I failed miserably. It was just ugly, and now I’m depressed, I’ve read all the books and should have done a lot better, but this is crap. Now what the hell do I do? Anyone ever recover from a haymaker like I got today?
Don’t worry about it, I think my first test was around 40%, now im mid 70’s. The questions are all asking the same grouping of concepts so the more and more you take questions the better you get at them. What I did was aim identify the areas I was weakest in according to the mock test, then I drilled hard on those areas with Qbank. The next mock I aimed for a 5 - 10% increase. Rinse and repeat. After you reach about 65% or so it becomes very incremental and a 2- 4% is more realistic. Keep at it, you still have 45 days left of revision.
I think cfacowtown is right on the money. Its just the grouping of concepts that you’ll start getting, more n more you take these tests. I would have gone for schweser test if that was first one. But good you at least got an idea how does CFAi questions look like. Make sure you drill those weak ones from the test and make it worth. Don’t let it lose from here my friend.
I took the same CFA test two weeks ago and scored a 50%. I was mad b/c I thought after 6 months I should have done better. Like cfatown said, I have been hammering out Q bank questions and I am feeling a little better now. I am planning another simulated test this weekend, and I am definitely looking for an improvement.
I think CFA sample exam really helps me a lot. It identify your weakest parts, so you can foucs on it. Read the book again. pioritize your time according to the weight of questions in the exam… eg. FSA is a big one, then Ethic, etc… you still have lots of time and believe yourself.
Agree… I took my first CFAI sample three weeks ago and scored mid 60’s. Took one again last week after doing 600 Qbank questions in between and learning the stuff I wasn’t sure on and got over 70 so I was pretty pleased. I’ve heard the book 6 Schweser mocks are pretty tough. I’m going to take one on May 3rd. Has anyone taken one of these yet?
soddy1979 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > > I’ve heard the book 6 Schweser mocks are pretty > tough. I’m going to take one on May 3rd. Has > anyone taken one of these yet? Book 6 - u mean Vol 1? I will be taking that one in mid-may
The general consensus is that the Schweser mocks are moderately harder than what the CFAI offers. I haven’t taken a mock exam yet and do not plan to do so until mid May. I’ve done a lot of Q-Bank and am hoping to score >65 the first time around.
CFAI v/s Schwser: I will be completing the curriculum in the next 3-4 days. I have been doing the Practice Qs from both CFAI and Schweser after every Reading…AND, it takes me quite a lot of time to do the CFAI Practice Qs (sometimes a whole day) versus the Schweser Qs, which has taken me sometimes MINUTES to complete. My conclusion: Yes, you do feel ‘great’ when you do the Schweser Qs but that ‘feel good’ feeling is deceptive…the Schweser Qs are easy, I feel and NOT a good practice for the REAL EXAM!!! It is better to FAIL doing TOUGH Questions than Pass with 80% doing comparatively easy Qs. (I have only done the ‘after’ Reading Schweser Questions - havent tried the QBank so far)
dbfinley: I am pretty certain that your concentration was not 100% when you attempted the Free 60Qs. It is not only about the knowledge we have gained but the state of mind we r in when doing these tests. Get a good nite sleep, have a cold shower in the morning, followed by a nice hot cup of tea AND then attempt…you will come out with flying colors.
I took 4 3-hour Schweser Practice Exams (Exam 1 AM & PM, Exam 2 AM & PM from Vol 1). My scores are: Exam 1 AM - 64% Exam 1 PM - 73% Exam 2 AM - 73% Exam 2 PM - 75% I could not spend more than 10 hours a week last couple of weeks due to some deadlines at work. I plan to spend more time in May for review and will be happy if I can keep 75% with rest of the practice exams.
70% on the 60 question sample, I have completed the 6 exams in Schweser book 1 with a range of 68-84% and a mean of 74%…having failed band 9 in Dec, I would like to have a little more in reserve…it really seems hard to progress from here.
perdition, could I ask what do you think on the reason of failure in Dec? I need improve too, but haven’t finish the readings yet…
hard to say…I started 9 weeks before the exam and only used CFA material…that may have been a mistake?..Also I did find the whole exam experience quite daunting as it has been some time since I have sat 2 x 3 hour exams, i wasn’t that confident I would pass and even now although my scores are fine at this stage, I realise anything could happen on the day…I have come to the conclusion that subject matter aside, there are other things to consider when sitting these exams.
with only 9 weeks of study, that too using CFAI text, and getting Band 9 is pretty impressive in my view. For me 9 weeks would just not be enough, I wont even attempt. I have been studying for the last 4 mnths, and only now have I completed the curriculum,revisions start soon.
What do you guys think about the Qbank questions?? It seeems the only way i Understand the concepts is by doing questions. Do you think these questions are worth it??
Having taken the Sample (not mock), Schweser tests ( several ), and also qbank (countless), I can say with certainty that the order of difficulty (as confirmed prior) is Schweser>Sample>Qbank, with Qbank being particularly easy. I still think Qbank is great and i credit it for helping me drill in the material, but the questions are typically more “tricky”, same principle just not straight forward. Although I said Schweser>Sample, i do feel the sample was very close to the difficulty of the schweser, the questions were more tricky I would say, but less computational and time consuming. But some of them were *very* tricky. I got a 70% and I felt like I was getting beaten up throughout the entire exam.
Hey guys, I am taking the practice exams from Schweser 2008 (4 multiple choice answers versus 3) and the mocks available through the CFAI, do you guys think that it will be detrimental for me to use the Schweser 2008 books? I have supplemented my readings with the CFAI text. I am done with the readings and scoring in the mid 60’s (just started review last week). Should I be worried regarding the 2008 books and whether or not they will suffice? Thanks!
Actually, it will probably be beneficial. If you can do well with 4 questions, you should do at least as well with 3. Plus, i have both books, and it seems like they pretty much just removed one answer in the 2009 version, and left everything else the same. Honestly it kind of pissed me off since i spent good money for a “new” test book. The only benefit to 2009 is the answers in detail are actually in the back rather than only online.
L2 Candidate hear. Don’t worry about failing these things. Just try to get an idea of (a) how the CFAI words the test questions and (b) what your weakest areas are. FYI - I failed every practice exam I’ve taken from the CFAI.