maybe it isnt as hard as it seems?

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Tommyjohn

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so after doing a couple of mocks and never getting higher than a 65 something dawned on me:
There are so many questions that I got wrong that were just simple plug and chug. by that i mean that all you had to do was pick the relevant figures from the item set, plug them into a formula, and you get the correct answer. no tricks. no wrinkles. just regurgitate the formula onto the piece of paper. I feel that more than half the battle is simply MEMORIZING all the formulas, there seem to be SO many easy “plug and chug” points to be had.
Now i have made around 220 flashcards for formulas so perhaps memoriing ALL of them is a task that I am downplaying the difficulty of. but have you guys felt the same? I just feel that if you master all the formuas there is a good chance to pass.
agree/disagree?
 
Somewhat similar experience…but based on the topic tests, while I may remember the formula, sometimes they will leave out an input variable that may seem incredibly obvious, but having to derive it from the clues that they provide is very difficult.
 
I feel the same. I have written over 300 formulas in my notebook. Just memorise the 300 odd formulas you’ll do well. Occassionally there will be tricks, but knowing the formulas will at least enable you to work it out given enough time. In the end, I still think FRA is really tricky since you can’t say it is a formula dependent topic.
 
i’m starting to see things that way as well. it’s a massive gap to understand concepts but not have the equations at the ready.
i mean, i think it assumes you’ve built some understanding along the way. multinational is pretty simple in terms of math, but a very complex path to get to the point where it’s simple.
i’ve started re-doing the equations in powerpoint’s Equation function – make them light grey, then colour in key notation or whatnot, to focus on what’s unique/interesting about them. E.g., for the 4 LIFO equations, i’ve memorized them relative to one another – what’s different about RE and NI; everything else is the same.
 
For sure knowing the formulas it’s very important, but my experience is that for the FRA CFA topic exercises it doesn’t matter if you know the formulas or not, you have to understand the “basics”, how to get to the point and that it isn’t a joke. I feel very frustrated after doing the FRA CFA topics and I am quesitoning myself if I studied in a wrong way… at the EOC I was doing aroung 65%.
 
I have done the schweser, blue boxes and eocs in original text for everything except PM, Alternative Inv, econ, and Quant (here I have just done schweser). I am going to rely on schweser and practice questions on these 4 areas.
I’m thinking about just working practice tests and problems from here on out. I started getting my flash cards on formulas I know I wont be able to recall. The number I should have next week should be a good amount.
 
Tommyjohn wrote:
so after doing a couple of mocks and never getting higher than a 65 something dawned on me:
There are so many questions that I got wrong that were just simple plug and chug. by that i mean that all you had to do was pick the relevant figures from the item set, plug them into a formula, and you get the correct answer. no tricks. no wrinkles. just regurgitate the formula onto the piece of paper. I feel that more than half the battle is simply MEMORIZING all the formulas, there seem to be SO many easy “plug and chug” points to be had.
Now i have made around 220 flashcards for formulas so perhaps memoriing ALL of them is a task that I am downplaying the difficulty of. but have you guys felt the same? I just feel that if you master all the formuas there is a good chance to pass.
agree/disagree?
Click to expand...
No, memorizing the formulas is not enough. You have to understand the underlying concepts thoroughly to be able to answer the kind of questions they will ask on exam day. Knowing all of the formulas like the back of your hand is required to do well though.
 
IsThereAny wrote:
No, memorizing the formulas is not enough. You have to understand the underlying concepts thoroughly to be able to answer the kind of questions they will ask on exam day. Knowing all of the formulas like the back of your hand is required to do well though.
Click to expand...
I have never take lvl II before but I completely agree with this. I have about 150 flashcards and run through them once per week and get maybe 4-5 wrong so I feel like I have memorized the formulas well. However I am still not scoring 90+% on the mocks like I am with the flashcards. It’s not just about memorizing the formulas. Take valuing the firm using a constant growth FCFE model. V0=FCFE1/r-g. However how do we get FCFE? Lets say we are given an income statement and notes to financial statements that say they changed their depreciation methods/estimates and they dont reflect economic reality. Do you make adjustments to the listed depreciation expenses? Or do you leave them? What adjustments do you make?, etc. I feel there is a little more to this than just memorizing formulas - so in sum I think it really is as hard as we think it will be.
 
Do not under estimate formula memorization though. It could get you a few free points which might mean the difference between passing and failing.
 
I think you might be setting yourself up for failure with that attitude IMHO. Last year (band 7) my initial impression of the exam was that it was much easier that anticipated. I thought I did fairly well in Equity but when I got my results back I got below 50%.
If you’re getting 65 on your mocks I’d say you’re in decent shape to pass. Just don’t reduce the exam to simple plug n chug or else you’ll join the re-taker club.
 
Agree with Bachatero. While the exam is more straight forward, it doesn’t mean it’s easy.
 
It will be hard as expected so many of us will finally conclude it was quite fair but not easy. That’s my opinion.
 
Bachatero2014 wrote:
I think you might be setting yourself up for failure with that attitude IMHO. Last year (band 7) my initial impression of the exam was that it was much easier that anticipated. I thought I did fairly well in Equity but when I got my results back I got below 50%.
If you’re getting 65 on your mocks I’d say you’re in decent shape to pass. Just don’t reduce the exam to simple plug n chug or else you’ll join the re-taker club.
Click to expand...
What mock scores were you getting to hit a band 7?
 
Batman
I only had time for four mocks. As I recall I did well on schweser mocks scoring 70 on a couple but low 60s on the CFAI mock. In my experience the real exam was much more clear than the mock. This year I’m on track for 7 mocks. Honestly, I dont if that’s the best strategy since I’m placing alot of weight on 3rd party materials. We’ll see I guess.
 
Those are so pretty darn high scores to be getting a band 7!!!!! Band 9-10 sure….
that at made me kinda freak out. It’s completely counter to many I have heard getting 50s on schweser and getting band 10
 
well there’s more at play right? Maybe I chocked. Maybe the ppl who 50 on schweser freaked out like you then got their ass in gear. Or maybe they took more total mocks where I only did 4. Afterall if you get take 6 mock exams and get 50s that’s just a good learning opp. end of the day I’m not sure what to tell ya.
 
and fyi I remember two 70 scores from schweser mocks and low 60 on another. Low 60 on CFAI mock.
 
Bachatero2014 wrote:
and fyi I remember two 70 scores from schweser mocks and low 60 on another. Low 60 on CFAI mock.
Click to expand...
thats some really good marks for a band 7. I better start freaking out right now.
 
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