Tensed- Cant score above 60% in AM

Hi

I have been trying past essay exams and not able to cross 60%, although getting around 70% in PM mocks

Please advice how to get aroudn 65% in essays. I am really tensed now

you’ll get there… keep practicing as much as you can… practice all past years AM and PM’s of about past 8-10 years… if not AM then try to get above 80 in the PM’s

^ Well said.

  • Do you learn from those exams where you got 60%? Getting 65 in mocks should not be the goal, goal of mocks is to learn from the mistakes you make and improve consistently.

  • 70% in PM is something which I would worry about more if I were you. You should push this to higher 70s or 80s.

Key is whatever the test, take it for finding improvement areas, rather than just being happy with getting a 70+.

Ya

I will reviews essays from 2006 -2011 over the next 2-3 days…

What do u feek is MPS?

Nobody has a clue on the MPS and we will never know.

Based on my band 10 in 2013, I felt its somewhere around 65.

* Review essays - When you say this, if you are just going to read the answers and then feel “oh yeah, I think I know this” - thats not going to help.

Do it with the same feel as you would to complete a test. Take the pen and write them on the paper to see the results slowly improving… Good luck!

Hey Sooraj

U mean i shd write down all essay tests from 2006-11?

I am done with 2012-14?

I did 6/8 of the past A.M. exams since 2007 timed. I think it helps a lot to see what you would really write down. And it helps to track how your performance improves from essay to essay.

Yes, I mean that Vicky. If ever you are taking a test, do yourself a favour by writing the answer & not directly going and reading it.

^ TGIF +1

(the curse is working…)

^^lol… I remember that…

what has to happen will happen . Your curse aint powerful than god’s will.

60% AM, 70% PM,

you’re one question away from passing

MPS is on average 65

Just see your weak areas and do all EOC and BB on that, I am sure that will work wonders as you would have covered 100 % in your weak zones, any easy picking there will improve your score to great deal, as CFAI will not go beyond those most likely, it hels your confidense as well.

For me doing the actual prior AM exams has been very helpful and eye opening. Amazing how many careless mistakes I’ve made on material I dominate by going too fast on my strong areas. Hopefully I’ll learn from my silly mistakes and won’t repeat them on exam day. Can’t affford to give away those points.

Great point jitendra179. I’ve been going back to the curriculum on my weak areas (and strong ones for reinforcement when needed) and I’m seeing some improvements.

We’ll see what happens on exam day…

vicky, although we are (only) 9 days away, do not get distraught about your AM scores. you still have PLENTY of time to learn material you aren’t comfortable with.

while it’s important to gauge where you are, it’s more important at this point when doing AM sessions is understanding not how bad/good you did, but WHY you did that way? did you run out of time? were you taking too long thinking before writing down your answer? did you not know how to answer the question so you BS’d it? as others have said, the key to PRACTICING the AM (not testing yourself) is learning the material. as someone else mentioned above, if you’re going through the answers and saying to yourself “oh yeah i knew that, got mixed up” then you will make the same mistake on game day. don’t glaze that over, rewrite the correct answer. i might even suggest taking 1 or 2 AM sessions untimed, and with an open book if needed - as i’ve said, the key at this point is to LEARN the material. who cares if you’re looking at a flashcard while doing a Grinold-Kroner question when going through an AM session - you will know EXACTLY how to do it if it’s tested on game day. if you’re just wanting to test what you know and you’re making an educated guess on half of your answers, you’re simply wasting 3 hrs of your life “practicing”

also, keep in mind what others have said in other threads, and it’s something i wholeheartedly agree with as a retaker (and wish i understood this more last yr): the goal of test day is to survive the AM and crush the PM. so, what do you do with that info? do not spend 90% of your time between now and test day doing AM sessions. the smartest person in the room will not score a 85% on the AM session - it just won’t happen. BUT, there is the possiblity of crushing the PM session, scoring 85-90% to increase your avg score and pass. so, you should be spending HALF of your time between now and test day banging out MC questions (EOC, PM mocks) to continue to learn the material. I still struggle with the AM session at this stage, and by no means am I “ready” for the exam yet, but scoring 83% and 88% on the PM mocks (and getting mostly 5/6 on EOCs) has helped my confidence and showed me that i know a good amount of this info. Remember, although the AM session is important, the PM session still accounts for 50% of your score.

keep grinding vicky!!

I’m a Demigod.

While I agree that doing past AM just for the sake of doing them is not the best use of one’s time, I kind of disagree with your statement.

First of all, when you do a past exam and correct it properly, you go back and forth between the exam, the books, your notes, you complete and amend your notes, etc. So you are not just testing yourself, you are learning and practicing the topics tested.

Second, I am growing more and more sceptical of the use of EOCs this close to this exam. IMO EOC’s tend to go in a level of details that is mostly not required for the exam. Most questions are high-level stuff. I think the goal for the exam is to know everything just well enough to be able to go for the kill on, say, 80 % of the answers.

Lastly, in a way, practising AM makes you practice PM indirectly. The reverse is less true when practicing PMs.

But hey, what do I know. Obviously you are much better prepared than I am. My main argument is that at this time and for the candidates that are still struggling to get to say, 60-65 % on previous year AMs, it is easy to get lost in the details. The opportunity cost is huge at this point in time.

I’m under the pressure of time. There are alot of things I need to cover. This is the period of zero tolerance. No distractions what’s so ever. But, this I would spend some time one. Tozerrt ma man, what’s the story between you? Can you refer me to a link? Or was it something private? If it was painful or emotional to either of you then no need to mention it. Vicky has his ups and downs, but all in all, I believe he’s a good dude.

where are you guys getting essay questions from? I only see vignettes with multiple choice in CFAI website… how do you get past exams?

CFAI provides the last years years of actual AM session exams on their website.