i dont understand. if the MPS was 58% then the exam was nut crushing tough!
43% of ppl passed last year, i would be suprise this year if that mark goes under 39%
look at the historical passing mark
http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprogram/Documents/1963_current_candidate_exam_results.pdf
i mean, when there is 44 000 ppl taking it in average, the result should be very similar year after year that’s the law of big number
there is 2 years under 40%, one a 39% and 1 at 32%. and the years after they gave a 56% of the cfa away… so i would guess they will never put a 32% passing rate again.
so best guess is arounf 39-43 just like last year
It was a piece of cake , honestly I’m not kidding 1+1 type stuff. Go look at the pathetic scores that got by on the Results thread for 2011. GUARANTEED it’ll be under 39%. The CFA is moving that way towards under 30%, to make up for the absolute joke the test was before 2003 where it was a 60- 70% pass rate.
I disagree… the pass rate was 43% for Level 2 last year… 3% higher than the year before. The MPS was not 58% or anywhere near it. Speculating on such things is a waste of time. I do agree that the exam felt easier than the 2011 mock last year, and like I said, had I not tripped myself up with time I would have done really well… That being said, every year, the peanut gallery from AF says how easy the exam was. Remember that the sample of people on this forum are probably upwards biased in their level of knowledge/commitment, etc. than the population.
I was scoring, I think, mid 70’s on mocks last year.
This year I did every single EOC question throughout my first pass of the Schweser (read the schweser books, did the CFAI EOC afterwards) and it also helps that everything came back to me quite quickly from last year. I guess I didn’t brain dump everything. Also watched all of the Schweser 2012 Videos multiple times. Videos are a good way for your brain to be exposed to the material and to absorb obscure details, especially when you watch them 2-3 times each.
And honestly, Miss Cleo, i don’t think anybody appreciates the doom & gloom you imply by saying that there will never be such an easy test. This should be a place for encouragement and motivation, not the other way around… Just my 0.02 cents.
i don’t understand the assumption of moving toward 30%.
if we were at 30% they would have to give it twice a year.
society of actuary have very low passing rate but give exam much more often. you have to decide.
nvestn, seriously pull up the results thread. You had people passing with 4 above 70% and 6 below 50%. Somewhere in that thread they calculated the MPS to be around 58%. It was a gift. I’m not all doom and gloom but just no you have to be ready for ANYTHING. Look at the infamous Treynor Black, 32% passing rate test of 04.
summerside, assuming that implies PEI… Hello from across the Northumberland Straight in Shediac!
Also 2x a year for Level II will never happen. Too many people who took it in the 70% pass rate 80s and 90s now make these decision, and they think offering a 35-40% pass rate test twice a year will make the CFA too easy to get 
anyway that out of our control.
@ missCleo - a stating that last year’s L II test was a joke, ‘2+2’ stuff is just plain ignorance. if the test was that easy you’d be posting on the level III thread. i was band six last year. the 2011 mock and actual exam were comparable to this year’s mock. you’re discrediting lots of people who put in effort to pass L II last year. there are no easy or hard tests, just over/underprepared candidates.
Sorry to offend grandits, but if you think the CFA puts a similar test out each year i.e 04 (32%) 05 (56%) 98 (62%), and say that it was just more or less underprepared candidates you’re crazy. Some years are hard, some while still difficult, are easier than other years.
I’d love to see the 60% pass rate of the 90s, or 70% pass rates of the 80s come back but we all know that will never happen. I actually emailed teh CFA asking them to do one of 3 things:
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Either offer L II twice a year
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Raise pass rates to 80s and 90s levels
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Make everyone who got a CFA charter before 03, place an asterisk after their CFA.
Surprise they never responded.
Does anyone else think we can expect more coverage for some of the meatier FSA/Equity topics on the actual exam? I was very surprised for the 2012 mock to have no questions on current rate method/temporal method, 1 on pensions, and 5 on intercorporate investments and for equity there were only 2 FCFF/FCFE questions, 4 on DDM, and 0 on Resiudual Income.
no offense taken. sure the CFA is a for-profit business and they make the rules, but the burden of passing or failing lies with the candidate, not the person administering the exam. analyzing MPS rates to ascertain pass/fail probability is a strawman’s game and does not hold water. You have no idea on the quality of the candidate pool and relative difficulty of the exam from one year to the next. by simply look at list of %'s you can’t infer either.
Well then we must have had rocket scientists taking it before 2003, and nothing but idiots afterward if what you are saying is true.
this thread has become a huge fail. I do not see the point in debating things you have no idea about and, more importantly, no control.
To assume a pass rate sub 30 is baseless. I can make the same argument that CFAI wants to trend pass rates higher toward the pre-2003 era so they can raise more money with fees, dues and get more encouraged to become members.
Either statement is pure speculation so the only reason would be to fear monger which is inappropriate for these forums. We all know this is tough but time better served learnign temporal method than guessing the 2012 pass rates.
Just did the AM section and agree the FRA section was quite technical. Hoping the PM section will be better but I got alot of work ahead of me.
Hey Einstein, 250$ membership is a whole lot less than the $800 to register for the test. They want people to keep failing.
Who cares what percentage of people pass? It’s not worth worrying about it! If you really put in the time and develop the KNOWLEDGE, then you should be able to pass the test. CFA designed level II so that you can’t get through by purely memorization, like you could for Level I. It’s a process. That’s why it takes some people longer than others to pass. Spend the time, develop the knowledge, enjoy the journey.
I would rather get $250 / yr (inflation adjusted) for 40 years than $800 twice. Perhaps you need to brush up on annuities and math.
Plus the actual dues are $275 plus $100-200 for society dues (and cfai cares about keeping those ongoing). Also early reg for exam is less than $800. But feel free to twist the facts to continue to spread FUD