I was band 9 last year and last year i didnt have time to finish either the am or pm session. I am 95% confident I passed this go around (even tho they included some qs that should not have been on the exam).
As for what i would have done differently, nothing. Since this was a second go around i started early and learned all the information instead of cramming. I did all EOCs many times, many mocks, and knew all the sections inside and out. if i fail, i know there are plenty of others who passed who know only a fraction of the info i know, and thus, i wont fail…
I wouldn’t change anything, I learned the main concepts from schweser videos and the notes, then refined everything using CFAI, I did the EOC’s multiple times and reviewed the blue boxes. EOC’s were valuable and I thought the mocks were good to practice timing but if I didn’t pass this year I would do the exact same thing next year.
I don’t think that I would have to reappear for the exam. But if I had to prepare again for the exam, I would love to finish the syllabus at least 2 months before the exam and then do loads of mocks for the practice and try to score 80%+ marks consistently in mocks.
Haha, thanks. I’ve gotten a lot of comments about thing but it really did help me repeatedly hit on the important formulas.
Also, forgot to mention this. I actually ended up watching some of Ari Irfanullah’s (or however you spell it) ‘Crash Course’ videos for topics that I just was banging my head up against the wall on. I watched his Quant, Derivatives, and Fixed Income ‘Crash Course’ videos and they all ended up helping immensely, ESPECIALLY Quant. I found that I just wan’t comprehending what I needed to know for Quant and was totally lost on the EOC questions so I went a different route and watched some of those videos and it really helped put everything into perspective and help me kind of segment and organize everything in Quant, if you will.
Hope that helps anyone else that has been having problems with one given area - switch it up and try something new. Videos can be very helpful.
Read through CFAI while taking VERY good notes in a notebook - as well as keeping a formula sheet seperately.
Anything difficult in CFAI - watch videos. For each video try to find the best explainer - Elan/Schweser/Youtube… Some topics are much better explained that way.
Do sample EOC and mid chapter questions and consider ways that the exam could add tricks i.e. doing how if one thing in the question is changed how that could effect the way to solve the problem.
Agree with all the comments about using CFAI material, taking good personal notes (for quicker revision), formula sheet and starting the mocks couple months before hand.
I’m a 2nd timer after a dismal Band 6 last year after giving it my all. But this year, after reading some of the passing scores, I changed my strategy to focussing on the big 3: Ethics, FRA and Equities.
Nail those that you should be guaranteed a pass. So this time round I felt I smashed those sections. Let’s see how it goes.
I think i passed - 90%. But in either L2/ L3 case, i will dive into mocks, mocks, mocks…and mocks again as soon as the results are out, and only use the CFAI material/schweser to check specific areas i dont understand. I realise that even though i started studying in Feb/March, most of the real studying was in the last 2 weeks as i practised mock exams.
I think i passed - 90%. But in either L2/ L3 case, i will dive into mocks, mocks, mocks…and mocks again as soon as the results are out, and only use the CFAI material/schweser to check specific areas i dont understand. I realise that even though i started studying in Feb/March, most of the real studying was in the last 2 weeks as i practised mock exams.
I have the same attitude … I gave this exam 10000% and If I ever failed, i would have no reason to explain my failure and hence, nothing to change in my approach
I think I would thrive for freeing the weekends for studying.
Resolving/ reacting to all non-exam related issues during the week.
Giving it 200% 4 nights a week, maybe a light Friday session (or lack thereof) and full power during the weekends.
In the long run, if one starts well ahead of time, it is the best thing to do.
Everything else is just gambling: life, both professional and personal, can change so much in a year…
I did it differently this time: I spread my studyload more evenly, but I also had times when I forgot about studying for a week or two due to work, or other professional issues. I wish I could focus on the less ambitious scenario of studying every weekend instead.