CFA becoming more competitive? Benefits of being above the 90th percentile?

CFA General
#1

Hi.

I was wondering, since this is the first year in which CFAI is giving us our percentile on the exam relative to all other candidates in the world:

  1. Can we conclude that the exam is now becoming more competitive, as the matter is not simply a ‘Pass’ of ‘Did not pass’ anymore?

  2. Will having your score above the 90th percentile bring tangible benefits to your career? (assuming you’re in an industry which respects, recognizes and maybe even requires the CFA designation)

#2

Your first problem is you can’t tell your percentile. If you pass one of the exams in a year with a 53% failure rate, you must have scored at least 54 th percentile. Aside from that, getting anything precise is basically impossible. Add the complexity of three exams, and you can’t do it.

A different percentile , but not the one you are looking for, is less than 20% of the people who start Level 1 pass all 3 exams. About 3-4% of those who start finish in 18 months.

You will see assorted threads on here about whether to put on your resume (if true) that you passed all exams on the first attempt, or did it in 18 months. Lots of people discourage including those details, and say only to discuss if asked.

This is the first year where percentiles have been given on the CFAI mock and practice problems. Don’t think it will apply on the actual exam.

#3

I stand corrected. There are new performance exhibits on the actual exam that include a 90th percentile line, and a 10th percentile line. Since I passed level 3 in June 2017 and didn’t get this kind of summary, it is safe to say this started with the Dec 2017 Level 1 exam.

There is a summary of the current method with sample charts on the CFAI site called Understanding Your Exam Result.

#4

Hi.

Exactly, this started only with the December 2017 results.

Do you think this brings a tangible benefit to a candidate who scored above the 90th percentile?

Thanks

#5

I guess it’s good to the extent that your probability of passing was high, but if anyone mentioned or advertised this achievement, I’d regard them as a huge douche.