I need some advice

I’m a retaker. Last year I failed in scoring band 7. This year I wanted to get an early start so I began reading in November and got through all the material by Feb 28. My attempt at retaining info was to drill formula sheets and flashcards thinking that I would work on “process” problems with the mock exams. So now that I’m done with reading I have started taking practice exams and they’re really bumming me out. I can’t really tell if the practice exams are good review tools. On level 1, it seemed like the more questions you did the better you got, but with this exam the questions are so targeted that you might not ever see that specific topic being asked about in any other practice exam, so it’s hard to get good at the questions they’re asking. I got a 61% on the first practice exam in the Schweser book, and right now I’m sitting at 67% halfway through the second exam and I know my overall percentage will go down once I get into the second half since equity and ethics were frontloaded on the first half. There were maybe 10 that I got wrong that I won’t get wrong once it gets closer to test time because they were stupid mistakes, but even adjusting for those I wouldnt’ get to the 70% mark. So I guess my question is, if you’ve taken any of the Schweser mocks, how did you score, and what would you say the best way to review material is at this point in the game?

why are you getting them wrong? cuz you don’t know how to do them? Most problems shouldn’t look completely foreign, but maybe you forget how to do a little this or that…I don’t see how it’s much different from level 1, more problems, see more situations, eventually nail them down…

if it were me I would be doing CFAI EOC and only using the Schweser exams to see what areas I am weak in, then go study those parts in the CFAI materials.

My approach is this; take it or leave it as you like (I also failed this bastard last year). The EOC questions are now my first and second line; I was much heavier on reading and note taking than questions last time, this time i am trying the reverse. Once I’m confident that I can pick up any one of the books and do any one of the EOCs at random, from all the readings, then I’ll move on to study banks. If I can do any and/or all of the EOCs, it means I’ve probably got the formulas and concepts dialed, and then when I go and try the mocks/third party qbanks in my review (which will be in may), they shouldn’t give me much trouble.

You’re getting mid 60’s with a few months to go? And you’re bummed out? You’re in a better position than 95% of us. Just keep drilling the subjects you’re not acing while reviewing the stuff you already know well.

Well, that’s one of the reasons I made the post. I don’t know if mid 60’s is a good score at this point in the game (I’m actually at low 60’s, I just know that I can improve by around 7 questions, which would get me into the mid to high 60’s). When I first started taking L1 practice tests I did it 1.5 months in advance and was scoring in the 75% - 80% range. The rule of thumb back then was that if you could get a hard 70% on the practice tests then you were probably in good shape for the real exam. I only got a little less than 70% on their toughest mock. Is a hard 70% the rule of thumb for L2 as well? For me to get there that would be about a ten question improvement per exam. Perhaps I’m just freaking out because I started taking the tests a little earlier, but that’s only because I started studying earlier. I need to find an efficient way to review.

Don’t be bummed. Just keep working the things you aren’t good at. Lots of time.

Keep at it bro… mid 60s is decent given the amount of time left. Key is to learn from your mistakes and not repeat them

gotta admit… some of the user IDs are awesome… ex. ChickenTikka I have been through the CFAI Mock exams and feel more comfortable with them than with Schweser Mock Exams. Schweser just wants to annoy the sh*t out of you by testing you on horrible ‘no need to know’ crap. However, the Qbank… golden… great way to test formula retention.

KSTHANE, you have good advice on this board, you are way ahead of the game (just finishing reading SS10), you have about 3 months to fine tune your weaknesses. The thing I would concentrate right now is not overall tests scores but specific topics you have trouble with. Good luck all.

OMG, you scared me to death! I’m still struggling with many readings and have not really mastered any of them.