How to write the AM section

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ethicsgirl

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Very confused! Got my results and I was shocked. I thought I didnt do well on the PM section, but got almost everything over 70, plus Ethics over 70 which again I thought I got some questions wrong. However, I had a good feeling about the AM, did all the questions, finished on time, had time to review and bam, majority are less than 50, it’s like I left them blank. Is there specific way to answer them? That’s the only explanation I can find, because otherwise I really don’t know why it was so bad. I will take a course this year on how to write Essay portion, maybe CFA has a specific preference. Too bad.
 
Same here. My AM section needs work!
On AF, I’ve noticed people talk about answering the questions in bullet points. The Schweser and CFA mocks, unfortunately, answer in sentence and paragraph form.
Can people who passed recommend some good study guides / courses, or just samples - that show how to answer the AM questions in a way that will work on the actual test (bullet format, short answer, etc)?
 
I answered point form but someone told me that not only do you have to explain why you chose a certain answer but also explain why the other answers are incorrect. Is that true?
 
Here’s what worked for me. I structured my answer as follows:
1. Give a direct answer to the question asked. One sentence, that’s it. Understanding what exactly is asked is, of course, pivotal.
2. In bullet point form, provide reasons/evidence supporting the answer.
That is it. Per the CFAI, you receive partial points for a correct direct answer to the question. Thus, even if your reasons or evidence have flaws, you at least walk away with some points.
 
Thanks TreeFiddy350. That is good advice. So - for AM, a succinct, direct answer, with supporting points.
Do you know of any providers that give sample answers the way we’re actually supposed to answer on test day?
 
Practise. I wrote (I think) 13 AM mocks. The first couple I went over the 3 hour mark, but then managed to consistently finish sub 2:45. Time management, of course, is huge, but as others have said, bullet points and answering directly will help tremendously.
 
Personally, I am not sure I have heard of test providers giving sample answers. Of course, the CFAI provides guideline answers to prior years’ actual exams. Keep in mind, these guideline answers are extensive and there is simply no way anyone could organize and write the same answer given the time constraint.
In my preparation for the morning session, I would always time myself. Not only does this give you a great gauge of how to allocate your most valuable resource (time) over the course of the morning section but it also guided me in formulating an “answer template”, if you will. I derived said template by doing the following:
Do an old exam and answer the question in a way that you perceive to be sufficient. Immediately after you are done, read through the guideline answer carefully. Make sure you understand how the CFAI derived the answer and the evidence in support of it. Compare your answer to the guideline answer. Did you come to the same conclusion, i.e. give the same answer? If so, you’re off to a great start. Now, understand that there is a lot of fluff in the guideline answer. HIghlight the sections of the guideline answer that a) clearly give an answer to the questions and b) support the answer with reasons/evidence. Those are the key pieces you need. After doing so, you can piece together your template answer in a concise and succint way. Simply pick the answer and place it at the top. As stated before, this should be one sentence. Next, pick however many reasons/examples the Institute asks for and organize them into bullet points below the answer.
To make this more tangible, let me provide an example. Let’s say the question gives you the background on an individual investor and asks you which asset allocation would be appropriate for said investor. Assuming you have four choices to choose among, I’d answer as follows:
Answer:
Choice A is the appopriate asset allocation for the investor given the information provided.
Support:
Bullet Point 1: Choice B is inappropriate as it does not meet the investor’s after-tax return requirements. Show calculation, if necessary.
Bullet Point 2: Choice C is inappopriate as it violates the investor’s risk objective. Show calculation, if necessary.
Bullet Point 3: Choice D is inappropriate as it lacks the same diversification benefits as Choice A. Provide evidence (i.e. 70% allocation to private equity).
If you want, provide a conclusion at the end of the answer stating that Choice A meets all of the return and risk objectives, and provides diversification benefits.
Anyway, that was my strategy. From what it looks like in my score matrix, it worked. Take it for what it is and realize that everyone has a different way of answering.
 
TreeFiddy350 - Thanks for the tips. Screen shotted and going to make sure to get practice doing that.
 
pay attention to the details. read the exhibits carefully. consider the footnotes. make sure that you are encircling the right choices. etc. might seem simple but details are important.
also you may know the theorical concepts, but you have to relate it to the story. for example it asked for 2 advantages of using VAR, don’t just give the textbook answer rather give the advantage using the details and the situation in the story. there are a lot of questions in which answers are already given in the story. you just have to point it out.
 
My pleasure. PM me if anything is unclear or you have other questions. Good luck in 16!
 
I think one of the keys to the AM section (and what I think worked for me) is to start your preparation early enough, so that you can finish it early enough (without cutting too many corners!!!), and then do a mock at precise exam conditions about a month or 3 weeks before the exam. Preferably a mock organized by your CFA local society, as the mock exam will be the next best thing to the real exam. This can have less usefulness if you are not decently prepared at that point, so this is why you need to start your preparation early enough.
After that mock you should have access to model answers, and you should study them for style and how they are supposed to be “answering the question”. Assuming that you have already finished the whole material at that point, everything should make sense to you, and all you are doing here is fine tuning your writing style so that you can optmize your time come exam day.
Hope this helps!
 
ethicsgirl, hope the addtional points below help. (also posted them on other threads as i thought it may help others )
  • The general rule of thumb that I find useful (not from me) is one point one sentence; maybe 1-2 sentences more, it depends on weight of questions and “command words” used.
  • When you go through enough of AM mock/past exams, analyse the answers and compare points given to a question with the content of its answer, you will start to find the pattern and recognize the keywords that CFAI wants you to have in the answer.
  • Read the questions and answers of Schweser AM practice exams, which they also indicate how they grade and allocate points to the answers. They give some good hints or direction of how CFAI expects us to structure the answer (and save time).
  • Try to read the “topic” before going to each question, sometimes a question seems to have multiple answers with resembling formulas or concepts, but once you recognize what the “topic” is, you realise there is only one applicable formula or concept.
 
TreeFiddy350 wrote:
Here’s what worked for me. I structured my answer as follows:
1. Give a direct answer to the question asked. One sentence, that’s it. Understanding what exactly is asked is, of course, pivotal.
2. In bullet point form, provide reasons/evidence supporting the answer.
That is it. Per the CFAI, you receive partial points for a correct direct answer to the question. Thus, even if your reasons or evidence have flaws, you at least walk away with some points.
Click to expand...
To butress point 1: make sure you understand the question asked. For example, in previous exams, it was ok to just state the obvious from the viginette, but this time the structure was different - we had to explain why that was the answer in most questions and didn’t matter in some others - either way the question was drafted differently.
I asked a few of my guys that got band 9/10 and they said that they gave the answer from the viginettes directly like in previous years but did not explain. I also got <50% in 5 sections in the morning and they were those that I thought I did well in.
 
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