So, we all know where to get exams back to the late 90s. That’s not my problem.
My issue is I’m averaging 2-2.5hours per exam. I write in bullets, I write out formulas and literally write what an acronym is above the acronym in the formula, and keep things very tight (remember the CFAI answers self-acknowledge they can be ‘overkill’). I’m also averaging ~70% on the AMs.
For the past few weeks, it has dawned on me that I must be doing something wrong. Everyone has stated you will not have enough time in the AM and I’m just not seeing that. I’m trying to grade myself as conservative as possible (read if I get close, but not exact I dock all points) and try to pace myself.
Is anyone noticing completion of previous AMs in under 3 hours? If so, what kind of scores are you seeing?
I’m finishing in 2-2.5 hours too. I think if you know the material you can circle things quickly, or give a determinant of risk ability quickly. Or time horizon, or why CPPI outperforms etc…
Better knowledge of material is highly correlated with speed I find.
I spoke with a colleague/friend that failed L3 one time and then passed his second time. Granted this is anecdotal, but his defining factor–in his opinion–was shortening his answers in the AM. He said he wrote too much fluff the first go round and the 2nd he decided to lean everything out.
Just to confirm - when you say you bullet point (and maybe I should already know the answer at this point), on all ‘Indicate, Describe, Determine, Justify’s’ you’re literally just bullet pointing items in shorthand as opposed to writing out a formal sentence?
Say, for example, the question asks ‘Which market has higher quality? Justify your response’. I would circle the appropriate answer (hopefully), and list the following
Tighter bid-ask spreads point to lower trading costs and higher liquidity which is indicative of quality markets while wide bid-ask spread could single high trading costs and inability for traders to profit off information unless the info is great value
Larger number of shares points to greater market depth
More number firms implies more buyers/sellers which shows greater liquidity and therefore higher market quality
I’ve only had one where I didn’t finish it all in time. That being said, this is just practice and the real thing will be a stressful event- im expecting it to go to the wire. Agree on the points about that you need to really pay attention to the command words and just do what they ask in a concise manner… that is what i have been working on. By looking at the guideline answers (which arent wordy at all in some cases) I think the real risk is failing to recognize the command words and getting dinged for that… I’ve found a few times where I forgot to the basic part (identify something) and only described it.