Just wanted to gather a few opinions,
If i am scoring 85% on Shcweser mocks with 70% on CFAI mocks and am feeling major burnout, is it safe to stop studying now and just do 2 hours per day review of note cards tomorrow and friday.
I feel so burnt out i’m gonna puke if i do another question or review any more sections.
I’m trying to gather the spirit to do 20-30 EOC questions that i marked as redoos for the third time.
Honestly, I’m a firm believer that you can’t really accomplish that much in the last few days by cramming in any more info. I think getting your mind/body in relaxed, rested, and confident state is the best thing you can do at this point. I plan to review my homemade formula sheet, maybe breeze through some ethics so it will be fresh, and watch some MLB for the next couple of nights. This may not be the case for everyone, but I feel like my brain needs to decompress a little bit before the exam or none of the material is readily accessible when exam time comes.
I’m feeling the same way. Just doing a final run-through of all material. Only have FRA left which I’m doing tonight/tomorrow night and a quick derivatives review on Friday (1 hour?) so that some of the steps in the formulas are fresh in my head.
Not really learning anything new to be honest, just trying to keep on top of things.
totally agree with this. unless there’s a section you’ve neglected and know you can pick up some points on, focus on being confident and reinforcing what you already know (flash cards).
Lol… @Straightjacket, I wonder if I got up in my sleep, sleepwalked to the computer, made another account, and wrote that post. Perhaps you are my alter ego.
I am averaging exactly 85.5% on Schweser mocks in volume 1, and exactly 70% on the CFAI 2012 mock. You know those guys who are like “omg 1 week to the exam, let’s get motivated and study really hard!!!” I was at that point 6 weeks to the exam, and I went on a tear until just a few days ago when I crashed hard, major burnout. I took a couple days off (as in, zero studying), then starting reviewing 1 practice exam a day that I had already done, and even that required me to “gather some spirit”. So, I am definitely taking it easy. I haven’t even touched volume 2 of the Schweser exams, and I only plan on doing 1 more half-exam later today, and that’s it. I’ll review that exam after, and not study at all after that.
The way I see it, the marginal value of doing 1 or 2 more practice exams is waaaaaaaayyy lower than the value of me being bright eyed and bushy tailed (i.e. well rested, energetic, and not burned out) on exam day. If I’m burned out on exam day, all the shit that I already know is going to waste. The half-exam that I’m about to do isn’t even primarily for content review or practice writing exams. It is so I do not get rusty.
Keep pushing you’re really close to the end. 70% is good, but you have to figure 10% of the actual test (2 vignettes) are going to be complete left field questions that you’ll be lucky to get 20% on. That means you’re gonna need 75% on the rest to secure a pass. So until you get that 75 barrier keep charging!
I will be the odd man out and disagree here. I do not think you should rock an all-nighter the day before the exam but retention is highest the week before. For L1 some stuff I learned (aka memorized) the day before were tested. So it helped. L2 is less memorization but in the mock’s clearly they are throwing some random phrases out there that are not true “core” concepts: VIE, “pastor-stombaugh”, engle granger, etc.
Not knowing these words, even though you know the concepts can lead you to miss 3-5 questions easily and that 3-4% is a big difference if you are in the low to mid-60s.
There are no diminishing returns in knowledge gains.
Im with Andy on this one… A lot of the questions are on obscure corners of the curriculum that your brain will easily forget if you haven’t gone through the material in a while. I am bashing through the schweser videos on subjects that I feel a little weaker on just to refresh my memory on some of the more obscure stuff.
I just finished PM of CFAI 2012 Mock this afternoon… I have done 3 Schweser exams and the 2011 and 2012 CFAI mocks and scored very well on all of them, so now Im debating if I want to try the 2010 CFAI mock or study up on my week subjects/memorize the more obscure formulas (for some reason I keep forgetting any formula with continuous compounding involved; it’s like my brain refuses to accept continuous compounding).
My plan for friday is to listen to the ethics videos (the audio part of it that I recorded to a USB drive and play in my car) while I’m driving up to the test location (2 hours drive) followed by watching the schweser videos on Quant (very weak on Quant) once I get there. Then a quick bash through the formula sheet. Hoping to be in bed by 9-9:30PM and go to go for Saturday.
I see what andy is saying but honestly, the marginal return from “possibly” hitting a remote concept before the exam is probably less than the mental hygiene gain that i would get from not studying.
I would gamble getting a few extra percentage points at the risk of having a mental block on important concepts. I take confort in the fact that CFAI mandate is to test the actual LOS even if they do throw a few curveballs.
I’m going to relax until the exam having at least 350 hours under my belt and a good memory of most stuff even the remote stuff.
God, i know obscure equity risk premiums by heart, the difference btw FFM and paster strambaugh + a bunch of other irrelevant things such as the Fed model and tobin’s q hahah.
I think i’m going crazy
miss cleo, lucky to get 20% on a 1 out 3 question? go read your QM level zero, lol.
sample size is only 12.
that’s not enough to apply the law of large numbers. therefore she is correct 
Relax when the test over…and Friday to assure enough sleep. You have time to memorize equations, review major concepts, etc. Every point helps.
What about going into the test relaxed?
Is that not worth more than an extra 2-4% from more knowledge when you could give up 5-10% on miscalculation or wrong interpretation of ratios?
SDevine… How are you going to watch MLB (most boring sport on the planet with the exception of cricket) when there are NBA semifinals and NHL stanley cup playoffs on? whats wrong with you?
Lest run a regression !!!
Agree with you man. Im planning to spend some time reviewing my notes and questions i usually go wrong with. No more schweser or EOC/Mocks.
I’m going hard till about 5:00PM on Friday. (Schweser Book 1&2 - anywhere between 72-78…usually go 1 for 6 on a case and my score gets destroyed) - CFA 2012 Mock - 74) Why stop now? One extra concept could mean the difference between a pass/fail. I would take the rest of the night off and hit it hard tomorrow.
Two more days, give it everything you got. I will be sure to sleep good Thursday and Friday night though…
Best of luck everyone.
Math is hard.
Good luck guys. I think I’ve reached my saturation point. I re-read Elan Guides for FRA, Equity, Quants, Portfolio Management and Fixed Income over the last week. I don’t think there’s any LOS that I haven’t covered, so Saturday will just be a matter of putting it all together.
I’m counting the number of hours until exam time, so my focus now is just getting enough rest! Good luck again!
Haha yeah I hear you. The NHL is great, but I can’t force myself to care about the NBA to any degree. I love college basketball but no NBA for me. Besides, my goal is to relax and get a good night sleep, what could be better than a 3-hour baseball game that ends 1-0 to put you to bed. But honestly I’ve always been a baseball guy (played in the ACC in college) and still love to watch it.