I firmly believed that CFA would lower the bar this year to prove a point: now that the CFA books are shipped to everyone registering for the exam, the pass rates are up. Thus: use the CFA books. Looking at the L1 pass rate which is the second lowest ever: this theory clearly doesn’t hold up. I’m sweating and praying for three more weeks… must… pass… L2… damn I wish I was back in the L1 days when I just knew I passed and only needed to see the confirmation.
Interesting observation, Bleeck. The high registration fees could have discouraged candidates from purchasing 3rd party materials, which left them solely using the CFAI books. These texts are full of fluff and if one doesn’t focus on specific LOS while reading, s/he risks wasting grey matter on topics that aren’t directly relevant to the learning outcomes and won’t appear on the exam. In contrast, the 3rd party notes seem to address each LOS individually, so candidates that use them save time by skipping a substantial amount of erroneous material; their efforts are zeroed in on the topics that are most likely to be tested, and they might have an easier time passing than an equally talented candidate using only the CFAI texts. Of course, many people willing to shell out $1,000 to take an exam won’t fret over a couple hundred extra for some study notes, and plenty of candidates have sponsorships, so there’s probably more behind the 35% than this explanation.
an increase in stockbrokers taking the exam.
Bleeck Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I firmly believed that CFA would lower the bar > this year to prove a point: now that the CFA books > are shipped to everyone registering for the exam, > the pass rates are up. Thus: use the CFA books. > > Looking at the L1 pass rate which is the second > lowest ever: this theory clearly doesn’t hold up. > > I’m sweating and praying for three more weeks… > must… pass… L2… damn I wish I was back in > the L1 days when I just knew I passed and only > needed to see the confirmation. Because I was forced to start my prep so late this year I had to make myself believe in this theory for my own sanity. After awhile I really did believe it. It kind of made sense. CFAI wants to look good after shoving more mandatory fees down our throats (should be some value them right?). But in the end, like most conspiracy theories, it got blown up. Not good news for us.