Hi everyone, I am a long time follower of Analyst Forum but have never really posted before. I have just received my results for the Dec level 1 Exam and I didn’t pass. I also sat the exam in June 2018 and didn’t pass. I am determined to continue, so I am going to resit in June. I definitely improved but not enough to meet the MPS. I would really appreciate some advice on a study strategy so I can nail the exam. Many thanks
How have you been doing on the mock tests? Did you constantly get over 60% on them? (Are you just running out of time or not doing well on the actual day?) I was always getting in the 60-65% range for schweser mocks and I passed this December, I would say that one borderline.
If you are already improving, I would suggest keep doing problems now.
Do the mock exam you used last time again. And again. It’s okay if you memorize the numbers or the answers, most cases you will memorize the concepts and formulas with the answers.
You seem to be using Schweser, so do all the concept checkers again. And again.
Thanks for the advice, yes I was getting around 60% on the mocks. I did really badly ie around the 10th percentile for FRA, Econ and Corp Fin and over 50% for the rest. Maybe I was fatigued on the day, doing a 3hr exam followed by a 2hr break then sitting another 3hr exam was tough and I’m pretty sure the morning paper was a lot tougher than the afternoon. Also the second time I sat the exam I get like I didn’t have to guess so much
dude I was getting 60-65% too! I did not pass. On a ‘good day’ whatever the blue line means I would’ve passed.
my coworker studied for a month and passed
I did the test in June and failed and then retook December and passed. Personally, the June exam was not what I expected so the failure was expected, but I didn’t fail by much. What I learned however was.
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Do as many questions as you can including the ones on the CFA website. I was too focused on the content and book.
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Go through the blue boxes. I did not re-read. I watched videos instead and went over the blue boxes. Re-reading to me is a massive waste of time unless you absolutely do not understand a section. I understood the content but struggled with retention so re-reading will do little to improve that.
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Do not skip sections. This time, I focused on the sections that in June I just did not have time to go over again and unsurprisingly, Derivatives and Alternative Investments are actually the reasons I passed. The strategy for me of cherry picking the highest weighted sections did not work because I was trash in FRA and could not retain the nitty gritty stuff no matter how I tried. Getting over a 50% was enough for me. I actually recommend being dead on in your best sections and lifting your weaker sections slightly. Have three topics that you can pretty much recite in your sleep.
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Flash cards. I wish I had made them sooner as I did not make a lot but this really helped with the FRA ratios and even though I was doing poorly in FRA, I managed to be slightly nearer to 70% than 50%
either your co-worker is a genius or a Liar, he was probably studying at home, 4 weeks and he passed. i need the breakfast he’s been having then
you are absolutely right, i focused so much on the content and neglected the questions. i started the mock exams two weeks out and thats a bad idea. ill re-sit in June and focus on what you just said cause youve nailed it down to the point. no giving up
Doing as many practice problems as possible is probably the best thing you can do at L1 to improve your chances of passing.
My plan is to get my hands on as many past papers as possible (CFA website & schweser), practice those to get the time management practice and try to get better used to exam conditions.
Use the CFA website QBank, to practice as many questions as possible.
For topics and subjects that I am finding difficult, watch IFT and Meldrum videos and work through the examples then practice more examples to get used to the questions that crop up.