I don’t understand what I did wrong with level 2. I walked out thinking I did poorly in just about every area except I thought I got 80% or higher on ethics. When I got my failure notice I was shocked to see I failed ethics. On the exam I knew (and still know) all elements of the code and standards and I went through examples before hand and did relatively well on the ethics portions of pratice exams. I always felt like it came down to choosing between 1 or 2 on a few of them and just guessing correctly. Considering that I failed ethics on my first attempt I want to ensure I don’t fail again. I’ve started studying some 08 material and will start with the new CFAI books on Monday. With ethics, what should I do to ensure I nail it next time?
I’m wondering the same question. I thought I had it too. It’d be good to hear some good answer to this one, except for “study, study, study”
i too had a coworked study hard for ethics, think he did OK, and got in the lower band for this section. as i begin studying for level II my plan is to review the CFAI and Schweser ethics material as much as possible. what else can you do???
I scored >70% on L1 and L2 ethics and my strategy was to completely re-read ethics from the CFAI text word for word 2-3 days before the test. It definitely helped since the ethics questions are all about the minutia (sp?).
They are the first thing I study, and combined with formulas the last thing I study. With this strategy I’ve always scored >70 in level I and level II (though I failed level II overall). I find that Schweser does a REALLY good job with the questions they have for ethics. I remember in level I, some of the questions I did in preparation using Schweser were nearly identical to questions on the actual exam. My advice is do Schweser quizzes and practice exams in regards to the ethics section and you should nail it.
from what I’m hearing, re-reading the entire code prior to the exam is helpful, also, trying to complete as many practice questions in Ethics as possible to be able to spot the typical traps and become familiar with the different situations
the afternoon ethics section was retarded this year…i didn’t understand their questions on about half…ambiguous would be an understatement…but i passed w/ a 50-70% in ethics
I scored >70 in Ethics for L1 & L2 I agree Schweser does a great job with their ethics questions, especially in their test book. Do those. I read the CFAI code 2X - once before I started doing practice tests, and once 3 days before the exam. I also read the soft dollar standards and research objectivity standards once each. I think the key is to read the CFAI material enough times until you start to recognize the subtle details in the schweser questions and the CFAI mock questions. I don’t think a quick read through is sufficient for most folks.
yeah, i don’t know how you guys pulled greater than 70 for this year’s ethics… that’s impressive. I thought i prepared well for it but i got worked. i’m usually strong in ethics but i ended up with a 50-70 and i actually felt fortunate because i thought i was less than 50. definitely not the same as ethics at level 1.
I got >70 for both L1 and L2. I read the code for the first time last October. To score well, you need to not only know the rules, but also understand (and wholeheartedly agree with) the thinking that went into making them.
I’ve read and understand the standards, but the exam questions were so detailed about whether something rises to the level of a problem or your interpretation of an event. I think I could have had the code and standards in front of me and I still wouldn’t have known the answers. From what people have said here I guess my problem was not doing and internalizing enough practice questions.