I scored 70% on the ELAN online Mock exam. I scored a little lower on ethics than I usually do, and got killed on corporate finance which I think is one of the easier topics. Which ELAN mock are you referring to? 70% on the online ELAN mock placed me in the 72nd percentile. What do you guys think my chances of passing the exam are in the 72nd percentile?
spunk-- sounds like you’re in good shape. I’d bet money on you. I have to imagine the people taking the Elan online mock are a higher caliber candidate. Anyone else rate Elan mock exams relative to CFAI? I purchased a package with 3 mock exams from Elan… about to dive into those this week.
Do you guys think Elan is more difficult than schweser? If I score 70% on schweser, are you going to bet any money on me at all?
i have done the first 2 Elan mocks and the CFA one. I definitely found the CFA one a lot harder, my score was reasonably similar but i felt like there was way more questions that I was unsure on. This might be partly because i was used to the Elan question phrasing, and was also more nervous taking the CFA mock. I can’t compare elan and schweser as I haven’t used their stuff. spunk – I agree with busterbluth, i think you’re sorted, just focus on the areas that you were weaker on and keep revising. kak1978 – you’ve still got time to improve your marks but you’re going to need to hit the books pretty hard, i think. Work out whether it’s your understanding of the topics that’s letting you down, or your retention of the material. if it’s the understanding, you’re going to need to go right back through the notes (whatever ones you’re using) until you understand the concepts. Post questions on here and I’m sure people will try to help. For retention, try flash cards, i find them very helpful. good luck!
I am going to be crazy now, my fist half of 2010 CFAI mock today is scored 65%. CFAI is much tougher, too many tricky questions. especaily FSA, cor finance. (I was scored 59% FSA, 40% Cor fin) Everybody, as Anish recommened, try CFAI asap. according to me, during our review we should focus more on EOC, CFA sample. I just think, what if i cannot get above 70% of FSA?, how many chances remain?
vnnvnn - I also have just completed the first half of the CFAI mock and scored about where you did. My worst score was in corporate finance, where I got 40% as well. But unlike you, I felt a bit encouraged by my score. Maybe I’m deluding myself but I hope not. I’ve been doing mainly Schweser q-bank before this and scoring much worse on their practice quizzes and such. I feel like I can burn hard on my weak areas from this CFA mock and have at least a vague hope of passing the real exam. One thing I was very encouraged about was my speed on the CFA mock. Schweser questions have been much slower-going for me.
@Kiakaha- Thanks for the inputs. I have been reading mainly the CFA curriculum, and I think the retention issue has been the problem. I will move to Elan guides for the review. How much have you scored on your Elan and CFA mocks?
Also, in my opinion, FRA is best done from CFAI book especially SS8 and SS9. For everything else (except Ethics of course), one can rely on providers.
I don’t agree with Anish. I think providers(especially schweser) do a pretty good job of summing everything up in simple language while not letting you bogged down with the details. I finished FRA from CFAI book, completed EOCQs and finished Schweser notes twice. The only reason why I am not able to score 100% on FRA is because of the retention issue. It’s hard for me to remember the cash inflow/outflow table, treatment of various securities and of course lease and taxes. Basics I score pretty well. In fact, ethics also I find better in schweser.
I found Elan to be more difficult. Prior to scoring 70% on ELAN yesterday I had taken 3 Schweser exams and scored 70 on them all. However, I took the Schweser mocks 2-3 weeks ago and have improved since then. In my opinion the ELAN mock was clearly more difficult than the Schweser mocks, but, that’s probably how it should be for me considering I used Schweser study materials. The phrasing of the questions was very different. I recommend you allow yourself time to take an ELAN and CFAI mock to gain exposure to as many different styles as possible. Also, thanks everyone for the reassurance.
just curious, when you are taking mocks, do you “cheat” at all by looking at formulas you haven’t completely memorized yet? i’ve completed the first 2 elan mocks now w/notecards for the formulas i didn’t know and scored 73% and 81%. while i’m sure this was good practice, i don’t know if it gives me a good indication of how i am progressing. on the 2nd mock, i went back through and marked some questions wrong that i actually got right but had to use the notecards for a formula. i really wanted to have all formulas memorized before taking the cfa mock which i plan to do either this coming weekend or the next.
