Ah, everyone loves CFA® exam time and we're definitely getting to crunch time. For those of you taking the test, you're sitting in one of two categories: taking an exam level for the first time, or taking an exam level for the second, third, fourth, etc. time. I've come to notice that much of the study advice floating around the internet is tailored for those attempting one of the levels for the first time. Very little of it is tailored for those retaking a level. This, to me, is rather strange seeing how pass rates are now trending to be under 50% for all three levels. So, here's what's been working for me as I study hard for level 2.... ugh, again.
- Reading First is for Suckers: I tried to read through the books when I first got them and every few seconds I'd look down confidently and say, "Totally got it! I'm a goddamn genius!" and flip to the next page like some CFA® BSD. In retrospect, this was a ridiculous position to take and my first practice exam showed as much. I didn't really "know" what I was looking at, it merely looked familiar because it was. So, I stopped trying to read each section and instead, I started outlining them, hitting practice problems, and filling in the missing pieces of information from the questions I missed (or, accidentally guessed correctly).
- Don't Give Up on Schweser/Elan/Whatever: Okay, so last time you studied from one of the prep companies and you failed. Many people will say something along the lines of, "I studied from Schweser and failed, then I studied from the CFA®I books and passed. Obviously, CFA®I is vastly superior." I'm not saying that Schweser or whomever is superior to the CFAI, but this is faulty logic. Unlike the first time around, the second time (or later), you're coming in with a base of information to work from that didn't exist previously. So, you're basically handicapping the quality of the CFAI material. That being said, what I'm getting at here is don't throw the baby out with the bath water. The prep companies have plenty of good practice questions and practice exams that shouldn't be discounted.
- Practice, Practice, Practice: The reason why someone failed an exam is probably very simple: they didn't know the answers to the questions. Now, this doesn't mean they didn't know the answers to anything, just that they didn't know the answers to what was being tested. A nice way of looking at this is that they didn't get lucky on test day with what was asked. How does this happen? Easy, you didn't practice the problems that the CFA®I evenutally decided to test you on. This time around, make sure you've seen and successfully answered a question corresponding to each and every LOS.
What do you monkeys think? Have any other advice?
Good luck to everyone on exam day; it'll come up faster than you want.
I've always done 1. Get way too bored by just reading. Need to be actively doing something. It does open you up to gaps in knowledge if you don't find a question that hits the gap, hence you never find the gap.
So much of this.
Helps also if you actively think about subjects and quiz yourself on certain specifications. If you can't answer it, study it.
I took and passed L1 in 2007. Recently I decided that I'm going to sit for L2 in June 2015. I was thinking of studying for about 330 hours stretched over about 6 1/2 months. Do you have any advice about how I should approach studying? I work in the industry and I looked at a few practice problems--they look pretty familiar but I'm no doubt ridiculously rusty on the academic stuff.
You'll probably blow your brains out by month 4. If you've been around the industry a while, you won't know everything in the CFA material, but you'll be familiar with some stuff. I wouldn't put more than 5 months into studying, but that's just me.
I'm only sitting L1 this June, but sometimes I feel that real life (practical) and CFA (theory) conflict a little on things that make it a bit confusing at times.
Does anyone have an explanation for the high failure rate? I'm just a naive university student that hasn't so much as looked at a question but my thinking the source of difficulty is managing time rather than question difficulty.. as in it's more the amount of questions that gets people than anything else.
Or is it because any business major can and does attempt it and they don't have the background/intelligence to deal with the questions?
For Level 1, I would say you have a lot of people who: 1. Do not necessarily have a finance background and want to give the CFA program a shot. 2. Underestimate how broad the curriculum is. 3. Make common test-taking mistakes (time management, etc.)
For levels beyond that, I would say it's just a lot of material to remember and you have to concentrate on more heavily-weighted topics, avoid common mistakes, etc. Keep in mind that the pass rates for each level are very similar, so when you get to Levels 2 and 3, you have intelligent people (at least they were able to make it through the previous exam(s)) with backgrounds in the industry who are still unable to pass the exams on the first try.
I've thought about this a lot. I have several theories:
1) It isn't that expensive, so people will sign up because they feel extra ambitious on some day in December and then they won't study until two weeks out. 2) Many employers will pay for the exam and study material for new analysts. There is really no good reason not to sign up, even if you don't plan on studying very much (you get four extra vacation days at my firm). A lot of people who are in this situation treat the level 1 like a college test and have little chance of passing. 3) As a subset of 2, a lot of 1st year analysts who sign up simply don't have time to study given their notoriously heavy workloads. 3) The test can be taken in many different countries and is touted as an international designation, but as far as I know, it is only administered in English. Not sure how much this plays into the passing rate, but you would think it would be more difficult if English is your second language given the wordiness of many of the problems.
That being said, the level 1 isn't really that difficult if you put in a reasonable amount of studying or learned a lot of the material in college and a lot of people are able to get to the level 2 without trying very hard. The problem is that the level 1 material is the foundation for the level 2 material and the people that learned just enough to get by for the level 1 are at a big disadvantage. Further, they think that they can put in the same amount of effort as they did for the level 1 and still pass. This is not the case and these are the people that are probably driving the pass rate down.
Not sure why people fail the level 3, but I've heard that a lot of people mess up the time aspect of it (spend too much time on a single essay question).
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