Hi All, I am registered for the exam since Feb. But due to personal commitments I was not able to study as I would have liked to. I don’t think I can pass the exam and I am not shooting for it either. But I am definitely going to appear for the exam on Jun 7 , 2008. What is the best way I can make most use of the next 15 days or sitting in exam? Thanks, ag.
Sharpen as many pencils as you possibly can and buy at least 2 extra batteries for your BAII Plus. Other than that I’d recommend searching for the “terminator post”.
how well did you do on level 1 and when did you take it…
goel_ar Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What is the best way I can make most use of the > next 15 days or sitting in exam? Become religious and find God!
Whatever you do make sure you write it and just bubble all the answers, even if you bomb it, you will help us out by bringing down the curve…thanks bud Now, if you want to maybe have a slight chance…get yourself the secret sauce and read through it, then read the sections in the book that you do not understand from secret sauce, learn the schweser quick sheet inside out and hammer at practice exams.
Pretty good. 70% on all except equity & AI.
then forget about ethics, do a quick review on Quant (regression stuff)…spend 2 days on a quick read of benefits, translation and remeasurement, spend a day on equity valuation, and a day on portfolio management…review bonds, swaps, and options, and start taking practice exams and see whether you can figure out anything from there.
game plan: spend 10 days on equity and fsa. Nail it. Then spend the last three days skimming through secret sauce for other areas, spend 2 days on practice exam and go for it.
but sit and write the whole exam - worse case its good practice for 2009 and best case, you pass 
Thanks for pointers…
Ok, I get mad when guys think they can pass it in 2 weeks, but you seem to have a pretty realistic view of your scenario, so here’s some quick pointers. You mentioned you just want to make the most of it in the likely event that you don’t pass. In my mind, if I was in your shoes and wanted to use it to gain experience, get my feet wet for next year, I would do the following: 1) Read Secret Sauce and know it pretty extensively. I wouldn’t bother with the books because honestly I don’t think you have enough time to really benefit from diving into the books and you will most likely just drive yourself crazy and stress yourself out over something you have like a 5% chance of passing, not worth it if you ask me. Knowing the sauce well however, will help you realize what’s being asked and how it fits into the material and at least allow you to make educated guesses. 2) Focus on remembering what areas are hit hard with questions, the format, and what’s being asked, this way next year you will be able to keep this in mind to guide your studies. I don’t know how this falls under the rules, but you might even want to take vague notes on the topics covered and any thoughts you had during the break and after the exam, again, I don’t know if there’s any stance on this so I’m not suggesting, I’m just mentioning a hypothetical, although I think its ok as long as your not copying down exact questions. 3) If Karma comes back to get me for a laundry list of items its apparently been saving for a rainy day and I fail while you pass, you MUST make it up to me by taking me to Vegas or Atlantic City as you may be the rain man. 4) Be sure to fill in your test completely and at least guess on each question so that you factor into the curve.
Spend some time going through ethics now and a day or so before the exam as well. If it sticks in your head and u nail it, that’s a free 10%. (easier said than done)
I am going to be a bit more optimistic than some of the repliers here, namely because I do not know your prior educational background or experience in this material. For example, there are certain topics in the curriculum that I will have to spend much less time upon than others because of what I have studied in my undergraduate and graduate careers. The best course of action for you right now is to get all of the Schweser notes, read the summary power point slides, and answer questions in the books as well as the Q Bank CDs.
get secret sauce and try to understand what is in it, try doing some practice questions
straight up bro, im not the one to sugar coat anything unless ur 1) the luckyest guy in the world 2) some majic finance genious who should be awarded a nobel prize 3) down rite smart uve got a very tough tast ahead of u. level 2 is a killer. if ur gonna sit, be optimistic, think u’ll pass but dont expect a miracle… id understand the xam as much as possible and then attack hard next year
Thanks aladak… But I don’t know how you got the impression that I am looking to pass the exam. From my first post in thread – "I don’t think I can pass the exam and I am not shooting for it either. But I am definitely going to appear for the exam on Jun 7 , 2008. ".
Goel, Don’t write off the exam either. Try your best (with the secret sauce, with the QBANK) to pass this test.
I’ve seen people pull it off. Give it a shot. You can also spend a day with the Schweser videos, make notes and then race through the topics you think you will struggle with the most. That way you get everything up to at least 50% and with some focus on your strong areas you may get there.
i don’t see myself passing either–so take my advice for what it’s worth–but i see no reason why you can’t read fsa/quant/equity/derivatives/ethics in that period of time. for LI, i read all of the schweser notes in the last week or two, and while the LI was much easer, my tactic at least got me to this level.