Anyone else screwed?

Why does everyone focus on alternative..i thought it had the same weightage (5-15%) as many others on the exam…one reason maybe cuz the syllabus is less (c. 100 pages)…..nonetheless, im surprised you guys are leaving ethics out of the list….thought it was important…i started reading it a while ago and the first several pages are similar to level I…..will move to equity and other parts soon…
 
You’re right. Ethics is very important too, i keep forgetting about it, i surely wont for the test though.
i’ll post a ranking of the topics for most effective study based on expected % weighting per page of material. I made sure to calculate that before i began studying.
Rank for Effective Study

Alternative Investments
1
Financial Reporting & Analysis
2
Economics

3
Equity Investments

4
ethics


5
derivatives

6
portfolio management and alt investments
7
corporate finance

8
quantitative methods
9
fixed income

10
ignore the alternative investments that follows portfolio mgmt, just a habit carried over from lvl 1.
 
You get 2 Qs on ethics however you must read about 300 pages.
You get 1-2 Qs on Alts buy you must read only 100 pages.
What’s more, ethics is more like a tricky game.
Stydying what is required and what is recommended is not so easy. You can easily forget this stuff on the exam.
 
Yea, I’ve pretty much decided to ignore ethics and not read the CFAI. It doesn’t seem like the payoff outweights opportunity cost. I could read the whole entire thing and maybe get +2 questions at beest I feel
 
CFAI should copy this thread and post it on their website as the reason for the low pass-rate and for how not to prepare for the exam.
 
yeah, honestly i used to think a 40% pass rate was low considering that weak candidates were weeded out at level 1, but obviously level 1 lets a lot of wanna be’s through… i suppose that’s encouraging?
 
L1 pass rates are low because a lot of wahoo’s go in totally unprepared.
I’ve seen people walk in with no calculator / or some random calculator, people with no idea what the heck is going to be on the exam, people who’s company is paying for it so they are there to just ” see what it’s like “
I think CFAI has definitely been very generous with the number of passes at L1, because I know at least a few people who passed that I was totally shocked to have passed. But no worries, bec they were quickly shot down at L2.
It makes sense right? Throw people a bone at L1, don’t make it too hard, give them some ego, and they keep pouring buckets of $$$ into your program + good publicity + free marketing.
 
@bmer4444 & lemiman, cmon guys, i know you guys must have prepared well, but don’t put rest of us down…
The content is quiet easy if we can concentrate and understand, and i agree it might be hard for those people without a financial background to clear this exam, but i dont think anyone tries to cram through the exam, the exams are more oriented towards our understanding and its analysis, not out memory
CFA says- an average of 300 hours preparing for each exam, so considering, we all have put around 150-250hrs totalling, if we put in our best efforts its possible.
http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprogram/process/enter/Pages/completing_the_cfa_program.aspx
If you think Level 1 was lucky, or bummers(in lemiman’s words-WEAK CANDIDATES) got through, how do you explain Level 3 pass rate? which is around same, so by your own logic bad condidates can pass thorugh Level 2 also, and extending to 3, a bummer like me will get the CFA. so You are saying CFA is a degree achievable by bummers.
So guys, think through your logic and dont be so smug because you had the time to read earlier, everyone had some problems, and some might have a problem studying without being tensed, dont be so quick to judge
 
^ Your logic for the higher pass rates of L2 and L3 is totally flawed, because you didn’t consider survivorship bias. L3 has a pass rate of 50%, but you are failing HALF of all the strong candidates who passed L2.
To me, that says L3 is pretty dang hard, because L2 is already pretty hard.
 
@ iteracom, there will always be a few lucky candidates, but generalizing that and saying all the 60% who might fail, or telling the high %age of candidates who are worried about failing that they are lucky(or are weak) is very bad in my opinion. Even for the guys who got lucky at L1 and put in effort at L2 and failed, your comment is very bad. Maybe the people you were shocked passed had worked much harder than you could have in your wildest dreams and you called them lucky. Maybe i am wrong and you know exactly the hours and effort they put in (maybe they saw you as a smug and didn’t want you to get smarter and told they got lucky…)
But i respect every candidate who got through L1 for it, because i know i did a lot of effort, and those who got through easily might have god(or their actions, if you’re atheist) on their side, or pure genius.
I didn’t say L2 is easy, nor L3, i am just saying each level increases in hardness, and it’s not right to tell those who failed that they were weak and lucky at previous Level, becasue in my opinion ANYONE who puts in the time can clear CFA, so all it comes down to is if their conditions allowed them to put in the effort.
My case- Moved to London from India to do a masters course in September, had my final exam on 9th May(had exams, presentations, etc. throughout, only 2 weeks holiday), had to submit my dissertation proposal by 13th and i put in a lot of effort into it because i am going for a PhD next, and on top of it my landlord is increasing my rent 3x because of olympics and i have to shift on 27th, haven’t looked at the flat, i am moving into, just went to agency and filled the applicatoin and fee, took whichever i got fastest. And their is a high chance i might fail, and by your logic i might have failed becasue i was a weak candidate.
Just saying generalization is very bad. Especailly when your sample is a so small (few people you knew). I would have restarained from such comments, especially @bmer4444. Well i have to study now and maybe get some sleep if i can finish today’s plan. and frankly your guys comments are quiet ignorant, and it’s not my job to educate.
 
You havn’t even gone through L2 and L3 yet. Once you’ve finished L3, you’ll realize L1 is NOTHING in comparison, and you’ll be singing a much different tune.
 
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