I just did first schweser mock and score in mid 50s (56% morning 52% afternoon), kill me, I do feel it pinches me to remember a lot of concept that has become blurry but reviewing the test but it is taking so long, how long do you guys spend to review each mock? Also, do the exam test mostly concept? I def think they go deep on equity and FRA since there are so many small testing points or details to remember, but from a general sense things are glanced over and pretty conceptual on other sections? Is that how the test would actually be?
reviewing mocks is prob one of the best ways to prep for the exam. ppl think mocks are a good indication if they’re ready to pass or not. like if they score 70 then they must be ready. I think its flawed since you’re relying on 3rd party materials. But they’re great for preparation.
My point is since you got a mid 50 score you have a really good opp to work out some kinks in a time efficient manner. my advice is take as long as you need to understand the questions you wrong. This slower approach might prevent you from doing more mocks but i agrue 5 throughly reviewed mocks beats 8 bs mocks any day.
i failed last yr so take my advice with a grain of salt.
Good luck.
General rule of thumb, spend at least as much time reviewing each mock as it took you to complete it. Give both right and wrong answers enough attention. Darren at Wiley says 1.5 to 2 x per mock. Your mileage may vary.
you mean 1.5* of the time you spent testing? so like 12 hours per mock?
Yep, but that’s at the top end. I’d say the less comfortable you are with the material or the lower your score the more time you should try to dedicate to review. I spend about 6 hours reviewing per full mock, but sometimes a bit more so far. There’s really no right or wrong way to do it, as long as you use your time productively and in a way that you personally learn and retain.
Bachatero2014… did you do any mocks last year? if so how much were you scoring in before going into the exam.??
I was in a similar situation 3 weeks ago after my first mock. I took almost 9+ hours to review just half a mock (AM or PM session). I wrote down my thoughts next to the question and answer.
It will be slow at first, but once you start narrowing the gaps and filling in the holes, you will understand the logic behind your answers in the next mock that you attempt. The review will get easier over time, but like others have said, take as much time as needed to understand. The next time you run into a similar question or concept, you will spend a lot less time trying to figure out why you got it right/wrong.
I do mocks in 70% of allowed time and spend the rest of the week analyzing it. I’d say 10+ hours.
I will spend 4-5 days to review each CFAI portal vignette. 3-4 hours per day.
I spend ussualy 2-3 hours to review Mock. I make a review CFAI offiical material only, not Schweser Mocks.
I wonder if doing schweser mock is a waste of time. Some of the answers are so iffy that I ain’t sure if It will be a detriment to my ability to take the real exam.
I consider a Schweser Mock as a good form, concentration and mental training but its way of questionary definetly doesn’t follow CFAI manner of questionary.
I constantly feel the pull to check items off a list of “Mocks completed”. The idea to to a light revision to cram in more mocks is obviously totally dumb – it’s like buying and taking round-trip flights with 20-minute layovers just to earn miles. i am averaging about 1 hour to do a topic test (first pass) and revise it. I guess if you extrapolate that to mocks it would be 14 hours to revise. That sounds about right – two days.
As I’m revising, if it turns out I didn’t know a concept at all, I’ll take up to 15 min to figure out the underlying thing from the curriculum and then add it to my notes and flash cards. If it’s going to take more than 15, I track for deeper review, consolidated with whatever else in that reading.
But I figure I’ll be 30 min to write/revise each TT on second pass, and third pass will be maybe 50 not 80, and probably even faster. Will see if there’s a 4th.
just finished review morning session only, took about 5 hours lol
did you do all the topic test, wow thats impressive, ye it takes about the same amount of time for TT, i did FRA and Equity only though, will see how much i remember
just finished reviewing first mock 11 hours ,lol, but i def feel i learned more than last whole week or than doing topical test, now on to the second
My first few mocks… took forever. Probably 9 hours per mock, because I would dig through my notes, and the curriculum to forget out what I got wrong. Now I can burn through a half mock review in an hour or so (I have done 10 mocks so far). Eventually you run out of things you need to keep reviewing.
I remember spending hours reviewing. sometimes longer to review then taking the test. I made sure I could rationalize and explain why you did each step for solving a problem. Sometimes I even had to look at GAAP just to make sure I understood something.
but ye thats the most effective way, I have been studying this since Jan and put in 4.5 hours a day i am not kidding, work was super slow last half year, I am at a point I look at my notes I just so sick of looking at it and i think i remember it but i actually dont. So mock is the best way to review, I just did my second mock, over accuracy raised from 54% to 69% (68% morning 70% afternoon). I am not sure if it is because this is an easier mock but I am impressed at least how effective this is