I have CFAI essay mocks going back to 2010 and multiple choice mocks from CFAI EOC, CFAI candidate resources, Kaplan mocks, etc. so I think I’ll be okay as far as mocks are concerned (starting mocks in a couple weeks most likely).
However, I did want to get some consensus on if people were planning on doing the essay portions provided in the Kaplan mocks.
I’ve heard countless times that they’re really not that great (ipso facto, you should only focus on what CFAI provides you with), and besides I didn’t find the Kaplan short answer EOC very helpful at all (really just found myself writing verbatim what was mentioned in the curriculum and that no thought had to be put in (which by the way, is a very bad habit for L3 prep)).
Therefore I think I am just going to skip these completely since I feel my time prepping for the essays will be much better spent focusing on CFAI-provided materials. Thoughts?
Yes skip the exams prepared by “experts” who spend thousands (even millions) of dollars doing research on the test.
I am doing CFAI, finquiz and Schweser exams so that A. I am familiar with my material and B. I am able to answer questions regardless of where they are coming from. Also btw, the cfa mocks are not prepared by the same people as those who write the exam.
Even if you think schweser is not asking you the same questions as the exam (noone is going to), it is will be worth practicing your writing skills and your understanding of the material. Just my humble opinion.
I completely agree with you. I have started CFAI mocks and they are completely different than actual CFAI exams. Schwesers exams are more for testing knowlege and practice. For the IPS questions, some are good and some are not so good, but practice is always good.
Definitely taking your points into consideration, but just to clarify - when I say “CFAI mocks” I mean the old CFA essays actually tested on previous exams (i.e. on the CFAI website - link below). I still think focusing on these is more important if you don’t have the time to do it all.
Btw, just to update everyone I decided to suck it up and complete every (all 6) Kaplan mock exams, essays included. I found the multiple choice to be more helpful than the essays (as expected, but may be a bit biased, however).
Also ended up doing all CFA Institute online multiple choice questions and every EOC question from the CFAI curriculum books - both extremely helpful.
From now until exam day I will be reviewing once more / going over formulas, and most importantly doing my official CFAI mock exams / prior year exams (essay questions) - probably 1 to 1.5 full ones a day.
