I am going through the curriculum materials right now and I see that there are many mathematical formulas. Do we have to memorize them or will they be provided on the exams? Thanks!
You will be provided a formula sheet on the back. Just kidding …
maratikus is wrong. the formulas are not provided. but you are allowed to bring in one 8.5" x 11" paper double-sided with any information you want.
you guys are major a-holes
topher Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > maratikus is wrong. the formulas are not provided. > but you are allowed to bring in one 8.5" x 11" > paper double-sided with any information you want. What a bunch of misinformation. Guys, lets try to help him out. It’s single sided, not double but you should be able to get the important stuff on it.
Thanks, I was looking at the CFA website for testing logistics and policies, and did not find anything that said you are allowed to bring in a piece of scratch paper with formulas written on it. Is this policy mentioned anywhere on the CFA website? You would think something like this would be mentioned.
Okay, I feel bad now. Jeff, unfortunately you are not allowed to use notes or a formula sheet on the exam. It may seem daunting at first but it is doable. The questions on the exam do not ask for a lot of calculations, those that do are not nearly as complex as you would think. Know the ratios from FSA cold. Know Dupont decomposition and the “why” behind each piece. Know Quant. Know Equity valuation models… DDM, Gordon growth, etc. Know how to calculate elasticity using average values. Also learn how to use your calculator. Read the manual that came with it… you may find that your calculator does a lot more than you thought when you bought it.
Yes , you have to remember all the formulas. Fortunately, if you study all the material thoroughly, the formulas will be there in your mind. Unfortunately, if you study all the material thoroughly, it will take time.
memorizing is a waste of time. Unless you understand what a formula does and what it’s used for you’ll never recall all of them. The real exam will not have that many calculation/plug and chug questions if that makes it any easier but you will have to know the theory behind a formula or ratio.
guys what do you get out of misleading people about the exam - grow the fcuk up… you CANT bring anything into the exam besides your calculator (only 1 or two types allowed), a few pencils, eraser (with no paper around the outside) and ID. no phones are supposed to be brought in obviusly but they arent going to frisk you. agree with philipplatt and jlive. dont sit there and try to memorise the formulas. that wont do you any good unless you understand what they are doing. do enough questions and the concepts behind the formula will stick in your head. trust me on that.
If you master the material, you will also know the formulas. It’s not that hard.
If you know the formulas, you will master the material. It’s that easy.
djjk1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > guys what do you get out of misleading people > about the exam - grow the fcuk up… I believe it stems from the constant string of repetitive posts… what calculator to use, can i bring X with me on exam day, etc. It would really help if someone *cough* chad *cough* would make a sticky of the most asked questions and we could be done with those.
djjk1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > guys what do you get out of misleading people > about the exam - grow the fcuk up… I believe it stems from the constant string of repetitive posts… what calculator to use, can i bring X with me on exam day, etc. It would really help if someone *cough* chad *cough* would make a sticky of the most asked questions and we could be done with those. I also agree, but I think what I find annoying is that this information is available on the CFAI webiste, it is very clear you may only take pencil and calculator with you! But how I would love it if you could take 1 piece of paper in with you! that would be nice and comforting, although not sure how much it would help, cause you’re right there aint many plug/chug questions. Thats the beauty of CFA though IMO, you really have to know your stuff, can’t just blag it on a formula memory technique!
Do you have to remember all the formulas? This question was posed to Doug from Schweser during a seminar I was at. His response as he muttered under his breath, “Good lord! Here is an example, debt to equity. The trick is to draw a line where it says ‘to’!” In all reality I knew Dupont and extended Dupont ROE cold. That is on the exam a few times since it is brought up in both FSA and Corp Finance. You should know this among the ratios presented in Corp Finance. As you study, ratios current/quick/cash/etc ratios just become second nature.
Guys, you can take a piece of paper with you, you just can’t bring it into the exam room. You get an hour between sessions. It’s highly likely that stuff tested in the morning will NOT tested in the PM. So now you know what to focus on in that hour. It’s like having a final and the professor says "everyone take an hour break, go review your notes and oh yeah, nothing you’ve been tested on so far will be on the next session. " How many people would have had their GPA skyrocket if their college courses were like that? Well, that’s how it is on the CFA exam, take advantage of it. I steamrolled the PM session due to this.
I think there weren’t any needed formulas that werre not on the Schweser Quick Sheet. Know that thing cold.
Remember it all. Unless you wanna sit for Dec 09. L1 is not rocketscience but it’s not 10th grade either. No shortcuts mate. Sorry.
I agree with the above about memorization- if you just memorize it, you’ll probably fail. They’re going for comprehension of the material, so I would guess that most of the questions are not just ‘compute the debt to equity ratio of this company’. If you truly understand the material, having it memorized is somewhat implied I would think.