Topher, can you or somebody else describe or talk about the “luck factor” that I have heard many L2 takers reference in their posts. For example, does the luck factor relate to portions of the core material that were not tested on exam day (hence you wasted countless hours studying something that was not tested)? Or does the luck factor relate to non-core material that you glossed over in the readings that ended up being tested on exam day? My fear on this exam is that I will miss something small in the readings that will show up as 6 questions on exam day. For L1, if you miss a small topic, you know it will only cost you 1 or 2 points max out of 250. For L2, there are only 120 questions…
was it john dyson that said anyone become an expert in anything in 6 months. level 2 in 4-5 months is more than doable (not that ive sat the exam)
thommo77 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Topher, can you or somebody else describe or talk > about the “luck factor” that I have heard many L2 > takers reference in their posts. For example, > does the luck factor relate to portions of the > core material that were not tested on exam day > (hence you wasted countless hours studying > something that was not tested)? Or does the luck > factor relate to non-core material that you > glossed over in the readings that ended up being > tested on exam day? > > My fear on this exam is that I will miss something > small in the readings that will show up as 6 > questions on exam day. For L1, if you miss a > small topic, you know it will only cost you 1 or 2 > points max out of 250. For L2, there are only 120 > questions… Yes, to both of your questions. Let’s see. Have you started studying? There was not a single question on multinational FSA on the test in June 2009. This is core material. Alternative Investments? All private equity, no hedge funds, no real estate, etc. This is core material that was not tested. Do you know the 2/3 rule? I sure as hell do. But you better watch how they word the damn question b/c they will give you 2 plausible #'s, but only one works depending on how you word the question… This is BS minutiae. Trust me. The list goes on and on and on. Here’s a little more discussion on this luck factor. http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?12,1054104,page=1
Topher - cheers for the link - interesting discussion. What was the R squared question they are talking about? Can you remember?
They gave a R^2 value - the equation had a negative slope. They asked for the R. Many of us selected the +ve square root. But because the slope of the regression line was -ve - the Correlation should have been the negative number. And believe it or not … this was Q1 in the AM Session. (ignoring the Ethics which was all greek, latin and flying foreign language). You could not have hoped for a worse start…
^Oh yeah! I remember! Dude, I put the positive number. All the practice exams trained you for this. And cpk123 is the L2 master. Unfortunately he failed. How? Bad luck. Period.
dont keep your hopes up Thommo, the same question wont come up in June.
yeah I know…I was curious on that particular question as I just read that chapter in the book…have you started studying yet wake? I started slowly last week
thommo77 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > yeah I know…I was curious on that particular > question as I just read that chapter in the > book…have you started studying yet wake? I > started slowly last week nope, Band 10 fail dude, join the gang of failures. Will start in Feb or March.
Not sure I would call it a luck factor (maybe volatility factor?) but that is just semantics. Fact is there is probably going to be one large topic that does not get tested at all, and then a seemingly small topic that gets heavier testing. But, you know this going in. They just cannot test every single topic in the curriculum in 120 questions and if they only tested the big stuff that is all anyone would read. So, best chance is to know everything as best you can. Don’t try and game it. You may have to make some strategic decisions during the last several weeks, but be smart about them. You know the test is mostly conceptual, so if it comes down to learning a formula or learning a concept - focus on the concept.
hi guys, I also took L1 in Dec, feel somewhat confident i passed it, but who really knows for sure? Anyway, I know we’ve talked about people who don’t have a finance background. I’ve got a strong accounting background, with a working knowledge of finance. Do you think 4 months would be enough time for me? Stuff I struggled a bit with was some of the statistics/probability