CFA L1 Dec retakers

Hi all,

Created this topic for anyone who didn’t clear L1 in June. We all will have different study strategy so how is everyone taking the results?

Band 9…not sure i will retake

Band 10. I saw someone with the same result as me and passed? lol So I must of failed by very few marks. I don’t think I’ll retake it though, low on cash monies.

Apparently you can get your exam remarked?

Yes, for $100 CFAI will do a hand retabulation of your scores. The consensus is that the CFAI rarely makes a mistake when grading that would benefit the candidate.

Band 9…going into the test though I wasn’t prepared…was scoring 45-55% on mocks, guessing on FR&A by dropping my pencil on the questions and marking whatever it landed on lol…

Before I got my results today though I started going through derivatives section again, just for my own understanding as I trade options and plan to start trading futures…

Thinking of studying FR&A again because it is my weakest section…but then again FR&A is of no relevance to my trading.

The pros for retaking it in December are more recent retention of the material obviously…, at least a better foot in the door for a better job if I can pass level I, and I guess you can say an approved certification of that bachelor’s degree in finance that you got at a state school.

On the other hand the cons are another $800 out the door, beauty & health of one’s youth(24years old) is wasted studying for an exam instead of exploring the world/finding a mate, and also the opportunity cost of studying for an exam vs education you want to pursue(trading strategoes, psychology, risk management, technicals, and etc)

WHICH would you choose???

If you view it as beneficial, I would retake now while the material is still relatively fresh in your mind. Band 9 is close, pretty easy to pick up an extra 12 q’s or so just based on the experience of having taken the exam. FRA is key. Good luck.

If I retake in dec the one thing I will redo different is keep doing questions on section that already read, while I read new section. For June after I read a section & did some Qbank I didn’t revisit it until I was done reading everything.

Band 9. Pretty crushed cause I spent a lot of time studying, did 8 mocks, tons of Qbanks, video classes, etc… Going to definitely give it another go in December while it’s still somewhat fresh. At least I know where my weak spots were from the real exam so I can designate my studying a little more. 10-20 more questions would probably gaurantee a pass…

Can definitely see the merits of this approach.

But assuming you pass in December, would you be taking Level 2 in June 2015? If so, between the study time you put in for the June Level 1 (2014), December Level 1 (2014) and June Level II (2015), you could have been studying for the better part of 18 months! Burn out could set in on your way to that goal, but maybe not.

I think it depends on your situation. Also, if you took that route, and got your Level 1 results in late January, do you think that would be enough time to be prepped for Level 2 in June of 2015?

No harm in waiting until next June to take Level 1 again, and take Level 2 after that (2016).

Or (not as good of an option) take Level 1 in December, while it is fresh and sit out Level 2 this June and take it in June of 2016.

Just presenting different options.

Finance degree from a state school.

Put in 250-300 hours for L1.

Failed - band 8. Studied with Schweser and did many many qbank questions and mock exams. 100% re-taking in december. My strengths in Schweser (fixed, corp finance) I was <50% on the real exam. It was crushing. I did not get any part >70%. It’s very strange because I was getting multiple parts over 70% on the schweser mocks/qbank quizzes.

I might study with Elan notes this time. Not sure how to go about it, any re-takers have any advice?

I studied from CFA books. Was scoring 70-80% in EOC questions. Took 2 CFA mock tests. 2-3 Mock from schweser. Though I could not do many qBank . I have also not got any above 70%. Feeling really bad since got the result. Yes, surely taking the exam again in Dec. But right now, no idea where to start from? which books to follow? What should be the pla. Any advice would be appriciated.

I studied from CFA books. Was scoring 70-80% in EOC questions. Took 2 CFA mock tests. 2-3 Mock from schweser. Though I could not do many qBank . I have also not got any above 70%. Feeling really bad since got the result. Yes, surely taking the exam again in Dec. But right now, no idea where to start from? which books to follow? What should be the pla. Any advice would be appriciated.

