getting really annoyed with Schweser mocks should I continue or just focus on Topic test and CFAI mock

[h21]

I just finished the first book of Schweser mock, all three of them, I found the questions to be super frustrating to work through, there are questions just make zero sense, I wonder if thats similar experience of other candidates? Should I spent 18 hours on reviewing and working through each of the work or just focus on topic test?
Whoever finished all of them, do you find those mocks to be helpful?

 

[JDP1845]

Does anyone have the old CFAI mock exams or a link to them? Like the above, the schewsher questions are not as useful.

 

[JeffO15]

Their live online mock was the most helpul as they actually mixed up topics and asked quality questions. The other mocks aren’t bad and they are good practice for getting used to doing full exams. More practice can’t hurt.
If you haven’t done the actual CFAI mock I would say do that before anything else.

 

[blackscholesvol]

I’ve heard the same thing from several other people. I was planning on integrating Schweser in my study plan but I might just leave that off. I want to get tuned to the style of questions that the CFAI asks.
The topic exams (total of 83 vigenettes) and this year’s mock exams should provide ample questions.

 

[h21]

JeffO15 wrote:
Their live online mock was the most helpul as they actually mixed up topics and asked quality questions. The other mocks aren’t bad and they are good practice for getting used to doing full exams. More practice can’t hurt.
If you haven’t done the actual CFAI mock I would say do that before anything else.

Yes, my plan is internalize this latest mock, and do some practice and official mock this Saturday and if I have time two more mocks next week

 

[bfry]

JeffO15 wrote:
Their live online mock was the most helpul as they actually mixed up topics and asked quality questions.

Good to know JeffO15. I am doing that this weekend.
Overall I felt the Schweser mock were tough but fair given what I expect from the real deal. I think if you can battle through some of the ambiguity in these you will be all set come exam day but who knows. I felt that the CFAI mock and topic tests were a lot harder and the wording in these was even worse/more ambiguous than the Schweser mocks. In the back of my mind I feel that the real exam will not try to outright trick us like some of the practice ones do.

 

[h21]

bfry wrote:

JeffO15 wrote:
Their live online mock was the most helpul as they actually mixed up topics and asked quality questions.

Good to know JeffO15. I am doing that this weekend.
Overall I felt the Schweser mock were tough but fair given what I expect from the real deal. I think if you can battle through some of the ambiguity in these you will be all set come exam day but who knows. I felt that the CFAI mock and topic tests were a lot harder and the wording in these was even worse/more ambiguous than the Schweser mocks. In the back of my mind I feel that the real exam will not try to outright trick us like some of the practice ones do.

I feel I made so much guesses, i would go in a case and come out make 3-4 guesses, and surprisingly my guess rate has been high so i can keep accuracy at certain level…

 

[data storm]

I agree with you mate, i feel that they intend to complicate every little thing, data is always hidden so that you need to exert extra efforts and time to get the logic behind it.
i completed the fourth exam today and not sure of completing the rest. will focus on filing the gaps and resolve the online mocks.

 

[JayWill]

It’s really up to what you think will work for you and help you prepare in these final days.
I did Volume 1 of the practice exams and thought they were okay. I did give up some points due to not understanding some of the wording, and related to that, I did far worse on Ethics in the Schweser exams than I usually do, due to the way the vignettes are written. They do a decent job at testing the material though I think, and they are still good for practice and review if you have the time. I averaged 70.28% across the 3 exams, but individual performance was kind of all over the place (62% on the low end and a peak score of 80%).
One the main problems is I tend to read the questions then hunt the vignette for the relevant information (except for ethics, which I read completely first). CFAI’s practice exams sort their vignettes in the same order as the questions, but Schweser’s exams can be all over the place.
I’ll be doing their main online mock this weekend so hopefully it’s a bit better.

 

[h21]

JayWill wrote:
It’s really up to what you think will work for you and help you prepare in these final days.
I did Volume 1 of the practice exams and thought they were okay. I did give up some points due to not understanding some of the wording, and related to that, I did far worse on Ethics in the Schweser exams than I usually do, due to the way the vignettes are written. They do a decent job at testing the material though I think, and they are still good for practice and review if you have the time. I averaged 70.28% across the 3 exams, but individual performance was kind of all over the place (62% on the low end and a peak score of 80%).
One the main problems is I tend to read the questions then hunt the vignette for the relevant information (except for ethics, which I read completely first). CFAI’s practice exams sort their vignettes in the same order as the questions, but Schweser’s exams can be all over the place.
I’ll be doing their main online mock this weekend so hopefully it’s a bit better.

Did you feel second book is very different from first book, if so i guess i will try it in couple days , couple i mean i will do one more next week

 

[JayWill]

h21 wrote:
Did you feel second book is very different from first book, if so i guess i will try it in couple days , couple i mean i will do one more next week

I didn’t buy the second book. I don’t have a full Schweser study package, so I buy their stuff ala carte.

 

[isabellano9]

hi guys … must say that I’m sooooo with you…. I am totally frustrated…. just did the mock 1 of book 2 schweser and honestly often I just didn’t understand the question - with data mentioned here and there but you don’t know if you need to incorporate it or not and a super long calculation question in FRA… I’m so frustrated. I’m hovering between 55 and 65 … did fitch mocks with the cfa society switzerland which was way to easy in comparison… did any of you find finquiz good ? I started one today and let it go… the wording was just so unclear, I was afraid it would be a waste of time.
I’m with you - in the end perhaps sticking to the topic tests on the cfai are a better choice. I did the cfai mock 2016 was at 55/60.
I spend a lot of time reviewing but the material comes in all sorts of sizes and shapes in the books….
I’d be grateful for any guidance !!!

