Bizarre results - please help

I vividly remember having the questions on the first few pages, then some blank pages, THEN the formatted answer templates (which were only for about half of the questions)… REALLY INCONVENIENT.

I ended up answering stuff in the blank pages… only to later see that I needed to put some of them in templated spots later… was REALLY annoying and completely counterintuitive (why not put the templates right after the questions and the scratch pages later???), but I had the time to rewrite my answers in the proper places, or so I recall…

Is there any way you could’ve been penalized for writing your answer in two different places? Also, whenever the answer was meant to be just on the blank pages, I did my best to indicate the number of the question and circled my final answer at the end… wouldnt be shocked if I got burned there as well.

More I think about this the more it makes me sick because it makes me realize that failing this test had probably very little to do with how prepared I was or what my knowledge of the cirriculum was and that’s genuinely misleading in my opinion.

But then again, 52% of the pool knew how to “properly” answer the questions… so hats off to them. I just really didn’t think I was gonna be part of the group who got burned so bad by this.

ccnomem21, I agree the templates were not intuitive. I was deriving answers for the problems and wanted to rewrite my answers in both the boxes and the lined pages (with circled numbers with respect to the question 1a, 1b, etc.). I realized this was taking entirely too much time so I scrapped providing the answer twice after 45 minutes. Upon departing the exam room, I thought I was close, pass/fail. Apparently, I may have chosen to answer in the wrong template and this is my undoing.

This is a heartbreaking reason to fail an exam when you know you have put forth a strong effort to create an opportunity to pass.

I really feel for you jteel. Life isn’t about making mistakes, its about learning from them and making sure they aren’t repeated.

If it was just the answer sheet, at least you know how to fix it!

Thanks ZeroBonus. I will learn from this mistake but I am sure this will impact the way I read contracts, documents, etc. Fortunately, there will not be a 3-hour morning and afternoon session constraint.

Has anyone ever been able to find out for sure essentially what happened with their AM session in this sort of case? Or does CFAI basically refuse to let you know how exactly they took your essay answers to the woodshed?

At this point I don’t even care about specific questions… I’d just be relieved if I could find out from CFAI that in general either A) I seemed to have written the correct answer in the wrong place more often than not or B) I actually did not have correct answers more often than not.

I can’t stress enough how those are two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ways to have gotten to the same awful score, and consequently it would mean a HUGE difference in how I approach next year.

So, has anyone been able to successfully get this kind of color out of CFAI?

i got 6 below 70 in the AM session too. I’m wondering what happened, i mean im sure i should have gotten better than the results I got. I wrote on the lined papers and in the boxes where they asked so… bah

Bilal, what was your band

They won’t tell you shit. I knew because people posted about what they did and I distinctly remember writing beneath the questions… that and I bombed like every morning section with zero credit except for the first one which had templates (i used them when available), but killed the afternoon… so i knew.

And what are you talking about “boxes” over and over for? There are either templates, which are boxed, and only on SOME questions, or there is no boxes and you have to use the lined pages. The problem is when you write BENEATH the question on the question page and not lined pages

Not sure if >75% means you get more than half of the questions right - not if it is also based on the curve. If you only get half of the questions right but most of other guys get only less than half right, you may fall into this category then. But this is based on my speculation.

It doesn’t seem to be that hard to just redesign the exam - just make it like every other exam out there. I can only think that CFAI tries to complicate these things on purpose, like a weird test inside the test. Maybe the organization views itself as an old wise kung fu teacher or something…

  • Hey, CFAI, Should I use pen or pencil?

  • You shall look into your soul to find the answer.

  • hmmmm, OK. I’ll use a pen to be safe. Since I can’t erase stuff, is it OK to eventually write half an inch outside a template?

