The exam is 2 weeks from Saturday. I was once known on the forum as dd2cfa and now I’m my current handle. For those of you who have followed my progress, what should I be doing now to slam dunk this exam? I’ve gone through nearly every LOS on Qbank but still feel very green with some topics. I have yet to take a CFAI sample/mock or Schweser Vol 1 exam since I am still tying up loose ends, though the kick in the a$$ may do me well. Please advise, the rubber hit the road tonight and I’m starting to panic!
start taking practice exams. i didnt think i was ready a couple of weeks ago, but surprised myself by scoring in the upper 70s… it will help you focus your efforts on your weak areas.
QuantJock_MBA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The exam is 2 weeks from Saturday. > > I was once known on the forum as dd2cfa and now > I’m my current handle. For those of you who have > followed my progress, what should I be doing now > to slam dunk this exam? > > I’ve gone through nearly every LOS on Qbank but > still feel very green with some topics. I have > yet to take a CFAI sample/mock or Schweser Vol 1 > exam since I am still tying up loose ends, though > the kick in the a$$ may do me well. > > Please advise, the rubber hit the road tonight and > I’m starting to panic! Haven’t taken any mocks/samples either. I’ve been working on 1-12 pretty extensively and am confident that I can really hammer it home in two weeks. 13-18 is still under review. I’ll be finished with that by the end of tomorrow and then its just practice exams like willispierre said. You have to follow through on reviewing the weak parts of those tests. If not, you’re going to keep making the same mistakes over and over. I’ll probably take 1st Stalla mock on Tuesday.
Agreed… it’s time to see what you know so you can plan from there. Unfortunately time is short so you need to be strategic about using what time is left, and put your efforts where they’ll add the most value. If you’re not passing the big three (FSA, equity, and ethics) those should be the priority but after that it just depends on where you think you can improve the most the fastest.
About Ethics, FSA, and Equity: so true, Aimee. That’s why I spent so much time over the last month on the curriculum through the equity sections (1-12). I just hope I’m giving myself enough time to hit the main points on the rest.
Ethics - I took Level 1 for the second time in Dec and Level 1 of the CAIA in March. I’ve probably read the handbook 8x in the last year. Should be a nonissue getting >70 FSA - Just reviewed the past two days. I feel better about it but SS7 gives me a bit of trouble. The CFAI could be really mean with that SS. Equity - Reviewed it first, now I will refresh it this weekend. I am also not working, so 10-15 hr days cramming is normal for me.
Start doing the tests, don’t worry about the scores. Look at your mistakes, see if it was a silly mistake or your understanding of concept was wrong. You may want to go back to the chapter and read that part then solve some Qbank on that part to make sure you nailed it. Whatever scores you get don’t compare them on this board…People here are putting in rediculous scores… Just take as many tests as possible, and improve your weak areas. Period. No need to panic at all… You are working hard ! Your hard work will be rewarded.
Mock exam wise, I have only worked through maybe 30% of Book 7 so far. (I never intend to go through the whole Book 7 anyways.) I did finish almost all of CFAI text questions and about 25% of Q-Bank (with 79% cumulative average). I am aiming to cover another 10-15% on Q-Bank (but no more than 50% since Q-Bank recycles too much) before moving onto Book 6 and CFAI mock. Since I am a repeater, I already have experience with the real exam (I know how to pace myself, which sections to work on first, how to read vignettes, etc). So I think I will only do one full mock exam and then just keep crunching on my weak areas with Book 6 and CFAI mocks until D-Day. I really don’t weight the mock exam results that seriously because I know in the end the real deal will be different and it’s the relative performance to other candidates that count. So once I feel I am confident to beat 6 out of 10 candidates on the exam, I think I will be ready for Normandy.
two weeks does mean we’re getting down to crunch time, but if you can truly learn a couple of concepts each day, then two weeks is alot of time to boost a score from, say 60s to 70s. Then you get a promotion to the LIII AF forum. Good luck!
Thanks everyone. I have the worst anxiety for things like this. I can never stay calm no matter how prepared I am.
Damn ya’ll its 1 AM and and still awake?!
west coast. 10:00pm here.
12 PM