Any benefit to taking the exam if you know in advance you can't pass?

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ChipM

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Dear All:
I won’t bore with you the details of why I feel unprepared for Level 1 in June but suffice it to say at this point I am only what I would call solid in Ethics and FRA. My question is whether or not anyone feels there is any reason to follow through on taking the exam in June anyway. Mind you I can so with impunity–no employer asking if I passed, etc. In my world it would amount to about the same as starting a marathon and not finishing–not something you’re happy about but not too many taking notice. My issue is the same as everyone else’s–time. I can manage 60-90 minutes in the morning before work, very little after work and max 4-5 hrs on the weekend. I had signed up for Dec ‘12 as well and didn’t sit. Thanks for any comments.
ChipM
 
Its only Feb. If you can actually put as much time as you say towards studying until June, you 100% have a chance at passing. The only negative to not sitting for the exam is if you want to be able to say you passed all 3 levels on the first try, but remember dont imply that that makes you more qualified or a better analyst in anyway. It is just a fact that you can say, nothing more.
 
Bahgill:
I appreciate the reply. Really think I can get ready? One internet contact I have has told me you are ready for L1 when you can open up any EOC question set and answer any random question in less than 90 seconds. I’m not even close to that. I have some great resources–Allen and Finquiz–in addition to an older set of Kaplan notes bought from Ebay–which has been great for really learning concepts well but has made my effort diffuse. I think it would be good experience to sit for the exam and because of my life situation I wouldn’t turn into a head case over being in the 60-70% pool that doesn’t pass–only if I did poorly in the areas I thought I was prepared for eg FRA where I am getting 70% on practice exams.
 
Last February I had barely started studying for L1. So you have plenty of time. The first practice test I took in early May I scored like 54. By the end of the month I was scoring in the high 70’s. The first 3-4 months are for building your base of knowledge and getting familiar with the material. The final 4-6 weeks are for really drilling down and learning how to answer those questions fast. If you will be able to free at least 3-4 hours per day average throughout May, then I think you be fine with current pace up until then.
 
ChipM wrote:
Bahgill:
I appreciate the reply. Really think I can get ready? One internet contact I have has told me you are ready for L1 when you can open up any EOC question set and answer any random question in less than 90 seconds. I’m not even close to that. I have some great resources–Allen and Finquiz–in addition to an older set of Kaplan notes bought from Ebay–which has been great for really learning concepts well but has made my effort diffuse. I think it would be good experience to sit for the exam and because of my life situation I wouldn’t turn into a head case over being in the 60-70% pool that doesn’t pass–only if I did poorly in the areas I thought I was prepared for eg FRA where I am getting 70% on practice exams.
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Yes, you can absolutely be ready for it if you stick to your stated time constraints I would venture that if you do that, you will be better prepared than most of the other level 1 candidates to be honest. Best of luck!
 
It’s way early to give up. I started studying for L1 in late January/early February and passed. I suspect a lot of people do too. It’s tough material, but put the time and effort in between now and June and it should be doable.
Secondly, if you really think you can’t pass (perhaps because a work project guarantees almost no time left to study), then ask yourself if you’d want to try to do it next year. If so, it can still be useful to take the exam for practice.
If you know you are never going to try again and have given up trying it now, then no, don’t bother. Otherwise, put the work in and give it your best shot.
 
I started studying for Level 1 in mid-October and took the test in December and passed. (That’s about eight weeks, if you’re counting.) Yes, it can absolutely be done.
If you’ve already paid, then I would certainly at least go the the exam and take the test. You might accidentally pass! And if you don’t, then at least you’ll know what to expect when/if you take it again.
 
I greatly appreciate the encouragement!!
Specifically:
“Secondly, if you really think you can’t pass (perhaps because a work project guarantees almost no time left to study), then ask yourself if you’d want to try to do it next year. If so, it can still be useful to take the exam for practice.
If you know you are never going to try again and have given up trying it now, then no, don’t bother. Otherwise, put the work in and give it your best shot. “
My plan would be to shoot for December 14 if I did not sit for June 14 but psychologically if I let off the gas now I suspect I’d find myself in the same place around Oct 14–not feeling ready once again. If I didn’t pass in June I would most likely take the Dec exam with a few qualifiers–if I failed at band 1 or 2 I would really have to think hard about taking it again, esp if I felt I gave it an all out effort
 
I agree with Greenman72, I started in late September, spent maybe 10 hours/week and then 80 hours the final week and passed. I think I was close to failing but its certainly possible.
 
