Failed Candidates - Who is starting super early next time around

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Garnopolis422

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Hey everyone,
Band 5 Failure here. This is after leaving the exam feeling 90% confident that I crushed it, so still wondering what the hell happened..failure is tough, slowing getting over it.
Had a long talk w/ my dad, he suggested I start in September, leaving aside breaks for Tgiving and xmas. Sping is busy season at work and some study hours were sacrificed because of long hours at the office, it will be the same situation next year.
Granted, my Dad knows little about the exam itself. My plan is to have medium intensity studying from Sept - Jan. I should cover all 6 books by then, given I already have a solid foundation on the material. However, I’m concerned about burnout, what do you guys think?
 
Doing just the opposite…started in Aug of last year after failing band 2 in 2012. Failed band 6 this year and felt I did much better than my score dictates. Probably won’t pick up until after Christmas and focus primarily on mocks starting in January thru May. Starting with open book untimed tests and ending up with timed mocks…no notes no books around April May…Hopefully that works….
 
i think you have to ask yourself do you really understand the material.
how did you do on the practice exams?
 
I’m in the same position as you Garno…got band 5 as well after feeling well prepared going into the exam.
Now feeling so devastated and shocked…really trying to work out how it went so wrong…did I fall for the traps that easily?
I reckon we should start as early again and go through the CFAI material in full again. In my case, maybe redo more EOC questions and focus on the blue box Q’s like so many ppl refer to. I’ll still stick to Schweser’s mock exams even tho I thought they were not as concisely worded as the real exam.
 
Failed as expected. Completely lost my head in exam. In the last half an hour or so of PM exam, I was barely able to keep myself from falling asleep.
Starting as soon as the CFAI releases its curriculum and will be attacking ethics and derivatives section first. Hope to get them covered by mid october. Did well (relatively) in major sections like equities and FRA, so will be attacking them last. I will make sure that I do every single EOC question this time round though. Last time I did only EOC for Equities and FRA and I got the benefits in the exam.
I’ve to say exam was not difficult, it was just me who could not keep me head on the day.
 
I started studying on Tuesday. I failed band 10 so my approach is based around not forgetting material I already know.
I’m reviewing the CFAI blue boxes and EOC questions for sections that I got low scores on first, and I’ll work through the material in ascending order.
In the months since the exam I’ve already forgotten a lot of information. If I just put in an hour after work each day I should make slow and steady progress and not have to cram nights and weekends when the exam approachess.
 
I too thought I was well prepared and started last year in November. I think i personally need to work more on my test taking strategies. My plan is to review my flashcards I made next week up until the beginning of November. Then once November hits, start again reading the Schweser books plus the new additioanl readings for the 2014 exam out of the CFAI material. See below for my schedule once November comes around:
Saturday & Sunday - Reading & Kaplan EOC
Monday - GYM
Tuesday - Videos for Reading (2) potentially
Wednesday - GYM
Thursday - CFAI EOC & CFAI Blue Boxes
Friday - GYM
I will plan for a one night out once a month to get it out of my system with some friends and plan on reviewing throughout the studying time. I felt that last year I forgot a lot of the material i had learned at the start of my studying. I hope to have two months of mock exams and review. I will take one week off work probably one month before the exam to study/”memorize (conceptually)” my flashcards. I feel that it would be better to take off work earlier and ensure that I understand the material than to take off work a week before the exam. I should know all the material by then if i plan on passing (which i do!!).
Let me know what you all think about this strategy and maybe people can use it if helps
 
If you start too early, you’ll risk forgeting a lot of the material. Burnout is also a factor.
You want to make sure that you’re peaking in your knowledge and motiviation towards the end.
 
Most of my studying is done on the weekends. I will be putting in 6-8 hours a day on the weekends and 3 hours a weekday on my dedicated days.
When is the ideal time to start? I want plenty of time to focus on practice exams because that is what i need help with…
 
I would start studying in January, complete the material by mid March, review for a month then do nothing but questions and exam prep.
 
lummypana wrote:i think you have to ask yourself do you really understand the material. how did you do on the practice exams?
Click to expand...
did really well with Eoc’s second time around. Dd well with 2013 mock, mixed results with the others. Most mistakes were careless on the mocks, conceptually I understood everything. I just figured when you’re taking the real thing the focus and intensity will prevent the silly mistakes. I guess I was wrong.
 
That Candidate wrote:
I’m in the same position as you Garno…got band 5 as well after feeling well prepared going into the exam.
Now feeling so devastated and shocked…really trying to work out how it went so wrong…did I fall for the traps that easily?
I reckon we should start as early again and go through the CFAI material in full again. In my case, maybe redo more EOC questions and focus on the blue box Q’s like so many ppl refer to. I’ll still stick to Schweser’s mock exams even tho I thought they were not as concisely worded as the real exam.
Click to expand...
Learning the exam is as important as the test itself. I think I forgot that fact. I think my strategy this time is to retain and build on what I already have learned, so starting early. Slow and steady until around march, then go crazy with tons of mocks and practice tests until its second nature to answer questions.
 
Garnopolis422 wrote:
lummypana wrote:i think you have to ask yourself do you really understand the material. how did you do on the practice exams?
Click to expand...
did really well with Eoc’s second time around. Dd well with 2013 mock, mixed results with the others. Most mistakes were careless on the mocks, conceptually I understood everything. I just figured when you’re taking the real thing the focus and intensity will prevent the silly mistakes. I guess I was wrong.
Click to expand...
If you understand everything then its pretty much just executing. Really watch for careless mistakes and try to simulate the mocks exams as close as possible to the real thing. I’m sure you’ll do fine the next time.
 
lummypana wrote:
Garnopolis422 wrote:
lummypana wrote:i think you have to ask yourself do you really understand the material. how did you do on the practice exams?
Click to expand...
did really well with Eoc’s second time around. Dd well with 2013 mock, mixed results with the others. Most mistakes were careless on the mocks, conceptually I understood everything. I just figured when you’re taking the real thing the focus and intensity will prevent the silly mistakes. I guess I was wrong.
Click to expand...
If you understand everything then its pretty much just executing. Really watch for careless mistakes and try to simulate the mocks exams as close as possible to the real thing. I’m sure you’ll do fine the next time.
Click to expand...
i hope so, but the thought of studying all of that stuff again right now makes me a little sick…
 
This is crazy, take some time off and clear your mind. If you were band 7 or greater start up on Jan. anything lower I would start in late Oct.
 
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