Does anyone else feel like their essay responses are inadequate - you vaguely know the answer and talk around it, but you just can’t seem to nail it? How did others overcome this? I’m starting to think memorization may be the key afterall…
I think we all do.
Thanks bigwilly - I’m just failing the sample exams with only two weeks to go…I’m panicking
it’s scary because i don’t feel like teh scoring sheets really let you know how many points a grader might give you. i’m consistantly scoring 10% higher on the multiple choice questions but I really don’t think i’m grading myself that hard on the essay.
be a strong and fast writer… memorize everything… i have the week off work and my strategy is to go through each SS again and match the SS to the associate v. 1 and v. 2 schweser exams for big topics (e.g., immunization, IPS, etc.). for the small stuff – like the lists in SS6, 10, 14, etc., i am just going to drill those repeatedly to memorize the fine details they are likely to test. the SS 10 concept checkers really irritated me last night, for example, testing whether a manager’s investment style is a quantitative or qualitative factor during manager evaluation. i mean seriously.
my problem in essays - whenever i’m not sure of the answer, i just write everything i can remember abt the subject… and when i check the answer key, i realise i have everything down except what will earn you credit.
I do have the same problem here. Also, sometimes the questions are vague enough to mislead your answer. I don’t belive memorization can solve this problem. CFAI exams are different from what I saw in V2 Schweser or in BSAS exam. In old exam papers you hardly find questions asking you to list or asking for an open discussion on a topic.
bips Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > my problem in essays - whenever i’m not sure of > the answer, i just write everything i can remember > abt the subject… and when i check the answer > key, i realise i have everything down except what > will earn you credit. i’m in the same situation …hopefully after some practice exams/ questions that will get better …
I think the old CFAI exams give a good indication of the type of responses they’re expecting. In no way is the response really like an essay. It’s really just a couple of sentences.
…and the question is what kind of partial credit you would get if you don’t get the response as listed in the answer key. Its tough to figure out how brutal they’ll be. I just keep telling myself to keep it concise. Too many words can detract from your score. Wanna know what one of my biggest problems is? There doesn’t seem to be any consistency whatsoever on the way they calculate the return requirements in these IPS questions. We’re all proficient enough in math to get this far, but I NEVER get the same return number as the answer key. I’m talking simple arithmetic here, but I never get it right. Somebody please tell me they also have that problem because its frustrating as hell. Here’s another one–did you see the one where the manager of the pension fund was saying he was so sure rates were going to rise and he wanted aggressive equities? I said, “Above average” willingness because the guy was downright giddy. But the real answer was “below average” willingness because the pensioners were old. Give me a break with the trick questions. That’s enough to blow you right out of contention!
If they ask you for two reasons for something and you give four and three are right, one is wrong, do you get full credit?
Only the first two will be graded
Willy, Did you read that somewhere official or just guessing ?
mo, I’ve been told this by someone who actually grades the exams.
I heard that the avg score on the essay part is only 50% so take heart from this… if you score 60% then you are well above avg and are on your way to CFA charter…
krishna1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I heard that the avg score on the essay part is > only 50% so take heart from this… if you score > 60% then you are well above avg and are on your > way to CFA charter… I consider this comment a “framed-dependence” bias. Hope you’re right!
FlamesFan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > mo, > > I’ve been told this by someone who actually grades > the exams. This is a CFA charterholder who was willing to risk his Charter by giving away confidential information about the CFA exam to help you out ? (tell me that’s your dad and I’ll believe you :))
BW - to confirm – that person was implying that its first two period that are graded - - so one right, one wrong and then next two right - - last two are ignored, right? - - so does no good to list blather on and hope you hit the right answer eventually maybe you write them criss-crossing eachother in patterns of x’s - - in in one big circle - - so they can’t figure out which are first two and they just give up and give you credit
if you read the question, they ask, for example, TWO reasons. Hence they are only looking for TWO reasons. my two cents. for our time management, we should keep to just giving two and move on. if are giving more than two, you are 1) wasting precious time and 2) you dont really know the answer and better off using the time to answer questions you do know.
that’s crazy - - i want to show how smart i am so far i haven’t noticed time being an issue as i take these exams, i may not know every question, but i’m wrapping up with an hour to spare and i’ve been to the fridge a few times as well - - i’m gonna blow the graders minds with how much crap i can fit on a page - - may even ask for extra paper