I studied from CFA books. Was scoring 70-80% in EOC questions. Took 2 CFA mock tests. 2-3 Mock from schweser. Though I could not do many qBank . I have also not got any above 70%. Feeling really bad since got the result. Yes, surely taking the exam again in Dec. But right now, no idea where to start from? which books to follow? What should be the plan. Any advice would be appriciated.

I studied from CFA books. Was scoring 70-80% in EOC questions. Took 2 CFA mock tests. 2-3 Mock from schweser. Though I could not do many qBank . I have also not got any above 70%. Feeling really bad since got the result. Yes, surely taking the exam again in Dec. But right now, no idea where to start from? which books to follow? What should be the plan. Any advice would be appriciated.

I studied from CFA books. Was scoring 70-80% in EOC questions. Took 2 CFA mock tests. 2-3 Mock from schweser. Though I could not do many qBank . I have also not got any above 70%. Feeling really bad since got the result. Yes, surely taking the exam again in Dec. But right now, no idea where to start from? which books to follow? What should be the plan. Any advice would be appriciated.

I studied from CFA books. Was scoring 70-80% in EOC questions. Took 2 CFA mock tests. 2-3 Mock from schweser. Though I could not do many qBank . I have also not got any above 70%. Feeling really bad since got the result. Yes, surely taking the exam again in Dec. But right now, no idea where to start from? which books to follow? What should be the plan. Any advice would be appriciated.

I studied mostly Schweser and some CFAI.

Looking back I can see where I spent too much time, and not enough. (Too much time in Ethics and not enough in FRA, Quant, Fixed Income). Did not have enough time to finish all Schweser mocks, and Q bank questions… I believe this was my fatal mistake.

I will be re-taking in December , and feel confident that I will be able to pass. I must have just missed the passing mark, because other people passed with similar groupings.

My plan is to start with FRA, and then Quant, and then Fixed Income. I will be doing Ethics last.

I scored Band 10.

>70% in Ethics, Alt Invest, Corporate Finance.

51-70 in Everything else.

<50 in Quant. (Quant was hard, but I can’t believe I didn’t pass it)

Here’s some advice for someone who failed last december 2013 and passed this summer.

Do the EOCs from the CFAI books more than 3 times.

Look at the appendix and breeze through the terms and definitions.

Spend most of your time on FIxed income, Equity, FRA and Ethics. ( I spent 80 percent of my time restudying FRA and ethics.)

Don’t spend so much time on Econ…there is just way too much stuff…and you don’t get enough bang for your buck.

Look for the Elan formula sheet. Make sure you memorize and understand the equations. There are a lot of equations but you can classify them as some you just have to memorize because they might just randomly show up on the test and you just need to plug and chug, others you need to know the elements of the equation to be able to solve the problem.

Save 6 weeks before the exam to do CFAI mocks. Buy the 11th hour or Secret sauce so you have a good overall view of what you are learning.

I don’t think you need to read the CFA books. I would use a review guide, I used Schweser and it worked out fine for me.

  • I don’t know how you did on the mocks, but the key for me was making sure that I worked on the things that I did not understand as well. 30-45 days before the exam, you should have a good idea what you know and what you don’t. Once you have determined that, balance staying sharp on subjects you know and learning the concepts that you are not so good at
  • Try to know as much of the material as possible. You just have no idea really what is going to be covered. I was a little surprised of some of the concepts that I learned that weren’t even on the exam, but other concepts were
  • When you take the mocks; review, review, and review. Go over every question and understand why you got it wrong. If you got it right, make sure you understand every reason why the answer is right, and make sure you did not guess. It looks like you took several mocks, I took 6, and I would suggest at least 5
  • Do lots of problems, Qbank, Schweser EOC, CFA EOC and CFA sample questions. The more you see the problems, and the more ways you understand how to get the answers and how the concepts related, the better off you’ll be. But to close the loop, understand why you missed what you missed. Can’t stress that enough. Also, the more CFAI related questions/exams you do the better. After all, who admisters this exam anyway? smileyYou need to know how the questions are being asked.

Hope this helps.