What advice would you give to someone looking to guarantee >70% in all topics? Has anyone done it before? If so, what were your strategies/techniques?
Thanks!
Study hard and score consistently 70%+ across all topics as you go through your mocks. There’s no guarantee, but if you can perform at that level consistently in mocks there is a very good chance you get 70%+ across all topics come exam day. I came close, 70%+> in all but one (PM).
They ain’t no guarantee.
Study. Plenty of people have done it.
I scored >70% in both level 1 and level 2. My advice is - read the CFAI curriculum in a timely fashion to understand the material, then study from some abridged source (i.e. Schweser). Do at least 6 full timed mock exams (Schweser) and the one on the website, examining solutions to questions you get wrong as you go along. If you’ve learned the material, after about the 3rd mock, you will have “muscle” memory for most types of questions and will start scoring 75-80% on each section. Sleep well prior to exam day (don’t pull an all-nighter), and you should be fine.
Literally the stupidest thing ever and I speak from experience.
I spent 554.25 hours studying for 2, and passed every section other than Ethics.
From my point of view, I wasted a bunch of time I could have spent hanging out with friends and it hasn’t done anything for me career wise. No interviewer is gunna care or even like the fact that you got a “perfect score”
Just focus on passing
As you can see, the experience varies widely. Some people study so much and just pass while others study much less and easily pass. You just need to do what works for you and the goals you want, OP. If you want to learn the material, don’t use Schw e ser or a condensed version of the source information, plain and simple. They are “notes” for a reason. If you just want to pass an exam, study with whatever you feel comfortable.
I do not see the point in scoring over 70% in every topic. Passing is challenging enough. Unless you’re a genius. I guess it comes down to priorities. My priorities were studying hard enough that I would pass and still keep my sanity (by having sufficient social activities and maintaining my health).
Good advice ^
It’s interesting the two misconceptions that pop up in threads like this.
First, people seem to believe that you need to be a genius to score >70% on all topics,
Second, people like to suggest that doing well necessitates incredible efforts where the candidate destroys his or her life.
Both of these things are clearly false. You can see candidates bust these “myths” each cycle.
Important takeaways from the thread: determine whether you want to learn or merely pass, understand your own needs to achieve this, and plan accordingly.
I scored >70% on all sections, which was about 2.5 years ago. I remember about 50% of the materials today. I studied relatively hard, but nothing so crazy to ruin my life.
I agree with the sentiment, just pass.
However, one huge benefit for me was the peace of mind knowing that I passed when I came out of that exam. I didn’t have to wonder if I had passed for about 2 months waiting on exam results.
I’m willing to bet your 50% of retained material is far greater than others who just tried to pass, and I’d bet you could relearn material much more quickly than that same group as well. Although, if your goal was only to pass, then it wasn’t time well spent, I suppose.