I am through all the readings and have done CFAI topic tests all twice as well as EOC questions through Schweser. My question is what would be more beneficial to do now, all CFAI EOC questions and blue boxes or some mocks and then supplement weak areas with CFAI EOCs ? I have also avoided Ethics altogether aside from a quick read through the handbook (plan on digging into ethics in May).
Should I circle back and crush FRA, fixed income and quants more thoroughly?
If Mocks is the answer should I do the one I have through CFAI first, old mocks from CFAI (2012-2014) or the Schweser ones ?
On a siden note I am scoring 60-85 on topic tests. Any suggestions or input is appreciated.
Any idea on which ones to start with or does it not really matter? I will do 1-2 and revise my weak areas. Economics, FI, FRA and quants seem to be the areas I could improve forgetting trivial things and some formulas.
Could you explain why Ethics + Mocks are best to be done together? I am nearly finished with the syllabus and would appreciate advice re Ethics as maybe it is to early to start this topic (Mid March) but I will almost be finished?
Ethics is a tricky lecture. You cannot end to understand the questions at first glance if you read ethics late, need practice & practice. If you guys already ended with your readings, finish ethics now and hit the mocks. Try to solve mocks in 3 hours each, however, if you have difficulty with the time, don’t give up in 3 hours. Keep trying to solve the mocks until your last idea of how to find the correct answers is wasted. After each mock, set a 3 hour review (at least) for the questions you did wrong and also the ones you did right, you cannot know if you got a lucky right question.
If you feel lost with your first mock, go back to the readings you did bad. Track your points by mock and by topic. This is critical.
Get an average of 65-70 in the mocks and you will pass surely.
Due to the fact we don’t have an unlimited supply of mock exams, what would you suggest someone do if they have finished everything now except for Ethics (soon to be starting) would you suggest not touching mocks until Ethics is finished? I just would like to see what the style of Q is like in comparison to the Schweser Q bank or EOC Qs.
Don’t waste time on mocks until you’re ready. Do the blue boxes first, then the mocks. The reason is that mocks will just confuse and mess with concepts in your head that aren’t yet solidly built.
If you’re not scoring 70s to 80s on your mocks, you need to go back to the study material.
Open book mocks are completely useless. This isn’t a test on memorizing where sections are and how well you can copy/paste. If anything, it increases your reliance on help.
After every chapter, I would review all my notes and memorize the material. I did Schweser EOC questions blind and scored in the 70-90s. Did a couple intense reviews with my notes after I finished all the readings. Then, did 1 mock for Level 1, scored well, decided it wasn’t very helpful and went back to the notes and examples. Passed level 1 easily.
And so would you liken the style of exam questions much to the EOC questions in the Schweser books? Just trying to gauge how I’ll know I’m ready for that first mock? Thanks!
In my opinion, EOC questions are harder than the exam, but if you’re doing it right after each chapter, it skews the scores in your favor as the material is fresh in your mind.
If you feel pretty comfortable with the EOC questions in Schweser, looked through all the blue boxes, and reviewed the study material fairly thoroughly, then you’re ready. If you can put in a good attempt at answer at least 70-80% of the questions, then I’d say you’re done with studying and just need to review concepts that challenge you when doing mocks.