 

[jamesl1989]

JayWill wrote:
It’s really up to what you think will work for you and help you prepare in these final days.
I did Volume 1 of the practice exams and thought they were okay. I did give up some points due to not understanding some of the wording, and related to that, I did far worse on Ethics in the Schweser exams than I usually do, due to the way the vignettes are written. They do a decent job at testing the material though I think, and they are still good for practice and review if you have the time. I averaged 70.28% across the 3 exams, but individual performance was kind of all over the place (62% on the low end and a peak score of 80%).
One the main problems is I tend to read the questions then hunt the vignette for the relevant information (except for ethics, which I read completely first). CFAI’s practice exams sort their vignettes in the same order as the questions, but Schweser’s exams can be all over the place.
I’ll be doing their main online mock this weekend so hopefully it’s a bit better.

Agree with you on the order thing, so much easier when it’s in order.. Hope the real thing is like that.

 

[isabellano9]

I think that they do that on purpose - I mean not to put all the info in the same place - I also noticed that in the answers they’re tricky on purpose , i.e.
a . claim 2
b. claim 1
c. claim 3
just to catch you off guard

 

[JGus66]

As a multi-time L2 test taker I figured I’ll throw in my 2 cents into this conversation. First off, there is no ambiguity on the actual exam (unless of course you just don’t know the information). Everything you need is in the vignette/question and you won’t be scratching your head wondering what they’re asking. As for Schweser mocks vs CFAI topic tests, I actually find the CFAI topic tests to be worded more poorly than the Schweser mocks. The actual exam won’t follow the same pattern of the CFAI topic tests though where the first paragraph relates to the first question, second paragraph/second question, etc. I like the Schweser mocks as the length of the vignette’s is definitely more in line with the actual exam, however, like most posters on here, I feel like the exam will be a little tougher. I haven’t done the CFAI mock yet (saving it for this weekend) but I have done most of the topic tests and I feel like they are more difficult than the actual exam. I do remember thinking last year’s CFAI mock was brutally hard and read on this forum that a lot of people thought the same. So I would plan on the difficulty of the exam being more than Schweser but less than the CFAI topic tests/mock. Also, just from experience, I wouldn’t skip doing one or the other in terms of prep, I personally try to get my hands on as many vignettes as I possibly can.

 

[h21]

JGus66 wrote:
As a multi-time L2 test taker I figured I’ll throw in my 2 cents into this conversation. First off, there is no ambiguity on the actual exam (unless of course you just don’t know the information). Everything you need is in the vignette/question and you won’t be scratching your head wondering what they’re asking. As for Schweser mocks vs CFAI topic tests, I actually find the CFAI topic tests to be worded more poorly than the Schweser mocks. The actual exam won’t follow the same pattern of the CFAI topic tests though where the first paragraph relates to the first question, second paragraph/second question, etc. I like the Schweser mocks as the length of the vignette’s is definitely more in line with the actual exam, however, like most posters on here, I feel like the exam will be a little tougher. I haven’t done the CFAI mock yet (saving it for this weekend) but I have done most of the topic tests and I feel like they are more difficult than the actual exam. I do remember thinking last year’s CFAI mock was brutally hard and read on this forum that a lot of people thought the same. So I would plan on the difficulty of the exam being more than Schweser but less than the CFAI topic tests/mock. Also, just from experience, I wouldn’t skip doing one or the other in terms of prep, I personally try to get my hands on as many vignettes as I possibly can.

The thing about schweser is like the one I just did I had no idea what I did and didnt understand half the question i guessed my way to 63% and 70%, which i dont know if thats normal, I remember I had a much much clear structure when it was level 1, but level one was way easier/less compacted to be sure

 

[blackscholesvol]

I feel the same way with Fitch. The questions are ambiguous and when I calculate an answer, the choices don’t show up. Apparently, it’s the “CLOSEST” answer that matches. That said, I’ll just keep doing it for concepts and then switch back to reviewing CFAI style questions.

 

[JGus66]

h21 wrote:

JGus66 wrote:
As a multi-time L2 test taker I figured I’ll throw in my 2 cents into this conversation. First off, there is no ambiguity on the actual exam (unless of course you just don’t know the information). Everything you need is in the vignette/question and you won’t be scratching your head wondering what they’re asking. As for Schweser mocks vs CFAI topic tests, I actually find the CFAI topic tests to be worded more poorly than the Schweser mocks. The actual exam won’t follow the same pattern of the CFAI topic tests though where the first paragraph relates to the first question, second paragraph/second question, etc. I like the Schweser mocks as the length of the vignette’s is definitely more in line with the actual exam, however, like most posters on here, I feel like the exam will be a little tougher. I haven’t done the CFAI mock yet (saving it for this weekend) but I have done most of the topic tests and I feel like they are more difficult than the actual exam. I do remember thinking last year’s CFAI mock was brutally hard and read on this forum that a lot of people thought the same. So I would plan on the difficulty of the exam being more than Schweser but less than the CFAI topic tests/mock. Also, just from experience, I wouldn’t skip doing one or the other in terms of prep, I personally try to get my hands on as many vignettes as I possibly can.

The thing about schweser is like the one I just did I had no idea what I did and didnt understand half the question i guessed my way to 63% and 70%, which i dont know if thats normal, I remember I had a much much clear structure when it was level 1, but level one was way easier/less compacted to be sure

I would just focus on doing as many vignettes as possible, whether through mocks or CFA topic tests. Level 1 is completely different than Level 2. You can’t just do blue box/Q Bank/EOC’s and expect to pass. CFA/Schweser/other prep providers aren’t asking about different information. It’s all the same stuff, you just have to be prepared for how it’s asked.

 

[YoungMan24]

The mocks are great for identifying your weak areas. Going back to blue boxes -> EOCs -> topic tests is a great exercise for weak areas.