I found FAQ section regarding essays on the CFAI website: http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/resources/essaytips.html It covers most of the questions I have. I am wondering, however, what consitutes a complete answer for some of the longer questions. It seems as though one can provide a substantial correct answer to a question and still not receive full credit. For example, you could be given an open-ended question about convertible arbitrage. Most of us could easily list 2-3 comments about how this strategy earns returns, but full credit might demand 4-5 comments. This is not specified in the question, so it’s hard to know exactly how much is required. I find that when I take practice exams, I write what I think is enough, but then fail to receive full credit because I missed a few points that *could* have been written. So my question is, how do you know when you have written enough? Where is the line between writing too much and not writing enough? Is it based upon the point value of the question? Further, how are the essays graded? Do they have a list of answers with associated point values that they look for or is it more subjective? Thanks for comments / help.
Have you done the old exams yet? The given answers are very brief. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the term “essay” is a misnomer here. The morning session is comprised of short answer questions – NOT essay questions.
I have not done the old exams yet. I was working with schweser, which looks like this: Long question (6 points): Answer part 1 (2 points) Answer part 2 (1 point) Answer part 3 (2 points) Answer part 4 (1 point) I would write 2-3 of those parts down and still not receive full credit, which seems pretty unintuitive because if you have that much listed, you clearly know your stuff and should be receiving full points (assuming the content is correct). I will check out the old exams, thanks.
hmmm i am relieved we wont get the crap we get at CFAI concept checkers…
1 sentence/bullet point per minute allotted
Yeah, your answer length should be dependent on the Time /points alloted to teh question, if its a 6 pt question and you think you can answer it with 2 sentances, maybe add a bit more if you can to earn the full 6 points.
Is this official? It sounds like a good guideline, if nothing else.
bigwilly Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yeah, your answer length should be dependent on > the Time /points alloted to teh question, if its a > 6 pt question and you think you can answer it with > 2 sentances, maybe add a bit more if you can to > earn the full 6 points. That’s the problem – what I think doesn’t matter. It’s easy to fall into the trap of saying “hm, yeah, I got the gist of it, and maybe I put down a formula, let’s call it good.” Then you get nailed for not having enough content. It does not appear that two sentences is enough for a six point question. You need more like four sentences.
Oh I agree, I’m just as oblivious as the next person as to what is enough to satisfy the answer. I think I’ll attempt to answer them as I see fit first just to make sure I get to answer all of them, then if I have time left i will go back and maybe if I remembered something or want to add something I can and not sacrafice running out of time to finish the exam…just a thought.
Write as much as you can within the constraint of the time available to you.
Yuck. Write short concise answers that get the points. Rambling will just cause you to lose pts
Joey I know you can’t tell us exactly how they grade, but what’s the best method/strategy to answering these questions