CFA Mock vs. Schweser Mock and Practice Tests

I know there have been a lot of posts about this so this is just another. I am trying to make some sense of my scores and wanted some of your feed back. I know that there are some people on here that are going to set the curve for the test so if you are getting above 80’s please don’t stress the rest of us out, good job. For those of us who also have lives and are trying to just get by let me know where you are and what you think about Schweser. I took the CFA Mock and got 70% on both the AM and PM. Then I went to the live Schweser/Kaplan Mock in LA last weekend and got owned. Ok in the am with 65% and then in the 50s on the PM. Then I went to the Schweser test books and am struggling to get in the mid 60s. This is my second time around and have put some time in studying but it seems like the questions are so nit picky compared to CFAI Mock. Want to see what other people thought. Regardless were only two weeks away from a life again.

The schweser Live mock was very hard. The average showing on the website is a 59 i think. I havent taken the CFA mock yet, will hopefully do it Friday. My only exprience is from LI, where i found the schweser mocks and the CFAI mock to be much tougher than the actual exam. Doesnt mean thats how it always is, but i felt the exam in December was way easier than any of the mocks i took. Which schweser test book are you using? He first exam of the second book was also extremely difficult.

Schweser tests are tougher and more nit picky for the most part in my opinion. I’m averaging around a 70-75% on Schweser mocks and i got an 80 AM and 77 PM on the 2011 CFAI Mock. I’m feeling pretty good about things. First time taker.

I agree with Spanishesk on the Level I exam. I took it in June 09, and felt like i absolutely demolished the actual exam after averaging around a 70 on schweser practice tests. The actual was WAY easier. I’m hoping it will be that way for Level 2.

I took the Schweser live mock last year and then the CFA Mock for Level 1 and found them both to be a lot harder than the actual exam. I passed so this year is Level 2 for me and I found that the live Schweser on Sat was extremely tough. Havent taken the CFA mock yet but I would imagine the same. Just hoping the real exam is a little easier but cant expect that

I wouldn’t rely on the actual test being easier, although it would be great if it was. Remember, they can ask you anything.

It would be really dumb for Schweser to make their tests easy. No one would buy more products from them to supplement their study if they thought they were cruising… Point here is that yes, the Schweser tests are probably harder.

Thanks for the ffed back guys. Probably right and eventually nailing the Schweser stuff will just make you that much more prepared i guess. Just hope I can be “nailing” it by the exam. GL all.

Level 1 is not the same as Level 2. I agree that the Level 1 mocks and Schweser were harder than the actual exam. In Level 2 I feel like they were about even. No way that test Level 2 last year was any easier than any of the practice tests. Just my 2 cents from a Level 1 AND 2 taker.

I don’t know why but I scored 80% on two schweser mocks which I’ve taken. Have not solved the CFAI yet. But all I have done is the concept checkers from Schweser and read the books twice. Did not even Open the CFAI books to read or solve the EOC. While trying out the first mock, i felt like I would fail. But the evaluation has confused me rather than making me happy. Don’t know what’s happening.

Are the CFAI Mocks/Sample Exams based on last year’s real Level 2 exam? I mean, there’s so much talk about some Balance of Payments question, and another Treynor Black Model question that came from out of the blue or something last year. However, I have seen the TB model in several questions (Schweser mocks etc) so I’m wondering if people who were surprised by the actual L2 paper last year were people who hadn’t prepared well. I took the L1 in December last year and yes found it quite easy compared to any Schweser exam. However my experience on this was primarily because: a) I found the wordings of the questions on the real L1 exam to be far simpler/shorter than the mocks on Schweser/etc. Ditto for the question length/answer options length. b) While obscure topics were tested, they never went too deep. Yes If I’d never heard of “theword” before, there’s no way I could have gotten that question right - however, just knowing some basic definition seemed to be enough. Just my thoughts…anyway I haven’t taken the CFAI mocks/samples for this year yet - so will reserve my judgement on that for now :slight_smile:

I am an L2 retaker and I feel like the actual CFAI mocks are harder than the Schweser mock exams. I only have one of the Schweser test books (volume 1) and have scored much better on those exams (except for exam 3 AM) than I did on the CFAI tests.

CFAI Mock was very hard

@ KSTHANE: Vol 2 Schweser is MUCH tougher…makes the CFAI seem easy…

So this is sounding like I am the exception to the rule which is what I was trying to find out. Out of curiosity when people say they are doing well on the Schweser test, are you saying 60-70, 70-80 or above 80? And does that mean working a whole AM or PM set in under 3-hours and not using any notes?

I’m averaging right about 70-75. Highest scores are about 80. Lowest score is a 58 (vol 2 exam 1am) working the whole way through without notes. Now that I’m done with CFAI mock AM (80) and PM (77) I’m done doing dedicated tests at this point. In other words, I’m not going to sit down and take a full test anymore without notes. It’s much more time effective to work a problem, check the answer, review the material if need be and move on to the next one. I will use the remaining three vol 2 schweser tests with this method. I will likely review previous tests i’ve done completely too time permitting…

Westibbs sounds like you are set. Out of curiosity, what was your study approach up until now?

I’ve done well on the Schweser mocks (average 84.5 after 4 exams), but found the CFA mock to be noticeably harder (77 on AM so far with a couple lucky guesses, worse mark than any Schweser test). The Schweser questions felt like fill-in-the-blank questions, while the CFA questions were far more challenging conceptually. I’m good at plugging things into an equation or rattling off a list, but the deep understanding the CFA exam demanded really strained my abilities. I could see myself getting unlucky with the item sets and getting killed on exam day. Still need more studying.

Finished exam I from the PM section. Total of 5 exams now including live mock, averaging 78.7%. This last exam i did the worst one (71.5 overall). Some of these questions are so vague i feel like i cant stand it.

My performance has actually been remarkably similar to Westibbs’ On average, scoring in the mid 70s on the Schweser mocks in Volume 1. Scored a 75 on the official CFAI mock (AM+PM). Volume 2, Exam 1 AM was for some reason made to be incredibly difficult. I scored a 62. Not sure if this holds true for all the mocks in Volume 2, but I think it’s a good chance to ‘stress test’ your knowledge in the final week leading up to exam day. I doubt the actual exam will be as calculation intensive, based on what Level III candidates have told me.