How did the CFA® go for you today?

To the estimated 40% who took the test Saturday and will get a passing score: congrats! To the ~60% who won't... better luck next time (or is there anyone out there giving up?).  

For all who took it, what are your thoughts? Any surprises / tips you can pass on to future test takers? 

 

LII taker here. First half 5050, was pretty brutal, just really strange stuff. Second half 5151, wasn't that bad a lot of easy calcs and gimme answers. Hopefully I did well enough on the second half to counteract the first one.

 

L3 here

I always heard L2 was the hard one. BS. L3 is definitely harder, but I believe I pushed past 70% and should secure a pass. After suffering through this, I'm much more biased in hiring people in the program.

 

Random observation

At my testing center (a large city area) it was about 60-70% occupied from the start. I have been doing the CFA dance for (ahem ahem) some time now and this was the emptiness I have seen it.

I asked one of the proctors and she said a lot of people did not show up. She even said there was one summer test where over half the names did not show up.

This testing center was also much smaller than the last center.

 

Level 1 taker. Didn't study much, and feel like my scores are kinda a coin flip at this point. Definitely was harder than I thought, Since I am free to express "negative opinions" of the CFA Institute, I will say they are tricky bastards in respect to the problems on the test.

"Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true. But many other things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly—and repetition has been accepted as a substitute for evidence." - Thomas Sowell
 

Oh, on tips for future takers: practice problems and practice exams, especially, are key. I took 7 practice exams, but my instructor at NYSSA recommends 8 to 12. I think the vignette style, and digging through the information, takes more getting used to than most would think. It also prepares you for the "tricks" that force you to do a problem you haven't quite seen before. It's about knowing the material to the point that you are flexible with what you can work with.

You should be done with the books and a first go at all the end of chapter problems by April 15th. After that should be all practice problems with one exam a weekend for level 2. The books are just to review parts you aren't getting on practice exams at that point.

But we'll see if I should be giving any advice in a couple months. I think I passed, but I doubt it was by a huge margin...

 

CFA Level 1

Everyone does the same CFA EXAM right? I thought it was much easier than the mocks provided by the CFA and Schweser. I actually was surprised how the ethics question were really short and not the same type of long "scenario" questions presented on the Schwesers.

AM: I Finished early but guessed on a couple of questions

PM: Harder than the AM exam but i thought it was ok compared to the mocks.

 
VitaminX:
CFA Level 1

Everyone does the same CFA EXAM right? I thought it was much easier than the mocks provided by the CFA and Schweser. I actually was surprised how the ethics question were really short and not the same type of long "scenario" questions presented on the Schwesers.

AM: I Finished early but guessed on a couple of questions

PM: Harder than the AM exam but i thought it was ok compared to the mocks.

I took level 1 also and I completely agree with this. Also I was surprised with the questions they choose for QM.

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"
 
onedumbmonkey:
VitaminX:
CFA Level 1

Everyone does the same CFA EXAM right? I thought it was much easier than the mocks provided by the CFA and Schweser. I actually was surprised how the ethics question were really short and not the same type of long "scenario" questions presented on the Schwesers.

AM: I Finished early but guessed on a couple of questions

PM: Harder than the AM exam but i thought it was ok compared to the mocks.

I took level 1 also and I completely agree with this. Also I was surprised with the questions they choose for QM.

Felt exactly same way. Confident I passed. I was pleasantly surprised by the short questions on ethics, but econ was much tougher than I had seen before.
 
VitaminX:
CFA Level 1

Everyone does the same CFA EXAM right? I thought it was much easier than the mocks provided by the CFA and Schweser. I actually was surprised how the ethics question were really short and not the same type of long "scenario" questions presented on the Schwesers.

Charterholder here:

The schwesers at all levels will have vignettes that are a gazillion times longer than what you'll actually find on the CFA. As you go through each level, you'll notice that the ethics questions are really all the same and can be found in the guidebook.

The CFA exam really tests your knowledge though and is super specific about what they are looking for. Level II was hard, but level III gave me nightmares especially when it came to the written sections.

Good luck to everyone and if you don't pass, do lots and lots of practice exams. Leading up to the exams, I probably did about 10 practices each time which I think was the key to passing for me.

 

I agree with the majority on here. Level 1: Morning was pretty confident and the Afternoon hit me with a few surprises but I think just done enough. I can't bear the thought of going through that again for December! Please god no!

Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful..
 
Best Response
AndyLouis:
Funkfreed:
The worst part of this exam, from experience, is that 8 week wait
8 weeks to get your results??
yeah, usually by end of july/early august for the june exams... level III is a slightly longer wait as the format is different.

Tips for test takers...

I just took the level II exam.

Know the material / body of knowledge (i.e. the whole point of the programme). If you know the concepts really well you will be prepared for questions regardless of whether you've seen that specific type or not. It's not like the GMAT where they try to trick you puzzle style. You have to cover the material before you get to the stage where you are practising test taking / memorising all formulae. This is important when you go to the next level because some topics are cumulative in level II (i.e you need to have a good base from level I).

Also make sure that you've covered all of the topics and are not completely clueless in blocks because they're less than 10-15% of the exam. I found the "secret sauce" books from Schweser useful go over periodically as they're basically short 180-200 page overview books that cover the majority of the key topic points and formulae. I read the Sauce several times in the month leading up to the exam. Helpful for identifying areas where I didn't know the material as well as I had thought or formulae that I had forgotten.

 

L2: AM Not good I think I may get around 55% PM Excellent I may get 80 % or more I think my final score may be around 67% Since I read on multiple forums that you need 70% to pass .... I may stand a chance

 

L2

AM: Did really well. PM: Did well, but not quite as good as AM. I think I was mentally fatigued by the end after all the studying leading up to the day, and then spending the whole day in a warehouse with people taking the damn thing.

Overall, I think I passed.

After going through the experience of L1 and L2, I would recommend to studiers that they take practice tests early, but not often. Practice tests are good psychologically in preparing you for the day and providing instant gratification from seeing the score. When you do one early, it gives you an idea of which areas you need to focus on. Ultimately, doing problems that you already know how to do (on average makes up 60% of the practice exams) is a complete waste of time. Focus on the areas where you know you are weakest. You will know exactly what those are after a couple of practice tests.

Once you've identified the weakest areas, go back to the book (curriculum not Schweser) and do the end of chapter questions. Some of them are better than others, but they are generally ordered and structured to provide you a real review from start to finish of all the important issues that showed up in the chapter in a logical way. This is something you just don't get from practicing multiple choice questions. If the EOCQ don't quite do it for you, then go back to the text and start writing down your own notes.

 
buybuybuy:
L2

AM: Did really well. PM: Did well, but not quite as good as AM. I think I was mentally fatigued by the end after all the studying leading up to the day, and then spending the whole day in a warehouse with people taking the damn thing.

Overall, I think I passed.

After going through the experience of L1 and L2, I would recommend to studiers that they take practice tests early, but not often. Practice tests are good psychologically in preparing you for the day and providing instant gratification from seeing the score. When you do one early, it gives you an idea of which areas you need to focus on. Ultimately, doing problems that you already know how to do (on average makes up 60% of the practice exams) is a complete waste of time. Focus on the areas where you know you are weakest. You will know exactly what those are after a couple of practice tests.

Once you've identified the weakest areas, go back to the book (curriculum not Schweser) and do the end of chapter questions. Some of them are better than others, but they are generally ordered and structured to provide you a real review from start to finish of all the important issues that showed up in the chapter in a logical way. This is something you just don't get from practicing multiple choice questions. If the EOCQ don't quite do it for you, then go back to the text and start writing down your own notes.

Without giving too much away, but I'm guessing you had opposite sections than what I had. Did your first half end with an alternatives vignette? If so yeah, that half was blissfully not that tough.

 
FutureBanker09:
buybuybuy:
L2

AM: Did really well. PM: Did well, but not quite as good as AM. I think I was mentally fatigued by the end after all the studying leading up to the day, and then spending the whole day in a warehouse with people taking the damn thing.

Overall, I think I passed.

After going through the experience of L1 and L2, I would recommend to studiers that they take practice tests early, but not often. Practice tests are good psychologically in preparing you for the day and providing instant gratification from seeing the score. When you do one early, it gives you an idea of which areas you need to focus on. Ultimately, doing problems that you already know how to do (on average makes up 60% of the practice exams) is a complete waste of time. Focus on the areas where you know you are weakest. You will know exactly what those are after a couple of practice tests.

Once you've identified the weakest areas, go back to the book (curriculum not Schweser) and do the end of chapter questions. Some of them are better than others, but they are generally ordered and structured to provide you a real review from start to finish of all the important issues that showed up in the chapter in a logical way. This is something you just don't get from practicing multiple choice questions. If the EOCQ don't quite do it for you, then go back to the text and start writing down your own notes.

