No matter what, just keep going. You never regret trying. But you may regret not trying. Let’s get it.
I also remember you posting last year about how much you busted your ass for Level I, and if I recall correctly you had doubts back then too. Granted, these doubts are a little bit differenct since a lot of your focus is currently directed towards your family, but all in all, you’ve put in the hard work and so much effort that it’d be foolish not to sit.
Just take it, sneak in late if you’re really that concerned about co-workers seeing you. Avoid them at all costs. You can always find a way to say that you either were unable to take it or finished band 9 if you’re truly that concerned about it.
You’ve got this
the company you work sounds like crap if that’s how your boss really is. You can totally tell he’s saying haha just kidding, but you know he’s not totally kidding in how he feels about it.
I once worked for an AM shop where exam results day was a social event. all the analyst and associates ewre basically gathered at the desk and the senior folks (pm’s etc) woudl all crowd around and you were basically pressured into checking your exam results in front of everyone. That totally sucked.
I am an engineer no background whatsoever in finance. I have passed L1 in december, and started studying for L2 in february. That was more of a challenge. I lost 5 kilos, my gf doesn’t recognize me. I smoke 1 pack of cigarettes a day.
It is hard, really hard, and I havent put as much time as you neither read the curriculum. But it is feasible believe me.
You have 4 days left, master the Assessments on the website.
Get your points in the calculations. This is 50% of the exam. For the conceptual questions, the other 50%, I can tell you that you have as much chances of getting 1 out of 3 without knowing anything, just by guessing. The reason is they play on words, so unless you know by heart you have as much chance to miss it (or get it) wether you study or not.
In terms of probability, you are now with 67%. Add up 2-3% for the stress, you are now at 70%. Remove 5-10% for the facts that you might miss calculations questions, you are left between 60-65% (in a wonderful world).
But still, it is feasible my friend. You have the basics because you read the curriculum don’t forget it.
Next week i am stopping smoking, getting back to gym, watching movies everyday and enjoying life !!!
Thanks to all of you for your encouragment - and in particular to breadmaker - but I’m not taking the test. This family emergency is so dramatic and, as a colleague just put it to me, there is big downside to failing given the firm and very limited upside to passing, sadly. I am burned out and heartbroken.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVUr3enK-5k
Have you watched this? Especially the last 5-6 minutes, seems extremely relevant to your situation.
My heart breaks that you’re up having panic attacks over this. This is just an exam. As mentioned, the silver lining in this is that you’ve now learned you work somewhere you probably shouldn’t if it’s causing this much trauma to you. I know it’s easy for us to say “F your job” not being in your shoes, but seriously… f your job (or any job similar to the one itera shared). That sounds like a nightmare and that video covers the d-baggery of some people in this process as well.
I don’t want to sound like a hypocrite because I’ve certainly shared some posts over the past few months expressing some stressful moments regarding this test too, but really we need to put this all in perspective here. If you can lower the amount of pressure you’ve put on yourself you can show up to the exam and perform. And you should show up.
Don’t give up man. Give a try at least to gain some experience .
by the time the results come out… it will be 10 months till the next one
Thank you itera, you are right. It reminds me of the old expression: Many truths pass through smiling lips.
How dreadful they made you open the results in front of other people…
The finance industry really has some true whackjobs working in it…I wonder if it’s really for me at times…
I can’t thank all of you enough for your kind remarks and encouragement.
I have seen a total of 10 episodes of a TV program since September and never gone out to eat or done anything else except work and study because I really wanted to pass Level II the first time. What I now think, in hindsight, is that I overdid and by the time May rolled around, I was totally burned out and certainly not in a stage to be able to handle a significant family emergency.
I have a friend with a Bachelor’s in Engineering, an MBA and a Master’s in Financial Engineering and he got many of the problems wrong on mock exams I got wrong. He found a link saying the real MPS for Level II is somewhere between 58% and 63%. If that is truly the case, I don’t understand why they have to put us through all of this with sometimes impossible questions (questions on the 2015 mock that literally take 10 minutes to calculate - his estimate).
I’ve appealed to s2000 magician to help me going forward because he lives in my area and I am doing something wrong and don’t know what exactly and pray to God he reaches out to help me for next year…I dont understand how, after 9 months of preparation, I can be scoring 50% or 55% on mock exams (other than some of these questions are really absurd).
Thanks again for your support…
If you are in the 50’s you can still pass! Don’t waste this opportunity, you will regret it.
