Why did CFAI changed exams to 3 multiple choice answers? My thoughts: 1. Demand (enrollment) has dropped so CFAI is making it easier. Pass rate is at historical lows (33-35%). 2. Increased fees for enrollment and exam registration. 3. Depressed market environment for investment professionals (mass lay offs). Yours thoughts?
Mys thoughts are that the change to 3 answer choices wouldn’t change the passing rate because the exam is graded on a curve…
demand has definitely not dropped in fact i’m pretty sure demand has been increasing at an increasing pace it has to do with them figuring out that having a 4th answer is inconsequential when it comes to checking whether or not you know the material
From what I have read enrollment is increasing year over year. On the questions I did not know, I was able to narrow it down to 2 of the answers. There was always 1 which was obviously wrong. Going to 3 answers, they will probably get rid of the answer which is obviously wrong. I forsee the test being more difficult because unless you know the answer all 3 answers may seem correct
Similar topic had been discussed here on AF, when CFAI announced on their website that next year the format will change. I agree with SSS Demand hasn’t dropped - no stats to back that up, only personal observation and there are certain things that exam maker can do to make a 3-choice exam more difficult. First, it is curved, so the passing rate is a relative measurement. If and ONLY if, the exam really tuned out to be easier, you will have to score higher % b/c the average will be higher. Also, for a problem, instead of 2x4 matrix like the following: A - yes, yes B - yes, no C - no, yes D - no, no you might get 3x3 (or 3 x 4) matrix: A - yes, yes, no B - yes, no, yes C - yes, no, no whether they will do it or not, only CFAI knows. But you should not assume that the new format will make it easier.
you might get 3x3 (or 3 x 4) matrix: A - yes, yes, no B - yes, no, yes C - yes, no, no The first element in that matrix is pointless… They’re all yes, you can just ignore that part of the question I think for the yes yes / no no questions they should leave them as 4 choices – it doesn’t take the test makers any effort to put in 4, and makes them decide which one to cut if they have to take one away.
There were not as many two column questions as it appeared to be in the CFAI textbooks. I was quite happy with that. You should know the material well enough to narrow the choices to 2. Thus with 3 answers, you can still narrow it…but have extra ambiguity.
They’re getting too lazy to come up with a 4 choice for 240 questions. Just kidding. So, is that the only thing that’s changing? And is it just for L1?
They changed it to save on paper costs. It’s as simple as that
I think all your points are wrong challenger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Why did CFAI changed exams to 3 multiple choice > answers? My thoughts: > > 1. Demand (enrollment) has dropped so CFAI is > making it easier. Pass rate is at historical lows > (33-35%). Demand has not dropped and moving to 3 answer format does not increase the pass rate > 2. Increased fees for enrollment and exam > registration. Nothing to do with 3 answer format > 3. Depressed market environment for investment > professionals (mass lay offs). Again, this has nothing to do with a 3 answer format > Yours thoughts? Like everybody says, it is being done to eliminate the always obviously wrong answer.
Good idea guys, but the all great answers are very simple. CFAI is just trying to make extra couple of $. Notice how everyone on this board says that they use Schweser or Stalla books exclusively and almost never opens CFAI books. So, they are making providers of other books incur costs to adapt materials to new structure. They already made the first step when they bundled books with registration.
that’s a big load of unsubstantiated bs
It wont make a difference. There’s always one obviously wrong answer and always 2 that are questionable, especially on theory questions. For those that think well it means my guesses have a higher chance of being right, if you’re in that boat where you think guessing could actually make a difference, you probably failed anyway.