Hi All, I appeared Level I last December around and was hopeful to pass out. Sadly, I failed with average scores in 6 topics and below average in 3 topics. Since, then I have not studied anything but enrolled for June 08 exam. As a full-time working person (in an accounting firm, holding ACA), not sure with time period of two months whether I will be able to achieve any good results. I am indecisive at this stage in terms of shall I put in efforts for June 08 with exam-oriented preparations or shall go for Dec 08 with some sold preparations Are there any chances of me still making it in the June exam in two months provided I appeared once? If so, shall I study notes or straight away jump into practice exams? Highly appreciate your solid (real-life) inputs!! Regards
I don’t see why you shouldn’t try. I passed level 1 last December, and I’m sure I could pass it again in June if need be. The test isn’t radically different from what was offered last December. If anything it should be easier since some of the more difficult topics seem to have been moved to L2 (regression, good amount of econ, etc). You should already know the fundamentals and most of the L1 curriculum from last December. Just make sure you cover all of the new areas and recover the topics that you did poorly on last Dec. I’m sure almost everyone here is working full time ++ while studying for CFA. You still have all at least 16 hrs of available study time every weekend between now and June (+ 1-3 hrs per night). I usually don’t start studying until 8 or 9 pm when my son goes to bed. Sleep is overrated, you can get by for two months without it.
I aggree with McLeod I think you should go for it vishal, much of the material would be fresh in your mind, you would just need to brush up on your weak areas and you should be fine. Practice exams might be of good help as well… All the Best Aalok.
I think you need to evaluate your study program and your expectations. 1) Those categories you are referring to aren’t “average” or “below average” - they are <50% and 50-70%. CFAI refers to both of them with pejorative names (can’t remember exact). Your performance on the first exam was probably some number like 53% or something. How do you feel about a 53% on an exam in which 25% is given to you? (and you’re an ACA so FSA - the biggest section - ought to be easy) 2) Passing CFA 1 by itself doesn’t mean squat. Even if you did get past it, you are building a nothing base for LII and LIII. 3) There have been countless arguments on AF about whether P(passing|failing once) > P(passing| never tried). There is no consensus and CFAI isn’t talking but it’s not much of an effect if it exists at all. So the answer is - you need a serious study plan and you need to learn a lot of material in a short time. Given that you tried to do this once and it didn’t work, you need to decide if you can make the changes and get it to work this time.
> 2) Passing CFA 1 by itself doesn’t mean squat. > Even if you did get past it, you are building a > nothing base for LII and LIII. Mr. JDV, your opinions seem reasonable as usual. My question for you or to the large number of people more experienced/knowledgeable than I am: how useful do you think it would be to “overstudy” for L1? And by how much? I feel I’m approaching the overstudying mode for L1, but want any extra time spent to carry over to L2 and L3 in a useful way, so what would be the best (sub-)topics of L1 to “overstudy” and nail down? Thanks in advance!
bostonkev Why worry so much about L2 and L3 when you have not even passed Level 1? Surely you should allocate relevant time to study areas which are your weak areas. If you have no weak areas, and you are well on target for passing L1 based on practice exam results, then chill out and have a cold beer… No need to tackle Level 2 until you pass Level 1 in Jun 2008, in which you have a whole year to overstudy!!! If you are truly masochistic, by all means overstudy the FSA portion as this represents a large % of Level 2… (the cold beer sounds more attractive though)
Thanks wilier, let’s just say I’m somewhat OCD-ish and a perfectionist, haha. “by all means overstudy the FSA portion as this represents a large % of Level 2” (useful info!) Sorry for potentially hijacking the thread vishal_buddhadev, I was just responding to JDV’s “building base” phrase in his point #2 and I didn’t think it was appropriate to start a standalone thread on this topic.
I think building a base at LI is pretty important. There are a whole bunch of people who make it through LI and then explode while even thinking about LII. Besides, if you are working on a CFA charter just for the credential it just won’t work. Your goal is to walk out of LI thinking that you correctly answered almost all the questions.
ABSOLUTELY GO FOR IT, no downside…you don’t receive a refund. If you take the test and pass it you will be able to take the L2 in 09 If you don’t pass this time and still take it in Dec you would still be on track. 2 chances are always better than 1, nothing to lose. Best of luck
wilier Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > bostonkev > > Why worry so much about L2 and L3 when you have > not even passed Level 1? > > Surely you should allocate relevant time to study > areas which are your weak areas. > If you have no weak areas, and you are well on > target for passing L1 based on practice exam > results, then chill out and have a cold beer… > > No need to tackle Level 2 until you pass Level 1 > in Jun 2008, in which you have a whole year to > overstudy!!! > > If you are truly masochistic, by all means > overstudy the FSA portion as this represents a > large % of Level 2… (the cold beer sounds more > attractive though) That’s just too funny lol!!!