Truth is, it s all pretty much rubbish. CFA programme is super hard, because of its structure and not content. They don t make it hard by testing hard material, but by testing a ridiculous amount of material (some material is rubbish, you feel like it s just there because they want to make it harder by putting more content), and testing it in a hard way: exam format (just one 6 hours exam once per year, trick questions and wording, etc.). CFA charterholders have merit, but in the end it s very little value added.
If you know everything AND perform well on exam day, you will pass. There’s nothing on the test that’s not covered in some form in the CFAI text. Then again, this program isn’t cut out for everyone. If you don’t like the process, don’t take the tests.
I agree there is a certain element of luck in some of the questions, but at the end of the day, approx 40% of the people still managed to pass so tough titties for those who didnt…
McLeod81 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you know everything AND perform well on exam > day, you will pass. There’s nothing on the test > that’s not covered in some form in the CFAI text. > > > Then again, this program isn’t cut out for > everyone. If you don’t like the process, don’t > take the tests. What part of the CFAI text will answer these questions that caused massive debate on this board this last L2 after the test??? Mature/growth/transitional the derivs PV - FVC one the H model one with D0 or D1 contango vs normal contango GDP/potential GDP…etc You can know it and still fall into death traps purely on what CFAI dictate is right or wrong which may or may not be supported by their text depending on how they word it and how they interpolate what they wrote. It’s not so black and white which is why it’s difficult with a major tilt to luck for the 120 questions you get. I have not seen the term “Good Luck” be so literal, except of this exam. The whole thing about CP and others really made me loose respect for the exam’s integrity. It’s disheartening to realize that the gold standard for investment professionals has so many shady corners. CFAI pushes for transparency/disclosure/fair reporting in everybody else business but themselves.
There will always be questions that come out of nowhere, but those questions do not make up 30% of the test. Since you only need 70% to pass, by knowing of the material that you could reasonably expect to be on the exam (prob 95% of the exam) inside-out will get you across the line. For example, in 2008 there were 2 questions on on BOP and a couple of PM questions that came out of left field. Still, those were only 4 of the 120 questions. In 2007 there was some BS about Treynor-Black making up one full vignette, but again, only 6/120 questions.
Nep-hi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > What part of the CFAI text will answer these > questions that caused massive debate on this board > this last L2 after the test??? > > Mature/growth/transitional > the derivs PV - FVC one > the H model one with D0 or D1 > contango vs normal contango > GDP/potential GDP…etc > I’m not sure about this year because I took L2 in 2008, but from my experience the post-exam debate is often clouded by peoples memory of exactly what the question is and how it was phrased. If people could agree on the exact phrasing of the questions, one could probably find an conclusive answer 80% of the time.
Even a multiple failure and complaint like me cannot question the integrity of the CFAI test. they are completely curriculum based and every question can be referenced to a specific LOS. that is the huge number of test takers who are out of the industry and therefore not supposed to take the test makes CFAI to concentrate on margin items in the curriculum. when only analysts took the test, the test was hard but plain and that times we saw 70% pass rate. when an accountant clerk is attracted to the industry by glamour magazines or a third world candidate is dreaming of immigrating to OECD and see the CFA test as a pass word to the industry / immigration process (there are several countries you can get visa easier if you passed all the CFA test and are supposed to find a job), such candidates boost the number of test takers and the CFAI has to be creative to keep the number of candidates who pass in accordance with the demand for the charterholders on the job market. after all, if you go with mainstream of the material and, you will end up with 40% of candidates who studied hard and got 100% of right answers while you are going to pass only 35% of the test takers.
I certainly do not question the ‘integrity’ of the exam, but I have a question on its ‘fairness’. It is regarding having to read a page or more of text before answering 6 questions. The exam is in English and there are many candidates, who know English only as their 2nd language. Since the exam is to test your Investing knowledge and not how good and how fast you can read long texts, it is ‘unfair’ to those who have English as a foreign language. Imagine, how well would you do if this exam was say in Spanish! (Given that you do have a basic knowledge of spanish language, but it is still your 2nd or 3rd language). Dont mistake me. I am not suggesting they should have this exam conducted in many different languages. I am not going there. I understand it could become an administration nightmare for CFAI and the focus could get blurred. What I am suggesting is; they need to cut down on EMPHASIS, USE and KNOWLEDGE of the language. In L1, it is okay; each question has its own text. But in L2 and L3, this could be quite unfair to those knowing English, only as a foreign language. It is like you are looking for best Tennis Players, but you are also testing them on their swimming skills. Which sounds like unless you are a good swimmer, you cannot be a good tennis player. It would be okay, if you advertise them as good tennis players and good swimmers. But if you advertise them just as ‘good tennis players’, it would be ‘unfair’ to those good tennis players who are not as good in swimming. Just an analogy. Anyways, these were my 2 cents. But I was surprised it did not come up earlier in the thread.
