Aside from studying more/better, any tips on how to finish it on time, without losing points (getting above 70%)?
I found it helpful to do IPS last and obviously using the bullets, but I am still not sure as to how much is considered enough for some questions when it comes to Explain, Describe etc. command words.
Also, do you tend to read the text slowly first and then do the questions or go straight to the question and refer to the text for the info? I personally tend to lose a lot of time because I rush and start going back and forth for the info. Maybe it makes more sense to calm down and slowly read the text/questions instead of trying to go fast.
I start with the last questions, or easy points i can master them in the beginning and i leave IPS and Institutional at the middle - roughly after one hour when exam starts - its usually dangerous to leave them till the end… And it worked well in the 2014 AM exam
Try to read the question very carefully and don’t try to game the exam or hedge your answers… CFAI knows that you studied the past six months and wants to know how would you apply those concepts
Try to balance- Small points- (minutes) allocate them in the beginning and the end of the exam and heavy points (IPS) in the middle during the exam. I did it in my first mock and scored 67% and then scored above 70% consistently…
The challenge of grading your self is you may think your answer is correct and the grader of the exam may surprise you. I read that many past experience is the score is much lower that they expected, some of them even thought they have nailed the AM session.
What bothers me is that how complete your answer should be? Some says it should be buttet points. But incomplete sentence is hard to convey the reasoning behind it. Grader may think you just throw the keywords in the answer and does not count it as correct answer.
I didn’t finished the Am mock in less than 2.5 hours, but I did got over 70%.
I think the key is to write articulately and concisely. Initially, I felt that I could explain the point better by writing one more line that explained the same point in a better way. I started avoiding repeating myself as I practiced more. Now I only write in bullet points and sentences which are distinctly different than the earlier ones.
I usually finish in ~2.5h. Here’s how I attach every question: 1. Read the question. Underline what is asked and know what you look for. Not only the first one, but also at least the second one. 2. Read the text, scan for all keywords. For IPS, read every word, bc everything is important. For all other questions, scan the text for the important stuff, it’s somewhere at the top for the first question 3. Read the question again to be sure, think, and write down your answer. 4. Go to the second question. you already know what is asked and underlined everything important, so just have a look at the text where you underlined your stuff.
Most important for me: NEVER start reading the text before you know what they want you to write. If you have a long story and you know that they ask for 2 behavioral biases in it, you can write them down while reading it. Would be stupid to read the story before you know what to look for. For all calculation questions, you can scan for numbers and keywords and will not even have to read every word. Big exception is IPS, never skip a word there! What I mostly do with IPS is to calculate Portfolio values and cash flows while reading. Just on the left side things like 100k-25k=75k. When I come back answering the question I can check if I get the same result. That helps me not mixing up numbers or writing down the wrong ones.
Well I would first look at the minutes allocated to the whole question and relax myself and read the question then read through the text. If the question include calculation I would immediately write the formula if possible and read through the text. Leaving IPS. To the end scare me so I would just go in order and any question that will kill me I will skip it and save it for other.
Well I would first look at the minutes allocated to the whole question and relax myself and read the question then read through the text. If the question include calculation I would immediately write the formula if possible and read through the text. Leaving IPS. To the end scare me so I would just go in order and any question that will kill me I will skip it and save it for other.
Well I would first look at the minutes allocated to the whole question and relax myself and read the question then read through the text. If the question include calculation I would immediately write the formula if possible and read through the text. Leaving IPS. To the end scare me so I would just go in order and any question that will kill me I will skip it and save it for other.
First. After 2 hours I will be tired and overlook words, that’s worst for ips. I try to do everything in their order, usually the last questions have few points, would rather miss those…