No I do not cheat. I actually don’t review anything before I take mock exams because I think that gives me the best representation of what I know completely, which then tells me where I need to improve. Mock exams provide reassurance with good scores, but to me, the main use of the mock exam is to evaluate where I’m at. Before the real exam I will review the Schweser Secret Sauce partially to warm up, and partially to refresh. Hopefully it will be worth a point or two.
sgupta0827 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don’t agree with Anish. I think > providers(especially schweser) do a pretty good > job of summing everything up in simple language > while not letting you bogged down with the > details. I finished FRA from CFAI book, completed > EOCQs and finished Schweser notes twice. The only > reason why I am not able to score 100% on FRA is > because of the retention issue. It’s hard for me > to remember the cash inflow/outflow table, > treatment of various securities and of course > lease and taxes. Basics I score pretty well. In > fact, ethics also I find better in schweser. You may agree with me after taking the free CFA Mock :)… Anyway, as I pointed out, it is only my opinion. And no I don’t cheat either. On my off day, I get up in the morning, freshen up, eat and take the test with a one hour break in between for lunch between the two sessions. Then I check my answers, get a score and am done for the day. Then it takes me two days to review all incorrect answers. Except for the fact that there are 1000s of concepts and only 240 get tested in any mock, I think mocks represent the preparation level well !!!
Hi guys, I’m a french guy and enrolled for the June session. I did the Mock 2010 last week : 72.5% in the morning and 67.5% in the afternoon. A lot of Ethics wrong answers. I’m practicing on Schweser Practice Vol. 1 (my scores are around 70% and 80%) and I would like to know if you think this practice exam is representative of the real exam ? On Thursday, I will take the Mock 2011. Thanks, Cheers.
disiz64 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi guys, > > I’m a french guy and enrolled for the June > session. > > I did the Mock 2010 last week : 72.5% in the > morning and 67.5% in the afternoon. > > A lot of Ethics wrong answers. > > I’m practicing on Schweser Practice Vol. 1 (my > scores are around 70% and 80%) and I would like to > know if you think this practice exam is > representative of the real exam ? > > On Thursday, I will take the Mock 2011. > > Thanks, > > Cheers. I think you are through buddy if you just keep the tempo up for the next 26 days!
Normally I do the mocks as I would do in the exam, completing everything on time, marking left out questions randomly(Just for my satisfaction, I have a record of scoring the total of 0 marks in the questions marked randomly, whenever and in whichever exam, although probability rule supports the odds of 33% in favor but in my case, odds are always against me), monitoring the time, leaving the lengthy and time consuming questions; and marking them with the wild guess, not taking any restrooms breaks whatsoever even if I feel the urge of going(This is very important if you are not used to of this lengthy exam), with full concentration for three hours, and most importantly without cheating. With cheating, you will not only loose the opportunity to memorize the formulas but also get a false confidence of inflated scores. And, if you think you will be able to memorize formulas before the exams, you might but you are very likely to forget – or atleast confused about – few formulas in the real exam so consider that as a realistic scenario.
@Anish…I am scared now 
Although my opinion may be biased, because, as I said I had completed ethics and FRA from CFAI first so probably not feeling the hardship as other are who are only preparing using notes. I follow the same schedule as yours, except I try to at least go through the questions I got correct as well. I am not sure if this is the right approach as I am loosing the opportunity of reviewing the Qbank question by spending so much time on Mocks.
People who are taking free Elan mock exam, are you guys taking it online? Does it have just 120 question test or full exam with morning and afternoon sessions, having 120 questions each? I got a link but not sure what all it has. How about CFAI sample test. That again looks like a online exam portal. Is that any good? How many questions are there? Is it only for getting used to the format or really worth spending time on it?
I heard someone talking about practicing on CFAI mock exams from previous years. Does that sound like a good idea? Obviously some/most of the concepts and questions would be relevant, but I’m not sure that would be something I would consider-- especially since I don’t think you are supposed to access those mocks if you were not registered at that time.
If you’re scoring in the 70’s on those mock exams and taking them honestly you will almost certainly pass on exam day assuming you dont stop studying completely now and drink yourself silly until exam day. For level 1, because of the number of questions and the non-item set format, you do not need a huge margin of safety. You can expect a pretty normal distribution of questions from the curriculum which you will consistently score.