nope… you can’t print them. it sucks trying to takes notes on what you missed while you are taking the test. it just adds to the stress of an already killer set of q’s.
Yeah I took sample 1 and it was absolutely retarded. Why in the world would they time you, while making you read explanations to the questions you got wrong? I got a 61, which I guess is ok from the looks of this thread, but I wanted to kill someone after. Is it worth the money/time/agony to buy the second sample?
I made a 58… almost went postal afterwords. against my better judgement i am going to take the second one today. a big part of my problem is how they ask the question and how the data is presented in the vignette - i knew the formulas and the concepts for almost every one i missed on sample 1. at worst, taking the second one is more practice for how the q’s will be asked and how the data may be presented. but again, you can’t really go back and see what screwed you up so…
I did sample one and got 69.999%! I was shocked at one of the item sets that was fully based on swaps, which I skipped! The only one I skipped, looks like Il have to take a look at it realy quickly…ah the pressure
which sample exam did you take pedpenny? my sample 1 test had no swaps (no derivs at all for that matter).
I think it was the second one, or maybe it was one of the mock’s, but I do remember alot of swap questions on one of the item sets, maybe 3 or 4, I dont have them with me at the moment so cant be sure.
Ok it is the morning mock, have a violated a standard now?
No, but yes I found the morning mock much easier. Try the sample now, doing it online blows, scrolling up, scrolling down, etc. praying for to see green at the bottom…NOPE IT"S RED…%@#%@#!!!
yeah, you’re toast on ethics. just kidding. i was just curios b/c i thought maybe there are multiple versions of the same sample exams.
69% on CFA Sample 2… still p!ssed but not nearly like i was last night after Sample 1. this one seemed much more realistic in terms of testing one’s knowledge of the cirriculum. of course that’s probably b/c i did better.
Are you guys actually spending 40 bucks each on those sample exams? They are not even a full sitting.
Lol. And they’re so tough that one doesn’t complete half sitting. I’m not buying them.
I don’t think the CFA should sell additional prep material (which is really exactly what this is) because it gives the impression of a conflict of interest. Candidates who purchase the sample exams give a benefit the CFA and the CFA will be pressured to give these candidates a pass on the exams when they are close in order to raise the perceived value of the samples (and make them more money). As an outsider, I feel pressured to buy these samples even though I don’t feel they are worth $40 because I know the CFA knows that I purchased them and I can’t be sure they won’t give me a “sample exam adjustment” if my score is near passing (similar to the “ethics adjustment speculation”)
IMHO, I don’t think the CFAI will make any adjustment whatsoever for people who take samples. That is unethical and unfair - and CFAI’s grading process is highly regulated and monitored to ensure equitable treatment. That being said, those who take the samples, and learn from the samples, MAY do better on the exam simply because it is more practice and encourages you to brush up on areas where you are weak. Both mocks and samples have the same disclaimer: performance on this exam is not any indication of how you will perform on the actual exam. I agree they shouldn’t cost $40, but then again, a scantron exam shouldn’t take 2 months to grade.
rrbest Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don’t think the CFA should sell additional prep > material (which is really exactly what this is) > because it gives the impression of a conflict of > interest. Candidates who purchase the sample exams > give a benefit the CFA and the CFA will be > pressured to give these candidates a pass on the > exams when they are close in order to raise the > perceived value of the samples (and make them more > money). > > As an outsider, I feel pressured to buy these > samples even though I don’t feel they are worth > $40 because I know the CFA knows that I purchased > them and I can’t be sure they won’t give me a > “sample exam adjustment” if my score is near > passing (similar to the “ethics adjustment > speculation”) This has to be the most hilarious post I’ve ever seen on AF…well, at least in a while Buy all of those samples and write CFAI a cheque for at least a couple of grand, you don’t even have to sit for the exam. You might not even have to pass level 3, you’ll get the charter. lol
Finished the mock on CFAI - got an 82.5! (86.7 in am, 78.3 in pm). Thought i did worse. I def found it to be easier than the schweser mock and sample exam 1 from book 2 from Schweser. But maybe im also more prepared than i was when i took those. Still hate that im never sure about my answers though.
With a week left, I am going to keep trying, but I feel this is not going to work for me. I have literally spent close to a thousand hours on this material (since November 1) and cannot get above 65% no matter what mock exam I am doing. There always seems to be some new angle in the question which I cannot recognize from reading it especially in areas like the Porter material or the non technical material. I can do the equations and crunch the numbers finr. I read the material and understand what I read, but I cannot translate that into operaion. I feel so hopeless after working so hard.
Keep going at it, most here is on the same boat as you… Bear in mind that: - there is prob an upward bias in avg scores on analyst forum - some people that score above 80 just have a bad day and fail, in other cases, some that score in the 60s end up passing above 70 in all sections - there are say 500+ testable topics, around 30-40 will get tested (120 q’ and most will test same topics), so if you get the ones you are good at. - ethics curve!!! Its not a myth, its on the cfai site, so if you are borderline, ethics can give you the edge
those dam tests are timed - answer and explanation, increasing the pressure–& the more u mess up the harder it gets to focus=====-- and u paid 40 for em so u realllly dont want to screw this up - and upon review there was some minor twist that u missed. so i think we shouldnt put too much weight on the samples just use them as a tool to fix the weak areas like FRA, ethics etc.
Sample 1 - 63% Sample 2 - 77% I sucked at portfolio… I can only wish that the real deal wont be by like sample one but from my fail experience in 2009 I’m pretty sure that the real deal will be a mix in terms of difficulty between sample 1 and 2