Sitting December exam. So I’ve been studying since June on weekends and 2 weeks I took off work as vacation to study for the exam effectively having now used up my holidays (yippee). I was told to spend November only doing mock exams. This weekend that passed I did the first Schweser mock exam and scored 50% (c.50% in all areas so no weak areas). I felt like killing myself. Given that I only have 3 weekends left and work around 16 hours a day, this leaves me only 6 non-business days to study till exam. This means 3 days mocks and 3 days reviewing those mocks (if I reallllly push then 4).
I know the obvious - to go through answers in detail. My question is given my limited time for study I’ve just explained and my sh*tty score… I really have no chance do I?
And I’m from a finance background too and have given up my life and weekends for the past 6 months - honestly the most useless person. This has to be up there as one of the unhappiest moments of my life.
frankly i think you know the answer, continue to do question and mock as much as possible, during lunch, before sleeping, the weekends etc. no chance for you to dedicate 1h per week day to CFA until the end ?
and please stop being pessimist try your best you dedicated 6 months, everything can happen during the exam day
Don’t get discouraged! Trust your process. Use this healthy fear to ramp up even more in the final weeks. Here are a few thoughts:
The final weeks matter hugely. Short term memory plays a key role. You have to live, breath, dream CFA for the next 3 weeks.
Don’t get cute; go for the kill. If there is an esoteric concept you don’t get, forget it. Focus on those concepts and formulas that pop up over and over again. You don’t get points for style: a right answer is a right answer, whether it was easy or hard.
Do a boatload of practice tests. Actual ones (CFA archives or Kaplan), not the Q Bank. The learning curve there is often “J-shaped”: at first you feel overwhelmed and clueless (I know I did) then things start to click and fall into place. Ideally you want to complete 8-10 practice tests before D Day. Don’t wait until you have the perfect 6 hour stretch of free time. Do a couple of practice tests in bite size chunks - 20 questions on your lunch break, 10 questions on the train - do what you can, when you can, to maximize exposure.
Use practice tests to learn, not to score. The only score that matters is your performance on Dec 3. Everything else needs to serve that goal. Doing many practice tests only has value if you learn from your mistakes. Unless you need to improve your time management (something I’ve occasionally struggled with), don’t hesitate to break every 20-30 questions to check your answers if you learn better that way. Sometimes the brain retains better when the effort is still fresh. But irrespectively make sure you take at least 1-2 practice tests in one sitting so you know you have the stamina and focus to see this thing through.
Get enough sleep. Eat well. Don’t beat yourself up. Enjoy the challenge and learning. Keep some perspective. Sorry if I sound like your Mom, but Moms are often right!
You absolutely can do this. Throw yourself into this with a vengeance and give it your most. The worst that can happen is that you retake it in June. Not great, but not the end of the world either. No matter the outcome, you’ll know more in 3 weeks than you do today - about the curriculum, about exam day and about yourself. And that’s a good thing. Chin up and one foot in front of the other
I am only doing Kaplan mocks and will also do CFAI mock. On the second Kaplan mock I got 55% so ever-so-slight improvement but still VERY long way to go. My plan is also to do as many mocks as possible but my problem is it takes me 1.5x-2x the exam time to review answers and my time is very limited given working hours - but as others have said this is the most crucial learning part so I only move on to the next mock once well reviewed.
Also a very silly question - but I have a weak bladder and also like to sip water regularly. Is it true you can’t drink water in exam or use bathroom unless emergency? I don’t want to go pee anyway as it wastes valuable exam time - oh well, looks like adult diaper for me
Compared to Schweser mocks, CFAI mocks are easier and they reflect the real exam more realistically. So dont let the score you got from Schweser mock overwhelm you. Try to solve the CFAI mock and review the questions you had trouble after that. Best luck
I scored poorly on all my mocks and hated myself many times. You actually still have time. Keep doing mocks. Even after my exam I was convinced that I would fail.
Going into Level 2 and Level 3 exams, never having passed a mock was sad. You have enough time.
One exam I even decided that I would not write, but thought it would be good practice for the following year.
Appreciate all of your comments very much so, but at this point I have to be real with myself, all 5 mocks I’ve taken have been below 60% (including the institute mock) and this weekend is now up in my time zone, and I have to work the next 5 days before the exam (I work ridiculous hours in finance leaving me no time to study during the week and I’ve burned out at this point). Will give it my all but chance of failure is very very high, and I will owe my employer c.$4000 as I took live classes with a training provider too. Also I won’t be able to look anyone in the face at work once they know I failed. At this point if I got hit by a car and had to be in hospital for a few days and miss the exam I wouldn’t mind as it’s better than putting myself through the pain and torture of an exam where I genuinely don’t know so many of the questions and material. I did all of the right things too (start 6 months ahead and do all Schweser notes + CFAI EOC + Schweser EOC + do mocks in all of the last month + topic review questions and many other right things recommended). I almost always got >70% in EOC CFAI questions. I have no idea how I got a top grade from a top university in finance masters yet keep failing cfa mocks. I guess I’m just stupid as f*ck.
Oh and on top of all this, I’ve developed ridiculous health related issues. On top of that I can’t sleep at night and am suffering from shortness of breath, very bad depression and anxiety. Overdosed on coffee so much that it doesn’t even work anymore. There is no way out.
Please do not be discouraged. I’m also taking the exam next week. I’ve been pretty much studying by myself but during this past week, I’m seeing all these candidates who have fallen in despair and it makes me sad.
I highly suggest taking unpaid leave. Explain the situation to your boss. I’m not sure if your superiors are considerate enough, but explaining that you need extra time to study or convince them that passing the exam (thus, 1 step closer to charter) will also benefit them or the company as a whole might work.
I’ve taken a full month unpaid leave for November and will continue to do so until December 3rd and had to ask my parents to pay the bills. Fortunately, they’re kind enough and are not judgmental about me asking them for monetary aid.
1 mock a day and all you need is an increase of 1-2% (additional 2-4 questions right) per mock and you’ll be 7-14% up from where you are right now. Heck, do 1.5 mocks per day if you can. I’ve done 10 mock exams in the past 4-5 days and I’m still going hard. I’m not giving up and neither should you.
Also, skim through Secret Sauce. I found them to be the most helpful for last minute reviews.
Skim through CFAI materials too! If you feel like your weakness is on calculations or formula memorization, then try to get points on questions that ask you for definitions or characteristics of a term or jargon which is outright memorization (which is highly likely to come out in the exams as far as I can see from the mock. learn what these words or abbreviations do. learn what are the characteristics of this and that. learn the differences between US GAAP and IFRS.)
Get enough sleep, get some vitamins and supplements, do stupid shit like chewing gum while studying while allegedly improves your memory or take Citicoline (a supplement for cerebral functions known to treat Alzheimers), which I am currently doing. I have no idea whether they work but I just keep doing them.
If you’re reading this, please consider any of my advices. DON’T GIVE UP JUST YET! Now go out there and smash this exam! Best regards
Honestly failing once isnt really that bad, but i feel your pain. As for the anxiety i can relate as i have terrible anxiety as well. Same symptoms cant sleep heart racing etc. Pro tip, if you cant sleep take a hot bath before bed time, it will activate your para sympathetic nervous system allowing you to relax a little. If that doesnt work you can get your doc to prescribe some ativan and that should knock you the fuck out… dont abuse it though. Also if you have anxiety coffee will make it much more severe… i wouldnt drink it if i were you. Also focus on your weak spots. Remember ethics and FRA make up about 35% of the total mark so if you can do well in those you improve you r chances at passing.
