10 things CFAI should consider

1.Offer level 2 and 3 more than just once a year 2.Have Ethics only in one of the three levels, not all three levels 3.Focus curriculum toward operationalizing the concepts rather than just memorizing them 4.Allow ample time to read, comprehend and answer a question (especially for the essay section) 5.No gotcha, word-playing etc., in the questions. They should be clear and concise 6.Hire some sane people as exam proctors 7. 8. 9. 10.

  1. Just shut down this scam business.
  1. Give all your profits to the people that died at the altar
  1. Giving me a charter just because i worked REAAAALLLY hard :slight_smile:

+1000000 on #1 this even works to their benefit, as they can start collecting dues faster! Its like taking SS from the govt at age 60 vs 65…always the right decision!

Come to think of it - If CFAI is “getting your union card punched” then … shouldn’t you be able to draw unemployment from them? You know, if I was part of a real union and was let go, I could get something from my union.

Let me manage your $180 million investment portfolio https://www.cfainstitute.org/Annual%20Reports/annualreport_2009.pdf

The charter means as much as it does because of the way things are. Not everyone gets a trophy. You don’t pass by showing up. Would you like it to turn into something like the CFP where every passes? Not me. I don’t agree with any of Ashwin’s suggestions. If you want a handout go somewhere else.

naples111 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The charter means as much as it does because of > the way things are. Not everyone gets a trophy. > You don’t pass by showing up. > > Would you like it to turn into something like the > CFP where every passes? Not me. > > I don’t agree with any of Ashwin’s suggestions. If > you want a handout go somewhere else. I am not sure how any of the above suggestions are handouts. Please help me understand.

I think you should consider getting a life. Exam’s over bro. Go out and live in the real world.

naples111 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The charter means as much as it does because of > the way things are. Not everyone gets a trophy. > You don’t pass by showing up. > > Would you like it to turn into something like the > CFP where every passes? Not me. > > I don’t agree with any of Ashwin’s suggestions. If > you want a handout go somewhere else. You should check into CFP examination results, here in Canada it is administered by FPSC and twice per year. Pass rate is 40-60% on each seating so very similar. Not everyone passes and pass rates have been declining. Mind you CFP is much easier than CFA.

It must take a great amount of effort to set these exams, and maybe once a year for levels 2 and 3 is all they can practically manage? I don’t know. Although the frustration of having to wait another year is a big downer, the flip side is that is does raise the stakes psychologically and it demands greater commitment to see it through. Enough people do throw in the towel over that. I agree with the “gotcha” questions - those sort are kind of low quality testing. The time factor is the same for everyone, and some people did get through OK, so put my time-challenged experience down to not being as good as the best (far from it I fear!)

N.VanCandidate Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > You should check into CFP examination results, > here in Canada it is administered by FPSC and > twice per year. Pass rate is 40-60% on each > seating so very similar. Not everyone passes and > pass rates have been declining. Mind you CFP is > much easier than CFA. come on … it’s canada and CFP.

move the exam to a friday so we can get an extra day off work!

Moving the exam up a weekend or two. The weekend after Memorial Day??? How about in March or April?

I wish they would offer L2 and L3 twice a year. The only way that I see them doing this is if you pass a level you have to wait one full year before taking the next exam.

amjf088 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It must take a great amount of effort to set these > exams, and maybe once a year for levels 2 and 3 is > all they can practically manage? I don’t know. > > Although the frustration of having to wait another > year is a big downer, the flip side is that is > does raise the stakes psychologically and it > demands greater commitment to see it through. > Enough people do throw in the towel over that. > > I agree with the “gotcha” questions - those sort > are kind of low quality testing. > > The time factor is the same for everyone, and some > people did get through OK, so put my > time-challenged experience down to not being as > good as the best (far from it I fear!) I dont think the CFA exam is particularly more challenging purely based on the curriculum. The challenges are : a) You need to cram all the curriculum in your brain and take just one exam. b) If you fail, then you have to wait one full year. I hear, CPA exam is quite challenging as well. (From people who have a CPA and sitting for CFA exams). Difference is, you can break up a topic and take one topic at a time. So, Auditing is one exam. Its challenging paper. But you can focus all your attention on it before the exam. And if you fail, you can attempt it again. Lot more hard work becomes necessary for the CFA exam due to the sheer volume of curriculum that you are expected to cram in your brain for single day. I guess the analogy in physics would be : The energy required to increase the speed of any object increases exponentially as the mass of the object increases. For CFA, as the size of curriculum increases, the incremental hard work requirement increases exponentially.

Fully agree with 3 through 6. Particularly 4 and 5. This is about proving you know the concepts not about your skill at picking up on CFAI booby-traps. Timing should not be an issue with Level III, it is supposedly a conceptual level where you prove you can integrate the concepts. It is not level I or II where you have to prove you master the tools. I am pretty upset that the AM session was very different in format, content, weights and difficulty relative to historical exams. I fully passed on those, but I have significant doubts on this one. There was not enough time and some of the questions simply came out of the blue. Not covered by CFA curriculum or were footnote material.

Exactly. I don’t understand the point of asking a question in such a way that tricks people who understand the material into answering the question wrong. It should test how well you understand it. Along with that, why design the test in such a way that time is such a big issue? You should be able to think about questions and not feel like you have to race through them.

I’d like a definition of “operationalizing” please :slight_smile: