CFA Level 1 Topic Tests
To all the monkeys who have passed their CFA level 1, what is the difficulty of the topic tests offered on the CFAI's website compared to the actual test?
I wasn't aware of the topic tests at first and just discovered them after finishing the equity section. I got decent grades on the EOC questions, usually 70+, and do very well on the quizzes I create using the Schweser Qbank, always 80+. I was very confident and comfortable with the equity portion until coming across the topic tests and after taking it (57%) am now very discouraged and am thinking maybe I'm not prepared enough in the other sections I've already finished (Quant, FRA, Econ).
Have others who have already passed L1 come across this too, and for those who are writing in December, have you found the topic tests to be significantly more difficult than the EOCs and whatever Qbank you may be using?
The topic tests are similar to the CFA exam. Some harder, some easier, but in general they are reflective of the exam/material. I used them heavily for Level I, and did each one multiple times until I got them all correct. I definitely recommend doing all of them.
IMO, the only things that compare to the actual exam are the CFAI + Schweser mock exams. Everything else is baloney, especially section-tests and Q-banks.
I thought the topic tests were much harder than the actual exam. I'd focus more on blueboxes and EOCs. Also don't worry too much, I found both lvl 1 and 2 exams pretty easy as long as you didn't slack off too much.
CFA institute practice tests and schweser mocks are all you need.
How in-depth accounting/finance classes do you think you need to get up to speed by the time you dive into the CFA stuff.
Congrats on passing lv 1 btw.
If you don't have an acct/ finance background I would put in 400-500 hours of studying rather than the recommended 200-300, I have an MSF and finance/econ bachelors and idk how people without finance backgrounds pass the test tbh. Kudos to them I guess. To be fair though, I likely put in 150-200 myself due to my credentials.
Appreciate everyones feedback. The Qbank questions are definitely a little easy but I think they are good at drilling the concepts. I do like the blue boxes and I plan on doing mock exams after I complete all of the sections hopefully in the beginning of November as I'd like to have a full month of review.
The questions on the CFAI website are usually harder than on the exam. It sounds like you're in pretty good shape at this stage. This isn't advice a lot of people will give you, but in the interest of time mgmt, don't be afraid to punt some topics entirely. You can afford to do so with the way the exam is weighted.
I don't plan on punting on any section however I skimmed through the Econ section because I was a econ/finance dual major but I plan on reviewing that just as much as the others come November. I'm definitely trying to focus most on FRA, ethics, FI and Equity though. Thanks for the advice though and congrats on passing level 1 which it seems you did.
I love when kids put 'Level 1 CFA candidate' on their resumes. My thought is, all this means is that you have a thousand dollars, wait, no it means you HAD a thousand dollars.
At least they're trying? lol what else are they going to do. I think most college students have a shit ton of free time unless they're an athlete, and I mean a real athlete like D1.
On one hand, I agree, rather have a keener that's trying than someone doing nothing to improve their skills.
On the other hand, the number of people I know that signed up and never wrote it, or personal favourite, realised that going back for the second half was a waste of time*, just says that signing up for the test has little / no value on its own.
*Colleague that had been too busy to study (but wasn't worried because he's super smart and never had to study in university) showed up for the AM session. By lunch realised how fucked he was, so didn't go back for the afternoon session, and instead found a patio to drink beers on.
Lol, I think it'd take balls to put level 1 candidate on your resume. However, given that I pass, I'm hoping level 2 candidate would add a few points to my resume.
Go for it. Honestly, it's really just a matter of putting in the hours for level 1. Level 2 is another beast from what I've heard.
70% is good on the mocks.
80% is better.
If you're getting 85% or better you are set.
But, the test is in december, its a bit early no?
Also, the most important thing with mock tests is to identify weak areas and then strengthen weak areas by going over concepts and content if needed.
Thank you for your input Isaiah. I haven't done any mocks yet, my strategy has been to watch Mark Meldrum videos for each topic then at the end of each reading I do the EOCs and then watch Marks review video. Then I go and do some of the blue boxes within the reading and then set up at 25-50 question quiz for that reading using my schweser Qbank. At the end of the entire topic I use the Qbank to create multiple quizzes to reinforce the entire topic. I just recently discovered the Topic Tests on the CFAI website and only have done the Equity one which I found to be a lot harder than the EOCs and Qbank questions. I plan on starting mocks in November which will be my review month.
For every level, I bombed the topic tests...and passed the exam. I remind you of the time constraints. There is simply not enough time to solve these very involved questions.
Quickly get through the material and work some question banks. You're going to do great.
There is more than enough time in the exam to solve all the questions. If you struggled to solve the questions in the time allotted your grasp of the material was not up to snuff.
I scored 70%+ on every single topic. The topic tests are not exam quality. They are far beyond.
I do not miss that, dieing a little inside thinking about the hours I spent on those damn tests.
Two tips that worked for me:
Flash cards: I had a long commute, so I studied on the train every day. I bought a huge pack of cards and made a few hundred flash cards, every major term, list of terms, formula etc. could stand on the train and go through flash cards until it was clean.
Practice Tests: Every Saturday for two months before the test I'd write a practice test, and Sunday I'd go back to first principles on every question I got wrong. There are tons of tests available online for download, or if you go in with a few friends, you can buy the Schweser books, each one has three tests in it, get both and between 3-5 people the price is peanuts.
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