I once ordered grilled chicken at a restaurant when fried chicken was on the menu as well. That was in like… 2004 and I still think about it every night. Learn from my mistake!!!
Thanks for all you have written ltj but the downside of failing at work is simply too great. You know when you are looking at an investment: you want, ideally, unlimited upside and limited downside. Well, here the situation is reversed. I thought one of my ex-colleagues (she was lucky enough to get out) would be really disappointed in me and she said, You made the right decision. The environment is too toxic to risk failing this thing…That told me I’ll have to wait…Anyway, thanks again…If it weren’t for you guys, not sure what I would do. I am just lying in bed, burned out, staring at the wall and analystforum.
wait… this was a joke right? comparing order friend chicken over grilled to taking the CFA exam?? lol
Hey monkeymath –
I’m unsure if anybody has mentioned this to you, it’s a long forum, but is it possible your primary stressor isn’t this test but your job. Between the above-quoted comment from your boss and other comments you made it is possible your working environment could be the source of your anxiety. Don’t get me wrong, the CFA is a tremendous source of stress – I can testify to that – but it seems to me something else is going on. If so, you should work on that because stress is very detrimental to health, and I think I speak for everybody on this forum when I say we want you to be/stay healthy.
As for sitting for the exam or not, hopefully I can speak for this as well. Last year I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to pass either (I passed L1 in December and had to turn around very quickly with a job I worked long hours at as well). Meanwhile, my friend and former college colleague was in the same predicament. Long story short, he stopped studying a month out and didn’t sit - I sat. Needless to say, I failed…and I mean failed.
Moving forward to today, I am glad I did it because I got a feel for the vignette style of the test and the level of difficulty. He didn’t get that. Furthermore, and I know this is subjective, I felt the act of going reaffirmed my committment while he may have waivered. We keep in touch now, but he’s already waivering and probably won’t pass this time either because he just gave up…again. Sometimes passing L2 is a 2-cycle thing that you need to sit one time…who knows.
When I felt I couldn’t pass, what I did was try to learn relationships and qualititative things because I knew I couldn’t learn formulas. I recommend you do that, sit, and take notes on differences between the actual test, your test prep, and CFAI mocks. And who knows, you may pass! But if not, you’ll be better prepared next time. But work on your total stress, because I feel it may be bigger than the test.
hi monkeymath, I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through this. Your boss sounds like a real tool. Is he/she a CFA charterholder, by any chance? Anyway, I came on here to echo everyone’s thoughts above. If nothing else, go for the experience and learn from it, and if you ever decide to give it another shot if you fail, you’ll at least be familiar with the kind of questions they ask. Good luck to you and I’m rooting for you!
I think that AM shop got to you after all. A little too serious there bud.
You people are wonderful. Thank you for all of the kind words. I’m going to sit this test out becuause of the work situation but thanks to all of you, I don’t quite feel so alone in all this. You really have my gratitude. Yes, CFAbeatmeup, the workplace is a HUGE stressor. I am not alone in this. Everyone working at the firm feels like we are in a hellworld and everyone is trying to get out but the external image of the place is very different than the internal one and people looking are confronted with the question: Why would you ever want to leave? Though recently, someone in a different city at a firm I was talking to, said, “I heard your firm is extraordinarly difficult to work for.” I let the comment go but it was validating. And yes, the boss is a CFA charterholder. Passed the first time every time, of course.
ugh. Well I suppose being a CFA chartholder doesn’t stop you from being a huge DB as well.
No it doesn’t aggybail. I’m telling you that the hedge fund world is full of these people. The whole BSD complex…
just fookin go for it bro. I remmeber you from the level i forums. Who gives a crap if you fail- none of this matters in the long run. Time will forget all of us. Just take the exam- you’re more prepared than me.
i don’t have an ounce of fear going into this exam. Why the hell should we? LIfe’s great.
Just sit, and if it’s no fun for you, grab a few beers at halftime and reoup. BTW your co-workers sound like some clowns.
best of luck monkey math, i’ve always liked you
Bro, I pretty much sealed losing my job, pass or fail, by asking for time off to take the exam (out of finance industry, already being viewed as if I have one foot out the door). Time to sack up and pass it. You’re just risking a ‘ding’. If you cant even show up to make an attempt, you might want to look for a professional to deal with your anxiety before you start thinking about next year’s record breaking 1,600 hr attempt.