Without giving too much away, but I'm guessing you had opposite sections than what I had. Did your first half end with an alternatives vignette? If so yeah, that half was blissfully not that tough.

My understanding is that to maintain security of the questions all of the AM tests are the same, but the vignettes are in different orders depending on form. Likewise for the PM.

I tend to concentrate my studying on topics that are useful in my job or just stuff that I find interesting. I also have an undergrad finance background. So "easy" for me might not have been "easy" for you and vice-versa. In general, PM seemed a bit harder for me in terms of familiarity and trickiness of the questions. But again, that might just be the fatigue kicking in by the end of the day.

 

Took the L1 earlier today. I think it was, in hindsight, a pretty bad idea to take this up the same time as a couple of my toughest classes, both of which I have my finals for in another couple of days.

I guess I'll be retaking it with approximately 60% of you in December :\ Or perhaps not bothering at all. I feel like if I really put in the effort and actually did some practice papers, it would certainly be pass-able - it doesn't seem impossible to do like some PhD Bioengineering course, or something. However, I figure that if I have to work hard to even get through L1, then L2 and L3 are going to be far worse, and the reward may not be worth the time and effort required to get through it.

Any thoughts from charterholders about whether it's been worth it?

 

Level 2 candidate here. Like some others who posted here, First paper was a killer, second was much better, so its like 50:50, but seeing how many here have the same perception as me, then most likely the passing mark may be raised to make it more exclusive for people to pass. sigh I may fail then.

as for whether CFA is worth it? I think it is very important if you have no relevant experience. E.g. you are a fresh grad and your last internship was in something irrelevant etc. It will be very helpful in getting your first job. Passing the CFA level 1 in your resume sends signals, even if you are aiming something not relevant, like Sales & Trading.

However once you get the job, you will be judged on your relevant experience then. E.g. you have been trading FX for the last 3-5 years, when you apply for a senior FX position at another firm, they are not going to care whether you have the CFA or not. They will most likely care whether you can be plugged into the job right away and start trading for them.

That being said, there are some jobs that a CFA will be helpful like Portfolio Management and Equity Research but I think majority of the candidates are not taking the exams for the sole purpose of applying for these jobs.

 

Took L3 yesterday: it seemed to go pretty well. There were still some questions that I had no clue on, but you're only shooting for >70% on this, so a few of those are ok. I'm really hoping for a pass, because I can't imaging starting over again with the same materials next year.

Agree with buybuybuy that lots of practice tests is the best way to prepare for the exam. Especially for L2 and L3, you get used to reading through the question vignettes and picking out what's likely to be asked in the follow up questions.

 

Took L2 yesterday.

The most challenging aspect of the test, as it should be, is the energy draining. I sat next to a guy who declared he was just going to go home and drink and pass out. Of course, he was dressed very relaxed - sports slippers, bermuda shorts, and polo shirt. He also planned to play 18 holes the next day. I made a comment about the golf score and approximate CFA score being roughly the same.

The funniest thing was the sheer number of people who bring 8-10 pencils... like they literally bought a pack of pencils at Staples the night before. Meanwhile, grizzled and disgruntled veterans bring 2 pencils (or pens) and a frown or scowl. I met a girl who was taking L3 and, while trying to chat her up before the PM session, I saw that she was looked at me with a piercing stink eye as if I was somehow taking up valuable brain processing speed.

Also, while I was putting away some stuff before PM session, I noticed a pile of 10 or so cell phones that were confiscated from people who "accidentally" brought them into the test room. So please, people, don't bring cell phones in. The proctors take this seriously.

"All I've ever wanted was an honest week's pay for an honest day's work."
 

Not many L3'ers here, mostly L1 and L2 folks. The best advice I can say is: It gets harder with each level, so think hard about what it is you want to accomplish with this. Don't blindly go down this path because other people are, or you just want collect the charter like a baseball card, because it's a massive sacrifice of time and energy. If it's ER or PM, you're seeking, you are in the right place. Otherwise, there are probably better uses of your time, and a lot of what you are learning in these books are irrelevant.

The old saying that L2 is the hardest isn't so true anymore (it was true years ago until they upped the difficulty on L3). L1 is a sad joke in comparison of difficulty to the next 2 levels, so don't underestimate it.

