I am here to echo ditch’s statements. I faid twice already and crushed it on the third attempt. When I saw pass I jumped. Do not despair, do not be discouraged, if you work hard good things will come.
That’s comforting… I am so crushing this thing come June. Any tips? I find it hard to study the same way given that I’ve been through the material twice…I know what my weak areas are and I’m going to invest in Qbank again and just do as many questions as possible and start doing them earlier…I was projecting a start date of late Feb, I’m going on vacation in mid Feb and I think I need some time to prepare myself mentally.
KHC Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The December exam was my 2nd attempt and I failed > in the band 9. > I’m feeling quite disappointed with the fact that > I got a lowered score in my favorite section: > Equity. Based on the 40/60/80 assumption, I’m in > the 63% margin… I’m feeling extremely burned > out and still trying to decide whether if I should > do it again in June. KHC, that’s sad. But I’ve been there myself so don’t feel too sorry for you. Whatever you do, you have to decide on some alternative strategy. I found the on-line classes very helpful. You will have no difficulty to catch up through the archives should you sign up. It is particularly helpful since it helps focusing on what you need to know for the exam and not being caught up on all those little details, albeit interesting, that are not core on the test. (You can learn all of that later, once you’ve passed the test.)
MehdiOchre Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > KHC Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > The December exam was my 2nd attempt and I > failed > > in the band 9. > > I’m feeling quite disappointed with the fact > that > > I got a lowered score in my favorite section: > > Equity. Based on the 40/60/80 assumption, I’m > in > > the 63% margin… I’m feeling extremely burned > > out and still trying to decide whether if I > should > > do it again in June. > > KHC, that’s sad. But I’ve been there myself so > don’t feel too sorry for you. Whatever you do, you > have to decide on some alternative strategy. I > found the on-line classes very helpful. You will > have no difficulty to catch up through the > archives should you sign up. It is particularly > helpful since it helps focusing on what you need > to know for the exam and not being caught up on > all those little details, albeit interesting, that > are not core on the test. (You can learn all of > that later, once you’ve passed the test.) Thanks. I’m not exactly a smart person and not to mention I’m basically doing the CFA exam for a change of career and hope to break into finance, so the great thing about retakes is that I learn something new everytime (almost anyway). From this experience, I feel that getting the 50-70% mark is actually not hard at all. But to break through the barrier of 70%+ is really tough. But you definitely pointed out one major problem of mine is the fact that I’m actually interested in the stuff, so every so often I would find myself doing research on materials that will not be tested but are mentioned in the texts. I think I will go for it one more time in June and see how things go. Band 9 isn’t so far away from a pass anyway.
Hi all I also failed Dec 2008 band 8. For Dec 2008 i have read CFAI text once, but got verly little time to go through material twice. Also did not do any practice exam but was doing all problems from each session.I agree that i have not put in enough effort. Not sure what are my chances in June 2009. My friend agreed to lend me Schewser 2008 material. I planned to do schewser this time. I have following questions 1) what percentage is the difference between 2008 and 2009 material? 2) should i ever refre CFAI text this time ? 3) FSA , FI and Equity i have done very badly. What topic should i do first ?
O’k…First of all, do not give up! I failed June 2008 band 5. It was hard to see the results, but a very good experience to go through. I took December 08 and today i saw PASS. It was a great feeling, I am still in shock. Guys, whoever failed today, know that you CAN do it. Here are few tips: 1. If FSA is not your strongest point, invest in class from John A. Harris. (you can google him). The class is a 2 day 8 hours, cost around $500—> but almost guarantees you more than 70% on the exam. He is really good and explains everything. 2. Do tons of practice exam. I did not have money to invest in Schweser full package, but I bought the ‘late’ practice exam package for $200 and did about six three hour tests. The more the better… 3. Do your own flashcards and carry them everywhere! I had this plastic bag full of flashcards that I read randomly at work, in the restaurant, car, etc… my husband wants to burn them now)))) but it does help you a big deal to keep info fresh! Hey, and Good Luck! It is worth it, the first fail made me angry… it is almost as addicting as gambling… you guys will do it next time. Create a plan, stick to it, and kill it!
only read the text once??? Perhaps you have a photographic memory, yet I didn’t pass on reading the material once. By the time I got to reading the material a second time, I had already forgotten everything I had read the first time. Hang in there. I actually thought L1 was more difficult than L2. In my opinion L3>L1>L2. Its different for everyone. Yet, to pass this test, you (1) can’t be cheap…buy the latest stuff (2) need to put in the time (3) need to be a good test taker. Why rely on old material? Some people can put in 100 hours and do it. Some put in 300 hours and fail. Plan on 300 hours, buy the latest Schweser and text books. Do the Schweser and the end of chapter questions. Take the schweser course. Also, the schweser materials are half price the second time you take the test. Good luck!
failed band 10. first attempt. bought no study materials - just cfai text.