To some extent, I agree with characterchaser’s comment. I’ve always questioned the inconsistency with all exams including level I which I passed on the first try and I attribute a good part to luck. Obviously, Level II is a much harder test, but it worries me to think that there’s so much luck involved. As much as people don’t want to admit it, luck is a big factor and even when you pass you have to be concerned because maybe on the next one you won’t be so “lucky”. I guess my consolation is not to think of this as a regular test, otherwise you will always be disappointed. In a regular tough exam if you study hard you will pass, although you may not get the score you desired (90% - 100%). In this one, you can study as hard as you want and you may get all the 75% - 85% you strived for on the practice tests, but this is no indication that you will pass, although it at least tells you that you know the material well. So maybe the best way to go about it is to think of it as a test that tests BOTH your knowledge of the material AND how good you are at taking CFAI tests, which unfortunately for some people are not correlated. Also remember, at the end of the day they’re running a business.
Did anyone who passed level II question the integrity of the test? Are the only people complaining the people who failed. I studied my ass of for this test and I was actually very impressed with the test. I was not sure that I passed after taking it but I left the exam thinking it was an excellent, chalenging exam. I only studied from the CFAI text (and used pass master for ?'s) and did not focus on any area more than any other because of weighting. I simply focused on areas that were difficult to me. The only issue I had with the mock exam was that it seemed to focus on more core concepts, but I found the type of ?'s to be similiar. I will go as far to say, if you think its only luck that is needed to pass, I am glad that you don’t pass. I don’t think there are may who puts in less than a couple 100 of hours studying and passes. I am very worried about level III (if I eevr get around to taking it) because of my wrting skills. I know I can study and I can learn, just need major improvement in my wrting and people skills.
Nep-hi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > McLeod81 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > If you know everything AND perform well on exam > > day, you will pass. There’s nothing on the > test > > that’s not covered in some form in the CFAI > text. > > > > > > Then again, this program isn’t cut out for > > everyone. If you don’t like the process, don’t > > take the tests. > > > What part of the CFAI text will answer these > questions that caused massive debate on this board > this last L2 after the test??? > > Mature/growth/transitional > the derivs PV - FVC one > the H model one with D0 or D1 > contango vs normal contango > GDP/potential GDP…etc > > You can know it and still fall into death traps > purely on what CFAI dictate is right or wrong > which may or may not be supported by their text > depending on how they word it and how they > interpolate what they wrote. > > It’s not so black and white which is why it’s > difficult with a major tilt to luck for the 120 > questions you get. I have not seen the term “Good > Luck” be so literal, except of this exam. The > whole thing about CP and others really made me > loose respect for the exam’s integrity. > > It’s disheartening to realize that the gold > standard for investment professionals has so many > shady corners. CFAI pushes for > transparency/disclosure/fair reporting in > everybody else business but themselves. It blows me away that people are still complaining about one or two questions. It’s like McLeod81 said, there are 120 questions. You can get 36 wrong and pass. I agree that those 5 questions were difficult/confusing/2 answers make sense, but common, if you get the other matieral then you wil still pass
rhyme Wrote: > > It blows me away that people are still complaining > about one or two questions. It’s like McLeod81 > said, there are 120 questions. You can get 36 > wrong and pass. I agree that those 5 questions > were difficult/confusing/2 answers make sense, but > common, if you get the other matieral then you wil > still pass DISAGREE. Band 10 could mean you made 1 -2 more errors than one that pass. And every question counts, especially ‘tricky’.
DSLHU Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > rhyme Wrote: > > > > > It blows me away that people are still > complaining > > about one or two questions. It’s like McLeod81 > > said, there are 120 questions. You can get 36 > > wrong and pass. I agree that those 5 questions > > were difficult/confusing/2 answers make sense, > but > > common, if you get the other matieral then you > wil > > still pass > > > DISAGREE. > > Band 10 could mean you made 1 -2 more errors than > one that pass. And every question counts, > especially ‘tricky’. I understand, but my point was you also made anouth 35 errors, so to blame not passing on “1-2” questions seems unrealistic. You have to have the full body of knowledge
rhyme Wrote: > > I understand, but my point was you also made > anouth 35 errors, so to blame not passing on “1-2” > questions seems unrealistic. You have to have the > full body of knowledge Sorry, but I do not remeber all my results and I have only tricky questions to blame. you are dealing here with human beings!
what do people skills have to do with level 3?
Don’t worry about DSLHU, he’s a bit of a nut job.
charterchaser Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > what do people skills have to do with level 3? Absolutely nothing, don’t even know why I mentioned it. Just one of many of my weaknesses. Thankful its not part of the curriculum, but apparently part of life and success.
ckucic - congrats on your pass! no debate - if you do not know the material you will not pass. debate - if you know the material, luck (or other factors besides knowledge of the material) plays a role in passing. arguably, a disproprotionately larger role than it plays in other standardized tests (CQF, GMAT, etc.)
ckucic - congrats on your pass. no debate - if you do NOT know the material you will NOT pass. debate - if you KNOW the material, you may not pass. This is always the case to some degree for all exams. We are questioning the the extent that this seems to be happening on CFA L2 exams. This is based on observations that very well prepared, who scored consistently high on practice exams, failed. This is not a common outcome for standard exams. e.g. On the GMAT, most would agree that people ‘good at math’ do relatively better on the math then the verbal section of the GMAT. This does not seem to be the case on Level 2. At least there are some striking anomolies. Yes, people who fail have greater incentive, and are more apt to question.
we wouldn’t be good analysts if we didn’t question the integrity of a black box system for selecting the ‘best’ anything