 

L3 here...made some careless mistakes in PM....morning, well...I thought it was fair, but then I freaked out when I realized with 5 min left I missed a page...i wrote down some stuff to get partial credit (and I KNEW the material, too)...now I'm thinking I might've missed other questions.. if i didn't miss anymore questions (i dont think I did) then I think I passed.

L2 is not the hardest...L3 is!!! the material in L2 might be a bit more quantitative, but L3 is definitely the hardest EXAM...hopefully this is the last time I'll have to deal with the CFA exans

 

Took L3 yesterday - AM session was Ok but tricky due to timing. First 1/3 seemed easy and straightforward, middle 1/3 was harder, slowed me down. And the final 1/3 was all about timing - they placed derivatives questions with calculations in the very end, which was the most painful part of the exam for me (I knew the stuff, but had to do all the calculations really fast). PM section seemed a lot easier just because it's multiple choice - went through everything in two hours and the last hour checked my answers and made guesses on questions I did not know. Overall, I guess I should be Ok, but not 100% sure. From my perspective, L2 is still the hardest in terms of the material covered. L3 seems harder because first half you have to write answers (takes time, not sure when you wrote enough, no opportunity to guess on questions you don't know)

 

haha! The 10+ pencil guys are the best... so many of these guys. I asked one if he had enough and he replied with the usual "better safe than sorry"... it was his 2nd attempt at his level; if you're that paranoid about the test you shouldn't be failing in the first place...

I noticed that there were no good looking girls at my test centre... not even mildly attractive ones. It's strange as I actually know a couple good looking girls who have the charter.

 
Relinquis:
I noticed that there were no good looking girls at my test centre... not even mildly attractive ones. It's strange as I actually know a couple good looking girls who have the charter.
I've seen some REALLY cute girls carrying around the CFAI or Schweser books and not just finance cute too. I was too shocked to strike up a conversation.
 
whatwhatwhat:
Relinquis:
I noticed that there were no good looking girls at my test centre... not even mildly attractive ones. It's strange as I actually know a couple good looking girls who have the charter.
I've seen some REALLY cute girls carrying around the CFAI or Schweser books and not just finance cute too. I was too shocked to strike up a conversation.

I was actually pretty shocked how many babes were writing in Vancouver.

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
 

Took Level I yesterday.

Thought both AM and PM were very straightforward. Took me 1.5 hours to do both which gave me lots of time to review. There was only one question in the AM where I had absolutely no idea what to do.

My tip for any future test taker is to do a literal fuck ton of practice questions. I felt concerned going into the exam but I remembered every formula because they had been ingrained in my brain after doing them for 5ish months.

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
 
jmayhem:
Took Level I yesterday.

Thought both AM and PM were very straightforward. Took me 1.5 hours to do both which gave me lots of time to review. There was only one question in the AM where I had absolutely no idea what to do.

My tip for any future test taker is to do a literal fuck ton of practice questions. I felt concerned going into the exam but I remembered every formula because they had been ingrained in my brain after doing them for 5ish months.

True, I've found that 905 kg of literal fuck just doesn't cut it.

 

CFA I

I thought the afternoon session was easier, finished it with 30min left. I finished the morning session with about 10 minutes.

I did 4 practice exams and a ton of Schweser QBank quizzes.

I would say with the exception of econ and quant, the practice exams were more difficult.

How the hell did you crank through each session in 90 minutes? No one in my test room finished that quick- first person was done with probably 50 minutes to spare

 

Sat for Level 2. Thought it was pretty damn challenging. I don't know what my hour count was, maybe 225-250 studying, and there was a lot of stuff I simply just forgot or didn't know how to do.

I think it's 50/50 whether I passed or not, leaning more so towards fail. I may retake it one more time, but if I get a good job out of my MSF program I will probably not continue with it unless I passed Level 2.

My name is Nicky, but you can call me Dre.
 

Took Level 1. Felt great about the AM. PM was a little harder at first but I feel pretty good about that too. I know it's been said before but overall it was an extremely fair test and I felt really well prepared by doing most of the QBank. I didn't have time to do some of the smaller QBank sections and those were the exact questions that I was unsure about.

So my recommendations to someone taking the test are to get through the material as quick as possible, just getting the major points down at first. Then you start by taking 1-2 practice exams and reviewing the material that you got wrong. From there, try to do the entire QBank, as this is how I really learned the material cold. If you do this then I would be surprised if you didn't pass.

 

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I was taught that the human brain was the crowning glory of evolution so far, but I think it's a very poor scheme for survival.
 

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