Crossroads- Fight or Flight?

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I am at a crossroads in my preparation. I came to the party very late due to circumstances I couldn’t control. So when I started I only had 80 days. I figured I would need some time at the end to review everything (about a week) and then about two weeks to do practice exams, tons of questions, post things I didn’t understand on AF, etc.
This plan gave me a little over 3 days to complete each study session. This has been difficult for me to say the least. I can get through the material in that time (using schweser only), but retention feels really low and there are tremendous time pressures. My q-bank scores have been pretty good, but that is only when taking the questions on the SS I just learned.
As I have gone through the cirriculum I am starting to jumble everything up (economic income, economic profit, which FCF forumula to use for this vs that, I don’t even remember FSA) and I am not confident that I will be able to straighten it out in the time I have left.
That being said, how much clearer did things get for you after your first revision of the material? Was it way better? How long did your revision take? Did it take 3 or 4 times?
I am not asking you to answer what you think the review will be like for me. Of course you can’t answer that, but if your retention was better than you thought or the concepts started to stick with your first revision then maybe it will for me too.
Your input will help me decide whether/how I should continue on for 2008. With pass rates as low as they are, me only using schweser and the fact that I am squeezing this down into such little time, I am getting closer everyday to really believing that I don’t have a chance.
I don’t really want to give up, but I don’t want to continue on blindly if I’m pretty much a lock to fail.
Thanks in advance.
 
Okay dude,
you are fine….I am not even finished my cirriculum (reading schewser not the CFAI in the 1st place) and probably won’t be done till next week…Leaves me one month to learn the stuff (been only reading like a maniac so far, with realy low retention) and then practice exams….I am not giving up; neither should you……
 
I’m as messed up as you are. I can’t even answer the questions most of the questions posted here in the forums. However, I’m hoping and working towards some memorization, some repeat reading, and some crazy test-bank answering in the next few days and am hoping for the best!
 
Retention is horrible. Only advantage is that re-reading takes less time the second time…
 
N.VanCandidate Wrote:
——————————————————-
> Okay dude,
> you are fine….I am not even finished my
> cirriculum (reading schewser not the CFAI in the
> 1st place) and probably won’t be done till next
> week…Leaves me one month to learn the stuff
> (been only reading like a maniac so far, with
> realy low retention) and then practice exams….I
> am not giving up; neither should you……
I am only schweser and won’t be done with the reading for another 20 days at least.
EDIT: My original post makes it seems like I am done with the reading. Not even close. It will be awhile.
 
retention does increase…believe me..i’m the kind that needs to read something about 3 times before i go into an exam..the first time around even i had troubling retaining, but now that i’ve sorta been going through a second time..i feel i know it better..
you’ve come this far.. FIGHT is the only option..!!
PS: From most of your posts you seem pretty prepared…dunno why you’re freaking out!
 
I still haven’t covered almost half of the material. I am not really freaking out either. I am just trying to make an informed decision.
 
I know you know this but…
cover FSA and Equity hard and make them your *****. they might be 30% of the readings and 60% of the test.
ethics, econ and corp fin is 80% LI. quant is an extension of LI regression and you killed that so…
that leaves fixed, deriv and pm. a headache for sure but still time for notes, qbank and mocks.
so if you covered the half of the material that includes fsa, eq and eth and you prepare to score high there then you are in good shape. my 2 cents.
**Edit: …yes beo tch results in a @#$%&. Sorry I forgot there were kids in here.
 
mwvt9 Wrote:
——————————————————-
> I still haven’t covered almost half of the
> material. I am not really freaking out either.
> I am just trying to make an informed decision.
The odds are rarely great for anyone with the CFA, I would give you a 50/50 shot if you go all out, which isn’t me ripping on you, that’s better than average (40%). If you fully prepared you could probably have a 75% chance next year, these are just my ballpark estimates. This is really just a personal decision for you to make, if you think 50/50 is something you’re willing to gamble on, and is a 25% increased odds worth waiting a whole year for. Totally up to you, but good luck with what you decide. Because I think you’re alright, I’m saying go for it.
 
GO FOR IT. If you have to prioritize, focus on CF, FSA and Equity as these combined were 50% of the test last year. Then pick another 3 topics to study hard-core (ethics, quant, and PM)… then focus on FI, econ, Derivs… baby steps my friend.
 
I’d give it your best; the way I see it is I’ve put in time already, might as well make the final push and see what happens in June. I’m having the same issues with retention, and have been grinding out questions to make it stick and its coming.
Worst case scenario is a fail and you’ll be that much more ahead of the game for next go round, you’ve already invested money and time in the beotch, take a couple of swings at’er.
Fight!
 
You’ve done Level I. You should understand the workload and your own study patterns. How good was your retention then and how well did you perform on the test? You need to ask yourself that.
Unfortunately, only you can really tell if you are a lock to fail or not. I think you can do it, you just need to focus all of your energy on this test for the next month and a half.
All it comes down to is whether or not you can be that committed.
 
jalmy8 Wrote:
——————————————————-
> You’ve done Level I. You should understand the
> workload and your own study patterns. How good
> was your retention then and how well did you
> perform on the test? You need to ask yourself
> that.
I was able to spread it out over a 5 months for level I. I was 70+ in all categories.
It is very different this time doing a SS in 3 days, this is not the way I normally learn so I am having a tough time gauging where I am.
> Unfortunately, only you can really tell if you are
> a lock to fail or not. I think you can do it, you
> just need to focus all of your energy on this test
> for the next month and a half.
>
I can’t tell if I am a lock to fail! Like I said in the OP, I was looking to see how easy the material came back to you after your first round of revision (I know it is in my brain somewhere, I just can’t find it right now). That is what I am trying to use for my decision.
>
> All it comes down to is whether or not you can be
> that committed.
 
Your mother-in-law is doing better. Your family is supporting you. Your bad luck is in the past. You’ve got an excellent grasp on the material you’ve gone through. No way do you give up.
 
Thanks for the input. Consensus seems to be - suck it up punk.
Duly noted. There will be no looking back from here on out, no more self deprecating talk. I will give an honest effort and let the chips fall where they may.
 
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