Does anyone know if the Wiley mocks are an adequate proxy for CFA exam difficulty?
I’ve gone through the Kaplan mocks and I am taking the CFAI mock this Saturday. I would like to fit one more in at some point next week. I am considering purchasing some through Wiley. Comparatively speaking I have read that the Wiley is easier than Kaplan… I am not sure if it is because Kaplan is slightly more difficult than the exam or because Wiley is below par. I appreciate if someone with experience could advise on the matter.
I have done the Wiley mock 1. What I would say is that this is a very difficult mock exam but tests concepts extremely thoroughly. The styling of this mock is not similar to the CFA exam but if you would like to reinforce concepts at this late stage then it may be advisable.
My personal opinion is that this exam may crush your confidence and I would not want anyone to feel that way just a few days before the big day.
I would recommend the IFT collection of 3 mocks which are more indicative of styling of the actual exam (I am a retaker so have first hand experience) - I am also a UK resident and have no affiliation whatsoever with IFT.
No disrespect to Wiley guys, they have an awesome set up and really enjoy their materials but I think you would be better off going with another exam provider.
The Wiley mock was very difficult, it actually has a warning at the beginning letting you know it’s designed to be very difficult and that a score above 65% is a good sign. I thought it was a good proxy for the actual exam.
It does? (@gatorbait85) My personal view following Wiley Mock Exam 1 was how disappointed I was in the number of typing mistakes, given the price, and also the lack of any detailed explanation in the Solutions.
If I got something wrong, I wanted to identify (a) how the correct answer should be found, and (b) why the incorrect answers were not correct. The answers to the CFA Curriculum End-of-Chapter questions often provide both (a) and (b) and are incredibly useful.
And my Wiley mock score was lower than my official CFA Institute mock score. I think Wiley is definitely harder.
Agreed that Wiley mocks were difficult. I’d say they rival the difficulty of CFAI TTs (if not slightly more challenging) and yes there are a lot of typing mistakes and poorly worded questions. While the item sets were challenging, I was really disappointed with the quality of their mocks overall.
I actually switched from Schweser to Wiley to retake L2 and I found Wiley to be much more detailed and cover more topics in depth so you aren’t forced to memorize so much because they teach you the mechanics and how everything all flows together.
That being said, both the A and B mocks and the 11th hour mock were very difficult and I feel they are good proxies for the real exam (perhaps a bit tougher IMHO). Be prepared for the sporadic poorly worded question. The few I saw were a little frustrating.
I’ve been asked this before and I always describe it this way:
Schweser was really good at teaching (and testing) the core parts of the curriculum, but I can’t say the same bout the fringes (which can be the difference between a band 10 L2 failure and a L3 candidate and I say that from experience)
Think of the CFA curriculum like a big piece of paper. Schweser was good with the majority, but it was the corners where I felt they lacked coverage. Wiley was much more comprehensive and I felt they were much better at teaching the corners and testing them.
You’re using them as well so I don’t have to tell you about the hours of video available. A perfect example is a 90ish minute Schweser video on derivatives equates to 4-5 hours worth of videos on Wiley. I get that some people don’t have all the time in the world, but I am retaking L2 and I can say, based on my learning style and opinions, Schweser for geared for the people who are good a memorizing, where Wiley is good for people who like to know how things work and want to know how everything flows together.
