Hey guys, wondering how is everyone’s prep doing right now? I was kinda laid back in January after got a flu…and now just finished the first round of review the notes. I am planning to review the secret sauce and running practice for Feb. Hope that would work.
I’m through both of the Schweser books, completed the QBank in it’s entirety, and took the first of three Schweser mock exams. Got an 80 on AM and a 76 on PM. Fairly happy with those scores, but several correct answers I made were lucky guesses. Some of the questions were worded funny to me as well, so I’m glad I’m getting familiar with that. I did not get the Secret Sauce, so I’m just going to hammer the QBank more while re-reading some trickier sections and then take the remaining two mocks I have left. Also I’ll do the mock that CAIA puts out maybe a week before I sit for the test.
Really happy I signed up for this exam. Learning a lot of good stuff and, of course, it’s much more fun than CFA studying!
Good luck!
PS - I should add that I’m up to around 130 hours right now.
I just took the sample exam on the CAIA website. Wow. That was a lot more challenging than the Kaplan Schweser mock exams and my score reflects that.
i watched 20 hours of Wiley videos and did 200 questions in schweser’s mock exam. I got 59% of the questions correctly. I guess I’ll be balancing out the pass rate of 60% for you guys.
I have watched 30 hours of Uppermark videos, completed 1600 Uppermark questions, flashcards, reviews, and took the CAIA online exam and got a 60%. Hoping this curve slides up by ten points!! I’ve made a lot of silly mistakes reviewing my errors and hope they don’t continue on the actual exam.
The CAIA online exam was no joke. I made a few silly mistakes too, but maybe it’s because I read Schweser, some of the CAIA questions I just had to take a wild guess on!
I thought I was well prepared for the exam, then the AM exam made me double check if I walked into a different exam by mistake lol Some people from last year were saying the real exam difficulty and level of coverage is similar to the CAIA mock and UpperMark practice exams, I actually found the exam is like from a completely different planet? lol anyone else feels that way?
for your edification, actual LI exam was on par with CAIA mock. Schweser materials were good, but tended to be very easy on average. They tried to throw massive curve balls once in a blue moon, but nothing like the CAIA mock presented. Go through the workbook and check the examples for anything that looks unfamiliar. Schweser does a good job but obviously won’t hit everything to the fullest extent. Good luck!!!
Qbank 81%. 3 Schweser Exams average 73%. Schweser mock 69%. CAIA mock 69%. Cant seem to push scores any higher no matter the exam.
Dude, I feel your frustration. Every practice exam I take has wild swings. I’ll get in the mid-to-low 80’s on one section and then low 70’s on the next. I’m not humble bragging about getting in the 80’s, I’m freaking out because I keep seeing these huge, unexplained swings and it just makes zero sense. I have been at it since 8am yesterday and wrapped up at 2am today just to get back at it a few moments ago.
Oh well, now I’m just rambling. Keep at it and best of luck, man! I hope we both do well.
I feel the same exact way. I studied the uppermark exams and the CAIA mock exam and was getting in the 80s. I felt the test was significantly different and much harder.
Through 5 practice exams (3 Schweser printed, 1 Schweser online, and CAIA official mock) I’m at 82.4% avg with a 2.82% sample std dev, but still nervous there might be too many curveballs on exam day!
Anyone have any insight on the relative difficulty of Schweser mocks to the actual exam?
I thought the CAIA mock exam was easier than the Kaplan printed exams. I got an 85 on that one vs some mid to low 80’s and 70’s on the various sections of the printed.
This is what worries me. I keep hearing Uppermark is way harder than Kaplan. If you found the actual exam harder than the Uppermark exams, I’m definitely worried.
It’s funny because everyone (who hasn’t taken the CAIA) says it’s so easy, nothing like the CFA difficulty, an easy pass, CAIA is keeping it easy to get membership higher, and so on. It’s not an easy exam!
I have four days until the exam, trying not to have a breakdown and I’ve taken the CFA. Right when I think I am doing well, something gets thrown in I’m not comprehending/remembering and throws my score off. I’ve studied so much and currently feel like I don’t know anything. Not easy for sure.
I was one of those fools who thought CAIA was going to be easy. Only 2 books? Cake. Wrong! At least I don’t feel bad seeing some of you CFA charterholders saying this isn’t that easy. I was starting to think I was some drooling idiot.
And QBank questions compared to the practice exams are like night and day different. I’ve been crushing it on QBank but then hit 70’s on the practice exams.
Did anyone else just take the exam for Spring 2018 and feel it was much harder than expected? I read the CAIA materials twice and extensively studied the uppermark question bank.
Did you feel if the real exam was at least at par with CAIA mock exam?
Do not beat yourself too much, specially if you gave it all you can. Best of luck to you and everyone else.
No, i felt it was much harder than the CAIA mock. I was expecting it to be in line with the uppermark question bank and the CAIA mock, but was surprised during the exam at the questions and level of difficulty. I took the CAIA mock and got a 75 two months ago, and continued to study daily afterwards.