I was VERY disappointed in the difficulty of the practice exams in Book 6 & 7. The actual test is usually EASIER than the Schweser practice exams. Not this year - morning section was more difficult than Schweser. IMHO. Not sure I passed and not sure I would use Schweser again. I usually feel over-prepared using their materials. Anyone else? Did anyone take the CFAI practice exam? How did that rank???
I used Schweser 100% and I can’t lay any blame on them if I failed. I felt all those questions were answerable if I had enough time and knew the material better.
i thought the cfai ones were harder than the actual too. schweser was much harder. i chose to ignore any schweser question that a) made me list 50 things or b) had insane calculations. turned out that was a good strategy.,
I think Schweser was closer to the tested material this year than 2007. You must realize when you use condensed material though that you are going to end up short somewhere. It would have very easy to pass using on Schweser this year, but I used both.
Cannot lay the blame on Schweser BUT I was disappointed in the difficulty of the practice exams after the fact. I do not feel they prepared me properly for the scope and time restraints of the test. Problem 1 on the actual was insane! Nothing like that in Schweser!
I think the Schweser practice exams were representtive of the actual test in terms of difficulty. A huge factor in the real exam is the way the exam book is setup. You have to flip back and forth between the case and the answer sheets. When doing Scheweser practice tests, you can put your answers on a note pad and have the case open at all times. Flipping back and forth is a huge time burner. Once you fall behind on exam day, you panick and cannot recover.
Schweser practice exams >= real thing??? I was making 75 to 85 on Schweser but feel I really may have failed.
i agree with L2 Candidate. the format of the morning session was a definite curveball. flipping all around, and watching the minutes pass was stressful. however, i think schweser did a fairly good job of preparation.
To be honest, I feel Schweser’s practice exams are more representative of the LOS than the actual exam this year. I understand most people feel the PM session was easy, but I just can’t say the same. Some of the topics tested was a bit off the radar IMO so everything was quite vague. Probably it’s jut me. I never feel confident before or after sitting the exam (no matter which level I sit). I did feel Schweser covers the bases quite well.