DO NOT GIVE UP. I am sure you guys can do it, yes i mean it, just dont give up
I failed band 8 and I don’t plan on retaking the exam anytime soon. I recently got a job offer for a 3 year financial leadership position and would have to get my MBA within 5 years at the firm’s expense. So I don’t think getting the charter really matches up well with where my career appears to be heading. Thanks to everyone on the forum for being so helpful leading up to the exam and best of luck in the future.
vik2000 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > kevin.venanzi Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I’m a band 10 failure. This was my first > attempt > > and while I’m not trying to make excuses, I > fully > > underestimated the exam. I just finished > > registering for the June L1. While it was > > disappointing to see that ‘Fail’ when I logged > in > > this morning, I’m taking my failure as an > > experience that will be used to better myself > for > > the exam in June. Hopefully I can learn from my > > mistakes and study just that much harder the > next > > time around. > > > > Congratulations to all who passed. You all > > definitely deserve it. Happy studying for L2 in > > June!! > > > Best of luck to you in June 09. Actually you don’t > need any luck, you’d ace it next time :). I appreciate the kind words. I’ll still be here throughout preparation and will hopefully be posting different results come July.
Forgive my ignorance. What’s Band 10, 9, 8, etc.?
o you are so lucky if u dont know these bands… i learnt about them july last year and it was so bad… basically they divide all the failures in deciles…10 being the highest among failures and if u did not darken any of the circles …u would be in band1
Well, failed band 9. Had bad luck during the exam with my watch plus never really broke the 70% on either Schweser or the CFAI mocks. Dec and Nov were just crazy at work. But who am I to get intimidated by an EXAM? I immediately re-registered and aim for a full >70% in June. Schweser arriving tomorrow 
I salute all the fellow re-takers. Hope to see you guys around…
I was in band 10 as well. I had 4 sections over 70, and the rest were 51 to 70. Very frustrating to say the least. I took it in June 08 prior to December, studied my butt off, and fell into band 8. This time I crammed 2 weeks before and got to band 10. I think I will try for an MBA right now as I feel like I can come back in a few years and get this thing going again. Did not think Level I was necessarily that hard, but it is just so much material. Congrats and good luck to everyone that passed on Level II!!!
Kseiniaru-Thanks for the advise. I was very upset yesterday after all that hard work but will kill it in June. I plan to review my weak area first then review the rest and spend a month on practice exam. Anyone know if you can just buy the practice exam book or just get the schweser pro bank question without paying for the whole package? I used Stalla for Dec’s exam but I plan to use the cfa text only this time.
adee1031 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Kseiniaru-Thanks for the advise. I was very upset > yesterday after all that hard work but will kill > it in June. I plan to review my weak area first > then review the rest and spend a month on practice > exam. > Anyone know if you can just buy the practice exam > book or just get the schweser pro bank question > without paying for the whole package? I used > Stalla for Dec’s exam but I plan to use the cfa > text only this time. Yes, you can buy them separately. - QBank (Online + Download): $299 - http://schweser.com/cfa/products/schweserpro.php - Practice Exams 1: $149 - http://schweser.com/cfa/products/book.php - Practice Exams 2: $149 - http://schweser.com/cfa/products/exam.php If you were to purchase all of the above, you might as well just get the “Essential Solution” for $599. It includes Qbank, both practice exam books, all of the Study Notes books, along with some other small things like the quick sheet, study planner, and some online resources.
hey guys, In my opinion, if you had worked very hard, and you can say that genuinely - and you failed it 2 times, I do not think you will succeeded in Level 2. Level 2 is definitely a killer. The material is tough even for me a Finance and Economics student. BTW i spent over 500 hours easily and was a passive AF’er and managed to pass level 1. Lastly, failing the CFA does not mean you are bad at finance - all it means is that - you cant take test. I believe standard test is no precursor to your future success. So if you really love Finance, enroll into a part-time master’s program if you can, if not just take one year off to get a Msc. And some may say the CFA is cheap - but what if you fail it, then your progression is delayed by a year atleast. Thus you are better off investing money in one year, and reaping the benefits immediately as opposed to after 3-4 years down the road. I hear the MDP for finance has gone down significantly so the romantic idea of begin the gekko gordon investment banker may not necessarily lead to you to the riches that reaped by previous IB. But who knows - Im just a 4th year student To end my post on a better note, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”
Age: 24 Previous score: June 08 - Band 1 Dec 08 - Band 7 B.Eng (Electrical) minor in Business Should I do it again ? Am really struggling with this question now when I see so many people without quanz background passing it in 1st attempt… Will the financial industry ever recover ? I am so messed up now…Please advice.
1st You have to priortize…then make ur plans If you preparing for it then you got to give ur best shot no half hearted …practice practice practice and again practice …take a 20 days leave b4 exam give lots of mock exams i did the same prepared for 4 months and 1st attempt got good %