  • The question lies in your heart, not in your mind

I mean, CFAI does know many candidates fail because they’re writing on the wrong places. Even though attention to detail under time pressure may be an important quality, for some candidates the “Writing on the Right Place” subject becomes more important than Portfolio Management. That’s a little too much.

i am totally lost now…i thought i had prepped well enough…gave mocks, got decent scores…my exam wasnt great, but yeah we’re never really satisfied now are we…and then BAM! band 2…both morning and afternoon some 7 <50s …no offense or haugtiness from me but wow i think i couldhave got this score without having touched any of the CFA books even once…i might not be 200IQ but i did get thru L1 and L2 on my first attempt…but a score like this despite preparation…man thats an insult…i wish there was a way to make CFAI prove that i bombed my papers so badly for such shitty scores considering how much we need to shell out to just write the exam…ah well…thats not going to happen…its goodbye cfa for me…cant waste any more time on this exam…sour grapes et al…Life, here i come!

I think I am in the same boat. I was 100% positive I aced the morning except for one derivative section.

Essay

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% 1 Portfolio Management - Individual 27 * - - 2 Portfolio Management - Individual 9 * - - 3 Portfolio Management - Execution 21 * - - 4 Portfolio Management - Individual 17 - * - 5 Economics 24 - - * 6 Portfolio Management - Institutional 34 * - - 7 Fixed Income Investments 23 * - - 8 Derivatives 13 * - - 9 Derivatives 12 * - -

Item Set

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% - Alternative Investments 18 - - * - Equity Investments 18 - * - - Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - - * - Fixed Income Investments 18 - - * - Portfolio Management 18 - - * - Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 18 - - * - Portfolio Management - Individual 18 - - * - Portfolio Management - Performance Eval. 18 - - * - Portfolio Management - Risk Management 18 - * -

if u made it this far…u gotta keep going…even if u fail 10 times

I had a similar result with Band 7. This when I thought I had nailed the Portfolio management question sets, and I ended up getting below 50 in all but one set.

Essay

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% 1 Portfolio Management - Individual 27 * - - 2 Portfolio Management - Individual 9 * - - 3 Portfolio Management - Execution 21 * - - 4 Portfolio Management - Individual 17 - - * 5 Economics 24 - - * 6 Portfolio Management - Institutional 34 * - - 7 Fixed Income Investments 23 * - - 8 Derivatives 13 * - - 9 Derivatives 12 * - -

Item Set

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% - Alternative Investments 18 * - - - Equity Investments 18 - - * - Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - - * - Fixed Income Investments 18 * - - - Portfolio Management 18 * - - - Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 18 - * - - Portfolio Management - Individual 18 - * - - Portfolio Management - Performance Eval. 18 - * - - Portfolio Management - Risk Management 18 - - *

Band 4

I’m in the same boat too and unfortunately with a Band 3 :frowning: I’m extremely shocked to say the least. Felt as though I would be in the passing group after the exam after being confident with AM (which I thought was easier than PM). My AM scored <=50% except for 2 sections. PM wasn’t outstanding… similar to OP but there’s no explanation that I have for screwing up so badly in AM. I knew most of what the questions had asked and had the ability to answer them… so I wasn’t just guessing left, right and centre. I am 100% sure that I filled in correct lined pages/template, and re-looked the question to see if I had answered it. I had good time management, and guessed 2-3 sub-questions which I don’t think was a massive deal. I don’t want to have overconfidence bias and assume that the CFAI screwed up the marking… I have to be accountable on this one. It’s more likely I did stupid things but I don’t think it would be across the board. And as mentioned elsewhere, it’s terribly unfortunate that candidates can’t at least review their essay component, or at the very least, have that re-marked. I’d pay twice the re-tab for the peace of mind. I know there were similar posts last year (regarding extremely poor AM) in which I presumed the candidate was just clueless about their own abilities which I can say for myself is not the case. I’m very keen to hear from candidates who completely bombed the essay last year (and really thought they did well). If they passed this year, I think a lot of people like me would really benefit to understand what made the difference. I may raise this in a new thread. Essay Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% 1 Portfolio Management - Individual 27 - * - 2 Portfolio Management - Individual 9 * - - 3 Portfolio Management - Execution 21 * - - 4 Portfolio Management - Individual 17 * - - 5 Economics 24 * - - 6 Portfolio Management - Institutional 34 * - - 7 Fixed Income Investments 23 * - - 8 Derivatives 13 - - * 9 Derivatives 12 * - - Item Set Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% - Alternative Investments 18 - - * - Equity Investments 18 - * - - Ethical & Professional Standards 36 * - - - Fixed Income Investments 18 * - - - Portfolio Management 18 - - * - Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 18 - * - - Portfolio Management - Individual 18 * - - - Portfolio Management - Performance Eval. 18 * - - - Portfolio Management - Risk Management 18 * - -

ccnomem21,

You say that there’s no way to find out what went horribly wrong? That’s not true, you will see the exam for the AM session and suggested answers when the CFA releases them. My suggestion would be to write down what you can remember from the exam in terms of your answers, and then compare them to what the CFA-suggested answers are.

