You can know with 100% certainty what the answer is, just not the context of what the question is actually asking. That’s what makes this test so F_ing hard… I knew 90% of what CFAI was testing on, but a good number of the problems that I think I got wrong were do to my rushed or incomplete interpretation of what was being asked. I think that is what pisses a lot of people off. A portion of your success will always come down to how good of a test taker you are.
Don’t forget, there are alot of repeat candidates on here from last year. They experienced what happened on results release day last August. There were a number of very shocked people that thought they killed it and didn’t. Then there were people like me who were borderline and very surprised they did so well. Enjoy your summer guys. It’s out of your hands now. Best of luck, and for those that get to Level 3 there’s something called Behavioral Finance. You’ll find alot of interesting reading there that will pertain to many of the situations on this board.
Mandlebrot passed. Dinesh, Niblita and Black Swan all passed as well but for some reason have chosen to be big girls’ blouses.
In my opinion (not that anyone probably cares about it), you really had to THINK in this exam. It was, to a certain point and ignoring straight out formula questions, useless to memorize things and blindly start the process if X is this, then y is that, and z must be this. So in that respect, the test was very different from Schweser, where you nailed all practice exams if you knew or had memorized the material. To an extent, even the CFAI sample online exams and mocks were not this demanding in terms of applying knowlege intelligently. If that’s what is expected from a CFA charterholder, and we know it’s not a charter they give out just like that, then I think I/we have to accept that. I know that if I failed, it was because I could not take the next step in “understanding” concepts, which (if you are honest to yourself) often means also being able to apply it in unusual, different or vague contexts, which you may never have seen before. THAT is what you will face in your professional life as a charterholder. To that extent then, I think it’s a fair exam. Just to give a few examples: RI question with no NI or RoE-r simply given, key rate duration question, some derivatives questions on hedges, Economics questions with products likely to be imported…and probably a lot more which I can’t remember right now. I agree, sometimes it’s very “borderline” unfair such as PM (my opinion), but you could make a point that it was just very challenging. In the end, those questions will make the difference between passing and not, because the other ones you could get right with discipline and hard work. But the charter demands “more” than that, and I am by no means saying that I passed.
ladies and gentleman, you all need to relax. did you have to study last night? no? so why the problem? i am a repeater and was no where near to passing and guessed/ran out of time/just plainly fuked up. just deal with it. enjoy your summer. i worked hard, well i thought i worked hard but actually i just covered the material thought i could rely on memory and understanding. i will probably get <50% on quite a few and last year got 3 sections incl FSA > 70%. i am having a year off from exams. do a post mortem on it what went well, how you coped with certian areas, bla, bla, bla but dont kill yourself. you simply cannot remember everything from saturday. you grasp onto what you think you know. wait for the result and just deal with it in august. pass, fabulous your onto the final leg. fail, then yes, a bitter pill to swallow and only you can decide whether its worth the effort again or whether those 3 letters actually get you somewhere. i have read so much drivel on here…have you got cancer or someone close to you is hurt? no. so why moan so much. yes CFA is important to you and we have all sacrificed, but honestly, some of you need to grow up.
Right. Accept it, analyze it, if fail, analyze again, decide for yourself if you will do it again given your own personal constraints. Sounds like an optmizer problem haha