The anxious retaker

It’s my first time retaking an exam. I feel like I’m losing it again. Anybody else just like me. I can’t keep patience and things go wrong.

Don’t be anxious.

Be eager.

Plan to show 'em your stuff!

Best of luck!

u have an edge. you put in more hours. you have already experienced it before.

go get em

I am a retaker and am guaranteed to do no worse than last year, since 1) I plan to show up on Saturday and 2) I got a band 1. So hey, at least I’ve got that going for me. :wink:

How much preparation did you do last year to get a band 1, just out of curiousity? I always wondered what that takes at this level.

Reading about retakers always make me nervous. Before I took level 2, there was one guy on these forums who was retaking for his 6th time. He always freaked me out.

is he retaking for his 7th time this year…?

Thanks guys.

@pupdawg: yeah I saw tat band 1 while I was going through the results thread for motivation.

All the best everyone. Lets hope it’s just water cooler and general discussions where we post after August.

More pressure on us, but also much more likely we succeed. The pass rate is only about 50%, meaning that on avg everyone fails once and passes the 2nd time. You’re much better prepared than you were last time. My friend who is taking for first time just texted me that he just realized the mock exams don’t include morning section questions, so he’s just starting to look at old exams. I was in a similar boat last time I took. Most retakers have been looking through old exams for most of May.

did you draw patterns on the PM section ala Beavis and Butthead?

Well, I thought I had put in a good amount of preparation for L3 when I took it the first time last year. Didn’t keep track of hours, but felt I had a decent grasp of the material. Started early, took the 3-day Schweser review, even took two weeks off work beforehand. But obviously I hadn’t prepared seriously enough. Definitely did not expect a band 1, was pretty shocked actually…all the more so since I left the exam room feeling for sure I hadn’t bombed. Alas…

I put it down to 1) being unfamiliar with how to take the AM section and 2) simply not having prepared thoroughly enough. No excuses on my part. However, I also was probably really unlucky with my guessing as well. Lady luck can be a huge factor in these exams, or at least for the multiple-choice parts.

From what I have read on this board, the bands are narrower for L3 compared to L2 and L1, so a band 1 may not be so far away from a band 5-7…and the difference between and pass and a band 7 can be only several questions. So I need to take two leaps forward on Saturday and hope for a forgiving curve.

So again, after having gotten a band 1 last year I’ve got nothing to lose by taking the exam again this year. Showing up will be a small victory in itself … I know two people in my department who flaked out and won’t be taking L3 on Saturday even though they registered. Worst case is I have to take it again next year…and will be all the more prepared. You only fail a CFA exam when you fail to register.

gotcha. good luck man.

yea its true bands are narrower possibly.

Haha, this makes me really nervous.

I’ve been studying at a steady pace, did well (>70%'s) on the mock exams and 73% on a graded 7-City Mock Exam (morning and afternoon)- feeling really good, excited, relaxed…and then I just took the CFA Institute Sample Exam (the $40 one) and BOMBED it completely (~53%)- missed every stupid ethics ?, and stuggled through some other sections that I thought I was strong in. I found the sample to be much more tricky and now my anxiety level is way up again. If the test is like the sample then I have zero shot. I’m just hoping it’s closer to the mocks…

Yeah didn’t take the sample this year out of fear of spooking myself out of sitting for the exam, though mocks not encouraging either- I’m back at the familiar 58 - 60% for PMs and not even finishing the AMs. The AMs I find I blank out more the more I do and the more time I waste But if I can help you folks out Sat by sitting and failing well so be it good luck all esp the retakers

Thats very kind of you thinking about other in this harsh time. Pass mark is maybe 65% on the lvl3, so you never know, if you get in with nothing to lose and no stress, you may actually do much better than you think.

good luck

Thats very kind of you thinking about other in this harsh time. Pass mark is maybe 65% on the lvl3, so you never know, if you get in with nothing to lose and no stress, you may actually do much better than you think.

good luck

I definitely have nothing to lose tomorrow and everything to gain. Stress level is easily the lowest of any of the tests I’ve taken (tomorrow is #5). Just going to show up, roll the dice and hope luck is on my side.

Yep,I feel the same way. I could easily pass or fail depending on what they overweight and just how unlucky I get.

Seems like I outperform the index with trivia and concepts and underperform with calculations. Makes sense considering my non-math background and love of history and lit/philiosophy.

My ideal test will be light on calculations and heavy on theory and trivia. I know you guys probably dont feel the same way.