FRA - Go back, or wait until review?

I just got through my reading of FRA, and it didn’t go well at all. I did the CFA EOC quizzes, and on balance sheets, cash flow statement, and income statements, I was around the 50-60% mark, and that’s a soft 50-60 (i.e. I included questions that I got correct through pure guessing)…I really don’t feel like I’ve retained much. I work for an asset management firm, so I’m currently reading fixed income and getting through it at a pretty good rate, as a lot of it isn’t new to me, which is good because I’m behind schedule, and also motivating becuase it’s nice to feel like I know stuff!

Basically, what should I do in this situation? I’m behind schedule, so it’s going to be a real push to get everything done and still allow 45 days for review, but at the same time, I feel like if I just leave FRA behind, it’s going to seem almost completely new to me during review. Shall I just keep moving, or is it worth going through FRA a second time seeing as it’s so heavily weighted?

Personally, I would NOT go through FRA twice. I’d go through it three or four times.

(And that’s AFTER I had passed the CPA exam.)

Academic research on learning says that the best way to retain something is with repeated small exposures. And these exposures should involve you having to recall things (in other words, not just rereading things, but also quizzing yourself). If you know it’s a weakness, spend a bit of time each weak reviewing it.

Yeah, thanks, I was just thinking that rather than looking at it as ‘go back and do again’ or ‘proceed with other stuff’ I’ll just build more FRA study into my plan. I.e I’ll keep progressing through the readings, but I’ll set aside 2-3 hrs a week purely for FRA review, so that by the time I get to actual review, I’ll have around 20 hrs of extra FRA study. My lack of familiarity with the subject, combined with how heavily weighted it is, means I think it’s something I should just always be reviewing.

it wont seem like you retain much the first time around… 50-60% isnt actually too bad for your first time, when you review it’ll stick. FRA is the longest section so this is normal. Finish the other sections IMO they wont take too long… when you finish going thru the first time (dont take too long), the mocks/practice tests will solidify stuff… you’ll be learning stuff up until the last day, dont expect too much 2+ months before exam day