Free CFA Institute Program mock exam vs Schweser mocks

CFA Level I
#1

Last night I tried the CFA morning mock exam (free version, not the one you have to fork out yet another $40 for) and was rather surprised. My average was slightly better than the Schweser (60% vs 54% ave on Schweser).

My question to others is, how are you finding the comparison between the two? I found the CFAI exam much more concise (although I still went over the time by about 20 which needs urgent addressing). The Schweser mocks were very much more long-winded: I just could believe how one can answer those questions in under 90 seconds given the long calculations required for some (most!) of them.

Annoyingly, my performance on Econonics is dismal. Given how much I actually enjoyed the subject matter when I read the textbook in April I am totally mad that I am now averaging 30% for this section in the exam!

Also, Ethics needs urgent attention - average over the last 6 exams is 55%. I am shocked since my average for this section in the QBank was 78%. This subject is a real pain!

I plan on going through the CFAI morning exam today to understand where I went wrong and attempting the afternoon exam later. If these exams are any indication of the real thing then I feel better about it. I think I am a borderline pass / fail candidate, but regardless of what the exam scores say, I *feel* like I have learnt very much on this course and really have enjoyed taking up this challenge over the last 9 months.

Good luck everyone - I hope we all come up trumps on the day!

#2

I personally find the CFA mock paper easier than the schweser papers. The actual exam is not usually as bad as the mock paper. There will be a few more easier questions - at least that’s what I’ve experienced so far. Also you will probably find that in the real exam you will finish the paper a lot earlier…prob have around 20-30 mins time to check through stuff.

Just another point to note is there will not be as many calculation questions compared to the schweser mocks. I found schweser tend to go a bit over the top with them.

You have prob read this a lot now but Focus on ethics…if you are borderline then your score in ethics will decide whether you pass or not.

Good luck and remember its just an exam at the end of day!

#3

i found scswer mocks FRA n ethics easier than cfa mock

#4

The last few Schweser papers were probably written by Lucifer himself, very difficult, got 59% on last one. CFAI mock, yes a bit easier but still quite tricky, some very misleading awnser selections, the FRA sections are awful. Recommend going thru the CFAI mock with a fine toothcomb personally.