I failed twice before I finally passed this year. I know you don’t want to hear this, but it’s not the exam, it’s you. You are either providing too much information or it’s not clear enough when you do. When the exam comes out for AM session, I would very carefully compare it to what you actually feel like you wrote on the exam.

The difference in my case was that I finally realized that providing the right answers has little to do with what’s actually good advice but has to come exactly from what the curricululm suggested you do in a particular situation.

Below is my 2011 result. I did really bad when I finished AM coz I tried to get some marks by writing something, which I knew they somehow means nothing to the questions. And I didn’t have enough time to finish AM. But in 2012, I answered all questions and I did answer what I know from my study. I used Schweser 2012 only and did not read much the CFA books and finally got passed! In 2011, I read CFA books and failed. Essay Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% 1 Portfolio Management - Individual 16 * - - 2 Portfolio Management - Individual 22 - * - 3 Portfolio Management - Institutional 26 - - * 4 Economics 23 - - * 5 Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 20 * - - 6 Fixed Income Investments 19 * - - 7 Equity Investments 22 - * - 8 Portfolio Management - Risk Management 16 * - - 9 Portfolio Management – Performance Eval. 16 * - - Item Set Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% - Alternative Investments 18 * - - - Economics 18 - - * - Equity Investments 18 - * - - Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - - * - Fixed Income Investments 36 * - - - Portfolio Management - Execution 18 - * - - Portfolio Management - Individual 18 - * - - Portfolio Management - Risk Management 18 - * - We have divided the full group of candidates who did not pass into 10 approximately equal score bands. Your score band below shows how your overall score on the exam compares with all other failed candidates. Your score band: 4

another bizarre result , dunno how i went from good performance in the first 3 questions in AM to absolutely pathetic? having said that pm performance is nothing to right home about! after band 5 last time its band 4 now … i seem to be going backward eventhough i studied from cfai and did about 5 years of mocks !

Essay

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% 1 Portfolio Management - Individual 27 - * - 2 Portfolio Management - Individual 9 - * - 3 Portfolio Management - Execution 21 - - * 4 Portfolio Management - Individual 17 * - - 5 Economics 24 * - - 6 Portfolio Management - Institutional 34 * - - 7 Fixed Income Investments 23 * - - 8 Derivatives 13 * - - 9 Derivatives 12 * - -

Item Set

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% - Alternative Investments 18 * - - - Equity Investments 18 * - - - Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - - * - Fixed Income Investments 18 * - - - Portfolio Management 18 * - - - Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 18 * - - - Portfolio Management - Individual 18 - - * - Portfolio Management - Performance Eval. 18 * - - - Portfolio Management - Risk Management 18 - * -

need a change of strategy and dose of motivation

I’m also extremely confused about my bipolar results. I thought the AM session was easier and thought I had aced the exam. I just can’t explain what I did wrong.

Essay

Q#

Topic

Max Pts

<=50%

51%-70%

>70%

1

Portfolio Management - Individual

27

*

2

Portfolio Management - Individual

9

*

3

Portfolio Management - Execution

21

*

4

Portfolio Management - Individual

17

*

5

Economics

24

*

6

Portfolio Management - Institutional

34

*

7

Fixed Income Investments

23

*

8

Derivatives

13

*

9

Derivatives

12

*

Item Set

Q#

Topic

Max Pts

<=50%

51%-70%

>70%

Alternative Investments

18

*

Equity Investments

18

*

Ethical & Professional Standards

36

*

Fixed Income Investments

18

*

Portfolio Management

18

*

Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation

18

*

Portfolio Management - Individual

18

*

Portfolio Management - Performance Eval.

18

*

Portfolio Management - Risk Management

18

*