As expected i failed level 1 with band 9

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stuartbale1

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I have posted earlier on this forum, here are the links please see them to get the better understanding of my situation before exam.
http://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-level-i-forum/91346587
As you know from the title i failed band 9. My scores are:
Multiple Choice
Q#
Topic
Max Pts
<=50%
51%-70%
>70%
-
Alternative Investments
10
*
-
-
-
Corporate Finance
17
-
-
*
-
Derivatives
12
*
-
-
-
Economics
24
*
-
-
-
Equity Investments
24
-
*
-
-
Ethical & Professional Standards
36
-
*
-
-
Financial Reporting & Analysis
48
-
*
-
-
Fixed Income Investments
24
*
-
-
-
Portfolio Management
17
-
*
-
-
Quantitative Methods
28
*
-
-
I request all the candidates who passed this attempt and senior charterholders or candidates, please guide me where i am lacking how should i approach the june 2016 attempt, what should be my study process, what should be my strategy.
I don’t have any job so i study full time, i used schweser mostly. Completed EOC questions of FRA only, attempted only 1 A.M official mock.
Done only 1000+ practice questions in total and practiced questions in the last 15 days before exam. Total study time was 2.5 months, so i think lack of preparation was the key reason.
Need your guidance.
Congrats to those who have passed.
 
I am sorry to heard you fail as well as for everyone who failed…
After reading your summary, I feel free to recommend following:
1. Repaeat once again overal study material to be sure you understand most of the key topics.
2. Now, you have enogh time, so do not make again same mistake and not doing Mocks
3. Do as much Mocks and Topic test as you can
4. Record all incorrect answers and remember correct one
5. Repeat and practice all weak areas (determined in incorrect Mock anwers) until you feel you are able to
solve any question even at 3 AM if you wake up in the night
Now, you have experience (you know what you may expect) and enough time to be well prepared for next time.
 
Good summary by Flashback.
I gotta say, Schweser Qbank is a godsend. Just keep doing questions on that baby until you are able to regurgitate the material in your sleep. After enough questions, you should be able to identify the different ways that the same question can be posed, and how some words are slightly changed to trip you up. Really with enough questions, identifying trick questions stops being challenging as by the time you see it for the 13th time, the way to solve it is already seared into your brain.
Best of luck on your second try!
 
Quant is the easiest to gain point AND the MOST COMPETITIVE. we now have tons of mathematically inclined test takers in this competition, so you need to step up the game and memorize all those formula. You need to look out for KEYWORD in the QUANT and FRA question. WRITE OUT the formula on the test booklet IN THE FIRST 2 MINUTES of your test. A lot of the problem in Level 1 is just plug and chug, so you just need to recognize the keyword and use the right formula. You are not going to have time to recall what is in ROE or whether 365 is in the nominator or denominator of the account receivable turnover. This is not a exam to show you how smart you are (ie. if you know how to derive CAPM from Sharpe analysis)! Just need to use the right study method and go into the test center with the right mentality.
Quant, FRA and Ethics should be your focus. And if you have time, work on AI because it is mostly descriptive question. FI would be nice to pump up to 50%, but not neccessary if you do well in the three aforementioned topics.
Good luck! And keep going!!!
 
You said it yourself, you didn’t spend enough time on it. I don’t know where these people come from who are saying: oh you don’t need to spend that much time on this and blah blah blah. I spent about 400 hours and it wasn’t even like I blew the test out the water. I only have >70 on 3 sections FRA, Corp, and FI.
I can gaurantee you that If I had only studied for 300 hours, I would have failed.
 
CFready wrote:
You said it yourself, you didn’t spend enough time on it. I don’t know where these people come from who are saying: oh you don’t need to spend that much time on this and blah blah blah. I spent about 400 hours and it wasn’t even like I blew the test out the water. I only have >70 on 3 sections FRA, Corp, and FI.
I can gaurantee you that If I had only studied for 300 hours, I would have failed.
Click to expand...
You really don’t need 300 hours. Using a studying method that I developed (which I am planning to share with everyone else at AF), I have 1.5 hours spare for each multiple choice section (both morning and afternoon), exept for the morning section of lvl 3 (which does take time to construct a well-responded short answer). I have taken many post-grad tests in my life (EMT, pharmacy tech (state and national), real estate license, MCAT, GMAT, GRE, FRM) and I know what I am talking about. And I am not here to boast (check my other responses) but to remove your fear of this test. It is definitely crackable. Although I do recognize that everyone has different study habit, I just want to share a method that people in other part of the world found to be useful (with extremely high pass rate).
 
I failed June 2015 with Band 10, all i did was not to give up and to try again, and it paid off.
You are familiar with the concept now, but dont be carried away with the fact that you are familiar with the concept for you to now relax.
Read through again as if you are reading the materials for the first time, and create a lot of time for practice problem.
Wish you all the best for June.
Cheers.
 
In terms of your specific prep, you need to do way more problems and mock exams.
 
This time i am doing practice questions right from the start, i am doing all questions from schweser qbank topic wise and Eoc questions, but this takes a lot of time and i have only done 2 chapters of quantitative methods.
Whether i’ll be able to complete the whole course till june with mocks and practice is a big question and i am already feeling pressure.
 
Since you didn’t get much practise last time, you exactly know what to focus on this time around. Offcourse, focus on the material as a whole but should you be running out of time again this time around then I recommend you focusing the most on heaviest topics. You can get away with having bad scores on small topics like derivatives, alternatives, but master topics like FRA, ETHICS and the list goes on from most to least important. Prioritize and allocate time according to topic weights you will be tested on the exam. Format your study plan according to the importance of each topic!
Goodluck and make yourself and your family proud .. this time RIPPPPPP the exam and I am sure you will with positive attitude and let go of any negativity you may have received from your first try. Cheers!
 
leocfahelper wrote:
You really don’t need 300 hours. Using a studying method that I developed (which I am planning to share with everyone else at AF), I have 1.5 hours spare for each multiple choice section (both morning and afternoon), exept for the morning section of lvl 3 (which does take time to construct a well-responded short answer). I have taken many post-grad tests in my life (EMT, pharmacy tech (state and national), real estate license, MCAT, GMAT, GRE, FRM) and I know what I am talking about. And I am not here to boast (check my other responses) but to remove your fear of this test. It is definitely crackable. Although I do recognize that everyone has different study habit, I just want to share a method that people in other part of the world found to be useful (with extremely high pass rate).
Click to expand...
What lead you to finance over a career as an EMT, pharm tech, graduate student (whatever the GRE/GMAT was for), or a career in medicine (MCAT)?
 
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