Failed | 6 topics above 70 | one below 50 | two between 50-70

This was my second attempt. Last year I failed with band 9. And this year after looking at my scores, I am completely angry.

I know people who comfortably pass with this score.

Alternate & Derivatives - 70+

PM - 70+ (on 90% line)

CF - 70+

Fixed Income - 70+

FRA - 70+

Quant - 70+

Equity - between 50 to 70

Ethics - between 50 to 70

Economics - less than 50 and even less than 10%

I know that people fail and they gear up and study again. I did that and got this score too. I practiced all CFA questions and mocks and my Percentile was 78 without resetting a single test.

But for some reason this was not enough. There is obviously no motivation left to give this exam again and quite frankly it doesn’t seem to be worth it anymore.

I failed band 10 last year and failed with 65% this year (you can calculate from your topic analysis this year). Devastated like you. Out of curiosity, what % did you get and how close was your score line to the pass line? Mine was virtually touching…

I don’t know how you checked the percentage. My score is also very very close to the pass line. But well, it doesnt matter anymore right ?

I went for a retabulation last year an nothing happened. I will save that money this year and the money on giving this exam again next year. The only sad part is I had worked really hard for both these attempts. I guess even you did the same.

The program is designed to weed out the weak from the strong. Don’t give up and end up in that weak category.

I don’t know how you checked the percentage. My score is also very very close to the pass line. But well, it doesnt matter anymore right ?

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Because you know the topic weightings and can therefore work out how many questions for each topic you got correct/incorrect based on where the line is on the topic analysis diagrams.

What was the retab like? Did they simply send an email a few weeks later saying sorry you still failed, please register again next year?

Like you, I’m completely deflated right now…I mean two band 10s in a row…maybe it’s a sign

Thanks for the motivation really. You have a good point. But you see I know people who gave CFA level 3 and even today do not have enough knowledge on Capital Markets. It is not about being weak but may be about being more sensible and knowing if this is really worth so much that you spend the same amount of time and end up with the same result again.

But really thanks for your comment. I see your point.

Also failed. Was between 50-70% on 6 topics, over 70% on 2 topics and for Equity Investment my line is way below the 10th percentile. Not really sure what happened as I thought I was OK with that topic. I guess even messing up just one area can have a large enough effect to make a big difference.

Personally I’m not going to re-sit. Having taken stock of my circumstances I’m not sure CFA is useful enough for me put the time into trying again given my age (40).

Ok, anways I am not calculating anything. It doesn’t change anything lol. I know how I felt last year. This year I am not sliding into devastation. Enough is enough.

They simply sent me an email that we verified your result and there were no mistakes/corrections to your score. You score stands as it is. That was it…100 dollars burnt ! !

I know how you feel. Sorry to say, we are in the same boat. CFA Institute doesn’t care about efforts put in by people like us (even though they are aware that this was our second attempt) and that’s the reality.

Damn. I wouldn’t know how to feel with a scorecard that looks enviable. I would query it, that literally makes no sense. Six topics above 70% should give u the leeway to fail a low weight topic like econ.

Don’t make snap decisions in the heat of the moment. Think on it

Ok, anways I am not calculating anything. It doesn’t change anything lol. I know how I felt last year. This year I am not sliding into devastation. Enough is enough.

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I only did it because like you, I felt my scorecard was strong.

I am curious to see what % you ended up getting though. It looks like it could be closer to 70% than mine which should surely be a pass given you didn’t completely bomb ethics

I just roughly calculated (not sure if I am right). I am also close to 65%

I have made up my mind. can’t go another year preparing Level 2 again :slight_smile:

It’s about how much you can TAKE… and keep moving FORWARD!

I’d look at from a broader perspective, not just how it benefits your career. Someone who bounces back from 2X fail on L2 and earns the Charter proves that he has balls of steel. Quitting on the other hand is something that might bug you in the future way more than an extra year of studying.

To be honest, no exam will prepare you fully to work in finance. The vital skills and knowledge comes with years of experience. The way I see CFA exams is that it gives the employer two things:

  1. Assurance that a person who passed all three exams knows the basics (not everything) about finance.

  2. Assurance that his/her personality suits the job (someone who is willing to go the extra mile and goes home after a long week at work and hits the books…year after year and year). I mean it tells a lot about the persons character. Really.

So, right now you feel devastated and upset. It’s normal. I failed last year and I was so disappointed. But that’s where the character comes into play. And that’s why this charter is held into such a high esteem because employers and collegues understand the commitment it requires.

With those percentages, you must have just been slightly below MPS? Equities + Econ + Ethics makes up more than a third of the test, so there lies the problem… but I think you were close! You did well on PM but that was such a small percentage of the test.

Sorry BUD!

I just roughly calculated (not sure if I am right). I am also close to 65%

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Yeah so seems we both got 65% with our score lines pretty much touching the MPS line.

I’m in the exact same boat as you. Not sure I can/will go again from scratch knowing that no matter how much I study, I may well have another off day and get another band 10 fail.

Man, when you’re 60 and thinking back at your life, whether you earned your charter 1-2 years earlier or later doesn’t matter at all.

However, quitting might sting you.

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thanks for all your comments and motivations :slight_smile:

I am not going to try to persuade you either way. However, if you decide to go forward, i have some questions and suggestions.

  1. Do you feel you have test anxiety? Do you zone out, get really worried, and do worse on the actual exam than most of your mocks? There are specific steps to help with this.

  2. Do you have trouble sleeping the night before? Did you stay a hotel near the exam?

  3. Have you taken any of the cram courses? Is Level Up offered near you?

  4. Have you always used the same text (e.g. always Schweser, always CFAI)?

  5. Did you use the CFAI Practice Questions extensively?

  6. Do you monitor your reading progress and exact EOC, qbank, practice problem and mock scores by chapter or topic? I found this very helpful for effective use of my time.

  7. Did you get the Schweser videos? If repeating the exam, a new format might be helpful. I used those videos for Level 2 and watched some a second time as review.

  8. Do you have a guess and revise strategy? This gets a ton of attention from students in my course. Estimates of the effects of this are usually about 1-4% score improvement on average.

I am one of the instructors for a prep course for a local society. You can PM with questions if you want. I got my Charter last year, so my experience is pretty fresh.