AM cut off

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ABAL

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AM Section is detailed in nature and requires a thorough answering. What would be the minimum score to sail through, given the PM section is comparatively manageable
 
Don’t kid yourself, there’s no “sailing through” Level III.
* AM Session requires a deep understanding – but not a “thorough answering”
* Direct, concise bullets are much better than lengthy paragraphs that go on tangents or require interpretation
* The “rule of thumb” is damage control in the AM, and killing it in the PM
* Historically speaking if the MPS is ~65%, then you should be aiming to score 80% or better in the PM and higher than 50-55% in the AM
* While scoring a little better than 50% in the AM sounds very manageable, it’s not *that easy* due to the 3-hr time constraint that forces many to rush through writing their answers and/or leave entire questions blank
 
tozerrtz has managed to successfully scare the crap out of me.
 
IDK I hear that AM is only 50% as a max score - I would abide by what he’s saying
 
Thanks Tozzert for the guidance. You could not be more spot on than this. I was really worried while rating my answers in the EoC as for the constructive response I could not rate myself for more than 55-60% (I purposely rate myself a little on the conservative side, just not to be smug) and after a while it was becoming scary.
Yes. you are right that I should attempt answering in bullets, but at times some of the qs. do require detailing a bit which eventually run in 3-4 lines or a mini paragraph, any way to master the same in trimming them to bullets.
Further, the expln.s provided at Schwesers and CFAI are pretty detailed in nature. Should I assume that level of detailing obviously is not reqd.?
Thanks in advance.
 
that level of detail in either the cfai or the schweser answers are their way of teaching the material. that level of detail is NOT required.
Look at the schweser book 6 for the AM answers - and see especially the top part of each answer - where they put the answer in a sentence or two. Later they write “for the exam” or something like that and continue to explain. read and understand that section too.
 
Don’t expect the PM to be a layup. I thought the PM last year was harder than the AM (look up the after-test thread - a lot of other people thought the same). Aim to kill it in the AM (70%+) and the PM will fall into place.
 
I dunno man, my goal is just to try and kill it in the AM and PM the best I can. I’m taking the approach of try not to “game it” by scoring 50% in the AM and 80% in the PM. It’s very difficult ot know what they’re going to ask and everyone’s interpretation of difficulty is different. I’d focus more on mastering the largest topics of the exam rather than AM vs. PM, which you really have no control over. Good luck.
 
Always go for 100% and nothing less.
Score as many points as quickly and precisely as you possibly can.
 
I overemphasized the AM section last year and it hurt me. I think I scored better on the AM than I did on the PM.
I’ve been scoring a lot better on PM practice tests so far this year, which is encouraging. My advice to first time takers would be to focus on Individual/Institutional IPS for AM because it is the low(er)-hanging fruit.
 
AM and PM Sessions are equally-weighted, so no sense in overstudying for one part if it’ll significantly hurt you in the other. (But as a re-taker who previously *bombed* in the morning session, I knew that area demanded more of my attention in the next go-around.)
In order to do well in AM, you need to have a solid grasp on Individual and Institutuional IPS. Although this is a big part of the morning session, I wouldn’t necessarily call it the low/lower-hanging fruit. In fact, it can be pretty tricky.
And for the PM, look out for those curve balls/googlies – there are enough of them to make a difference. First time I sat for Level III, I thought the afternoon session was a breeze. Rookie mistake. Paid much more attention in the year that I passed, because I knew what to be looking for.
 
Could you specify how you pay more attention to the parts in the year you passed? I’m curios to know.
Thanks in advance
 
PhillyKid126 wrote:
I dunno man, my goal is just to try and kill it in the AM and PM the best I can. I’m taking the approach of try not to “game it” by scoring 50% in the AM and 80% in the PM. It’s very difficult ot know what they’re going to ask and everyone’s interpretation of difficulty is different. I’d focus more on mastering the largest topics of the exam rather than AM vs. PM, which you really have no control over. Good luck.
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I’m more inclined to agree with this. Damage control in the AM and crushing the PM is more of a conclusion for what ends up happening rather then a strategy to study by. anyone will naturally do better in the PM because you have a 1/3 chance of guessing correctly.
study hard and plan to score well in both regardless,
 
itera wrote:
Damage control in the AM and crushing the PM is more of a conclusion for what ends up happening rather then a strategy to study by. anyone will naturally do better in the PM because you have a 1/3 chance of guessing correctly.
study hard and plan to score well in both regardless,
Click to expand...
You are correct in saying that “damage control in the AM and killing it in the PM” is the most common scoring aftermath for those who are fortunate to pass – and not a strategy to study by. But when AFers post their own exam scoring matrix in August, that is just the way it seems to pan out for the majority. Most people don’t score as well in the morning session as they had hoped or expected to, and will need to their afternoon score to help push them across line the finish line – that’s my point.
(Depending on how one prepares for the exam, however, *it is possible to pass LIII with a better scoring matrix in the AM* than PM. I recall Greenman72 did so in 2013, as did I as a re-taker in 2014.)
 
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