What % of questions require calculation?

CFA Level I
#1

Hi What percentage of the CFA level 1 questions do you think require math calculation? And are those questions mostly on bonds, PV- FV, foreign exchange, stats and probability? Am I missing another large area?

#2

I would say about 25% or less, the test is mostly conceptual, the calculations also were not that complicated (Dec 08 exam).

#3

Wow only 25% ???

#4

I doubt…You open any page in FSA randomly and it has a calculation…I actually did that…:frowning: I hope it is as you - less than 25%…

#5

i just took the test in Dec 08 and i would say btwn 15%-20% of the questions required a calculation. it was a very conceptual test. if you prepare using the schweser questions, you will find that the schweser questions make you do way more calculation than you will actually need to.

#6

scottrader Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > i just took the test in Dec 08 and i would say > btwn 15%-20% of the questions required a > calculation. it was a very conceptual test. if > you prepare using the schweser questions, you will > find that the schweser questions make you do way > more calculation than you will actually need to. i sat the dec 08 exam and completely agree with scottrader. probly anywhere from 15-25% of questions required calcs. FURTHER, only 5% required that expensive and complex financial calculator we purchased (a few NPV, venture cap questions, WACCs etc). Nothing in there that necessitates more than 1 or 2 steps from memory. once youve been freaked out by the schweser mocks, you are expecting questions on the exam that ALSO take 3-5 mins each. That is simply not the case. There werent many questions complex enough to take too long. i still recommend the schweser mocks - they are great for testing yourself but its not the end of the world if you dont exceed 70 on them. i was in the low 60s for the first few and higher 60s for the last few and passed the exam with >70 in all but 2 sections.

#7

For L1 calculation questions, is it consistently about 15-25% for all previous L1 test as well? If yes, then we could probably take past test pattern as an indicator for Jun 09 test.

#8

Second the opinions here - leading up to the Dec exam I was aware that the test was less computational than you would expect but I was still surprised to find that probably only 1 in 4 questions (at most) required the calculator. Make sure you can do all the calculations in Qbank and Schweser but don’t get too hung up about it - focus some time on interpretations rather than calculations.