I wonder how everyone is performing on the Financial Analysis CFAI Topic Tests.
My performance is so brutally poor that I’m questioning myself whether to continue studying or not? Maybe if I did not touch any other subject until June, I would be able to study FRA properly.
Are you doing these tests after you have finished all the 5 readings of FRA (Reading 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20)
Your scores will improve when you attempt these topic tests after you have revised your FRA. Multiple revisions of FRA will improve your scores when you attempt the same FRA Topic test again.
Oh god. I struggled with that entire book (readings 16 through 20) – I don’t even want to know how bad my scores on those topic tests are going to be. Fortunately we still have 101 days to straighten out some of the problems.
I failed level 2 last year but I can say that the FRA topic tests are not indicative of the actual exam. Do not let these topic tests demoralise you. Focus on BB CFA, EOC and the schweser mocks and you will be fine
Yes sydneyguy I have revised FRA completely before opening the topic tests. BBs, EOCs and Schweser.
This is why I say that somehow I miss the conceptual knowledge, though I have memorized the formulas, still in many cases the question puzzles me and I think “how should I know this? there is no enough information in the vignette”.
Rex,
Do you think it is necessary to buy the 2nd volume of Schweser practice exams? I just have the 1st volume (I bought the basic package) thinking that I have enough practice (BBs, EOCs, topic tests, 3 Schweser mocks, cfai mock). But Schweser 1st volume is not particularly difficult.
The reason I failed last year despite all the hours I put in was not doing enough questions.
In the CFA EOC which everyone was telling me to do I made a grave mistake in only doing the ones that were MCQ. This time around, after taking the time to read the questions that are not, and require you to think through the answers I am now seeing all the different variations of questions that were asked on the exam day.
This is crucial - DO ALL CFA EOC. (NOT JUST MCQ) trust me on this. Especially in equity it is proving so valuable I cant believe I didnt do it before.
More mocks is better so purchase the second book if you can. If you found the schweser first book not difficult that is more testament to your improving knowledge then the exams being difficult. Pat yourself on the back and find more to do.
The Konvexity sectional tests are amazing for 30 dollars. They are tough but they drill every concept to the bare bone. If you can 60%+ on these you should walk through the exam.
OK thanks for the advice.
For CFA EOC I do them all, as much as I hate the “define” and “calculate” and “list” type of questions, I agree they are very useful.
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Can you clarify this statement? I don’t believe the topic tests were around when I took the level 1 exam in 2011, so i’m trying to gauge their usefulness in preparation for the exam.
Also, probably a silly question, but what does “MCQ” stand for?
MCQ - multiple choice questions :-))
We didn’t have topic tests in 2014 either, I have gathered they were pulled from former CFAI mock tests. Or someone speculated they never made to the actual exam being too difficult, not straightforward enough?
Yet many tell they are most useful in preparation (just like BBs, which are such painful I won’t be able to review all - only for the more important topics).
Hey, Im in the same boat. I failed band 10 last year. My advise would be yes read the curriculum BUT DO PRACTICE QUESTIONS. Whatever you can get your hands on and do your self assessment from practice questions. If you fail say on multinational operations just go over topic by topic. Make notes rather than just reading the textbook; which i believe is important and also do some flashcards for formulas. and I cant emphasize enough how important it is to practice EOC questions.
I think EOC is much easier than real exam. They just test you the basic knowledge. For the real exam, you need to do much more challenge questions.
By the way, how confidence if getting 70% on Schweser 1st volume practical exam?