“I started studying for Level 1 in mid-October and took the test in December and passed. (That’s about eight weeks, if you’re counting.) Yes, it can absolutely be done.
If you’ve already paid, then I would certainly at least go the the exam and take the test. You might accidentally pass! And if you don’t, then at least you’ll know what to expect when/if you take it again”
Thanks Greenman72–this was some of my rationale–in my profession which is basically a lifetime of test taking, “seeing” an exam once is a huge advantage, and while I don’t have a photographic memory (far from it) I do have a good recall of exam questions–granted the exam changes but what I am concerned about is exactly the level of detail that is required on the exam and that is something that would stick with me for future exams I might take. And yes I’ve paid, have a seat and am not working the Sat the test is given so in that sense I’m “set”.
 
Your level of accumulation and retention accelerates as you study (though it tends to top off right at the end). So don’t judge how fast you learn now and extrapolate simplisticly. There’s a decent amount of overlap between quant and portfolio managment, between corporate finance and other sections, so later on you’ll be able to absorb material faster.
On test day, you’ll still feel overwhelmed, no matter how much you study - that’s a normal feeling. But people who feel that way still pass. Most of us here can relate to that feeling, whether we passed or not.
In my mind FSA is the hardest section, because there’s so much raw memorization of little details. Ethics also has the “little details” problem. The other sections are more prinple-application based, so I found them easier to handle.
If you are going to shoot for Dec 2014, then by all means try for June 2014. The curriculum materials are the same for both exams, so if you don’t pass, you can do a diagnostic on yourself and just patch up the weaker parts to pass in December. If you do pass in June, you’ve saved yourself a lot of work.
However, you should be able to go through this analysis of “do I take the exam” on your own without us walking you through it, so I’m not sure if we’re adding any value here.
 
bchad thanks that is indeed very helpful. I think the value added from your comments as well as the all others before is quite good if for no other reason than the uniformity of the advice and the background as shown of the all those posting. I do worry about retention if I try to study for a very long period of time–example I spent all of Aug 2013 doing Fixed Income and although it looks “familiar” to me now being tested on it would be a different matter esp on anything other than broad concepts and principles. SO to bag June at this point and focus on Dec would just produce the same thing I’m afraid. It seems that at some point you have to go into beast mode and just force your brain to retain as much as possible but for a very limited period of time. I know in my past professional exams that has been the case–the day you walk out of the exam you no longer remember a thing!!
 
Let’s say you really can’t stay from now till June and your chance of passing is 0.001%, you are only spending a day on the weekend to see what the exam is like, what is your cost of time?
 
It would be a day away from family and a pointless exercise with those percentages at play.
 
If you know for sure you aren’t passing, don’t do it. For those who say it’s good practice, you will have access to this year’s exam next year as the CFA publishes past exams.
Failing can be contagious. Once you do it, you stop fearing to fail. You should program yourself to think that passing isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.
 
former trader wrote:
If you know for sure you aren’t passing, don’t do it. For those who say it’s good practice, you will have access to this year’s exam next year as the CFA publishes past exams.
Failing can be contagious. Once you do it, you stop fearing to fail. You should program yourself to think that passing isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.
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Part of the “practice” is getting used to the format, and environment. Clearly taking the exam at the exam centre is very different from doing it at home.
 
Tens of thousands have passed on their first try without needing to get used to the format and environment.
 
former trader wrote:
Tens of thousands have passed on their first try without needing to get used to the format and environment.
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And even more people who didn’t!
My point is, i wouldn’t register for it for the purpose of practicing, BUT if i have already registered and it’s about the cost of time for that one day, i would go check it out and see what’s it’s like!
 
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