF that the exam was tricky and some people would fail for ignoring some things; I then started feeling like it’s gonna be like 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Well, today I received one of the best emails I have ever read… passing with >70 in all subjects.
My word to those who failed this time and the years before: You started it, you passed Level I, you can pass Level II and it’s your obligation to finish it… do it, do it because you will pass. I once met an MD of Credit Suisse New York (I say an MD because the structure of Credit Suisse requires several MDs) who told me that he wished he resiliently sat for the exams after failing CFA Level I twice in 1992 and 1993. His words plus the fact that I didn’t wanna tell my son one day, that I failed 3 times then gave up, made me do this.
Many folks here in AF encouraged me after my post last year and for that I am grateful; some of you guys have a golden heart… Blessings to you all.
Buddies, you will finally ace this thing… I now accept, it’s a monster but a monster that can be taken down.
