how was the exam

S

SuperCop

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guys/gals
those who wrote how was the exam
hard or ultra hard.
 
Taking it tomorrow, but if it was anything like last year’s level II I’ll need some paper towels to cover up the anal bleeding
 
Windjammer,
There just aren’t “gimmies” like there were in Level I. You’ve got to claw and scrap, and search the deep recesses of your brain for these q’s, where is Level I the answers were fairly obvious.
Then there is the essays, and…….. well they’re the reason I failed last time, and certainly the hardest part of the test. It appears to be completely arbitrary what essays you get. But last time I got royally screwed. Here’s hoping they give me a fair batch this time.
 
Will give more of an assessment in the morning, but boy it was a head scratcher. Quite a tough one I must admit, although to be honest I’m glad it’s challenging.
 
Would agree with MissCleo’s assessment. The essays are the trickiest part. I left the exam yesterday thinking for sure that I’d failed. Looking back on it though I’d say that I was probably on track to pass after section 1 at least. The MCQ’s are a lot tougher than in level 1, they really do require a lot lot more thought. In terms of the essay section I’d pretty much write off my chances in getting much out of the second question, I totally bombed it and I only have myself to blame for it I suppose. The other two questions weren’t too hard though in truth.
My advice would be to hit it hard it from Section 1 question 1 onwards. Time was very much an obstacle, I didn’t really get a chance to properly review my answers and only finished completing my answers with about 5 minutes to go. I’d say I did a rudimentary review of the first 50 question’s or so and that was it. My one complaint I’d have about the exam (much like for Level 1) is that I found a lot of the questions asked wouldn’t be how the original text book would have presented the concept and required a lot more lateral thinking than I thought was fair.
I’d say I’d be on the very tip of pass/fail……pretty much depending on a passing score requirement of about 66% or so I would guess.
If I had a chance to do the last couple of days before the exam again I’d spend my time practising the essay questions to be honest.
Best of luck to everyone.
 
Eoghan that’s pretty much exactly how I felt after finishing last year. My mcs were well within the passing range but essay score of less than 50% crushed me.
People don’t give this test near the respect it deserves. Someone I know who has his CFA, and works for the biggest pension plan in my state has now attempted the CAIA Leve II twice, and failed both times. It’s a grueling test 1000x harder than the CFA Level I, and on par with CFA L II. I say this as someone who took the CFA L II last year.
What Eoghan said is right though, I’m glad it’s challenging, since it does help with the prestige. I’m just hoping I can remember all the stuff I spent so much time learning during the past 4 months and don’t freeze on the essays.
 
good luck guys and gals.
all the best miss cleo
EoghanLyons and miss cleo.
do u think we should spend time on the current and practices handbook questions or its just a waste of time and energy. the book is pricy.
for now i am just using schweser test bank but i am told its of no use, the questions are way different.
 
I would make sure to know at least the core concepts from each of the C&I readings. I read that book once and used the Schweser material for a couple of rounds of revision.
All areas are going to be tested on the day, so you can’t really ignore any areas in your final review. Would be a nightmare to get a full essay question on an area not adequately studied.
Would probably be better to review the questions in the official book but if you don’t have it then Schweser will do the next best thing.
 
I’m back, and honestly, it wasn’t that bad. Multiple choice, there were the few questions that were absurd, but overall pretty confident I cleared 70%. The essays are what wrecked me last time, but this time it was like a gift from god. I might have missed 5 points out of the 30 total, nothing I didn’t know unlike last time where I effectively only got a 10/30. Very optimistic. I guess the universe righted itself after September’s debacle. Oh well, next week off then CFA L II prep begins.
 
MissCleo - good for you! What a relief. Im going in next week for my meeting with the CAIA gods…hope I draw a good exam. MC is always my weakness. I am focused on studying my notes, not the test bank - thats what killed me last time.
 
when they say essay do they mean qualitative aspect or both qualitative and quantitative?
 
Hey Guys,
those who had already the test, are there many calculations to do? Do we need to know all the formulas?
regards &
good luck
s
 
Do we need to know all the formulas?
I don’t believe that can be answered…..
 
No, I mean there were hardly any calculations on my test, focus more on the big picture items and you should be fine.
 
I thank those for the comments though, it has definitely helped me plot out the next few days. I feel sorta of like I did for Level 1 knowing a little bit about everything but not an expert on any one section (except for maybe ethics). Keep the comments coming.
 
Good luck to you guys. I didn’t even show up to my appointment as I was on vacation with my brother. I’ll see you in September!
 
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