How long does it take you to mark and go over 1 AM mock?

CFA Level III
#1

I seem to take forever sometimes… tend to deviate and start reading from the book/notes, which usually ends up taking a day or two for one mock.

Am I too slow or is that the average if you actually try to read up on the concepts etc.?

#2

I take a mock like I would the actual exam. Takes me 3 hours and 20 minutes to do an AM, although I only grade myself on what I got done in 3 hours. Takes me an hour and a half to do a full review.

#3

Wow that’s a quick review. I take it you know the material very well so that you don’t have to do much reading when correcting ?

#4

I’ve done 2011 through 2014 CFAI AM mocks so far, each one taking 2 hrs. to 2 hrs. & 15 min. to complete the exam. Then about an hour to 90 minutes for a full review. I’ll re-work a problem if I was way off base, and make a list of 5 to 7 topics to review from the exam (going back to the text afterwards). If I counted the going back to the text to review topics, then it’s probably more like 3 hours of total review.

#5

I read the sections I didn’t do well on between taking mocks as well as answer blue boxes in those sections. I don’t consider this “mock review” as I’m not directly reviewing the quesitons.

#6

That’s impressive, assuming you score above 70% on them.

What are your scores for each or average?

How the f… do you finish that fast? Really short bullets?

Thanks.

#7
  • Bullet points
  • Be concise
  • When asked to give 2 reasons, dont give 3
  • Spend 2/3 of your time thinking, 1/3 of your time writing
  • Leave IPS for last
  • Skip if no clues after reading the question (give yourself a good 15 secs tho)
  • USE THE TEMPLATE & PAPER WITH DOTTED LINES!!
#8

I usually try to finish AM exams within 2h45. Exam day will always be worse, I’ll be nervous, have to reread stuff, make sure I didn’t forget anything, etc… You can assume that you’ll be a bit slower in the exam, I would consider that.

#9

I am always paranoid that the wording I use will not be a “correct” explanation using the right terms, and that I will lose mark for that. Hence the time wasting trying to phrase it correctly.

Is that true or not?

For example: When you define a bias, do you have to explain it in a way the book does or would layman’s explanation be enough?

Do you even have to define a bias when asked to identify it with a specific example?

Thanks.