Practice Questions - Order of Importance

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heathcliff101

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Hi all,
Getting close now! I just took my first schweser practice exam and scored 63%…getting a bit stressed now!
I know this has been discussed to death but I can’t find anywhere that ranks the importance of the practice questions available (ie level of difficulty, important to tackle before the big day, closeness to exam style questions etc).
Do people agree with the below order:
1. CFAI mock exam
2. CFAI 2 sample exams
3. Schweser Practice exams
4. CFAI practice questions (end of chapter)
5. Schweser Qbank
I just want to make sure that I focus doing the most important type of question in my revision as I don’t have time for them all (realistically won’t get around to doing all of the Qbank as well as any CFAI practice problems I haven’t already attempted).
Thanks in advance!
 
If I had to guess, I would rank them the same way you did. That may be right on average, but I sometimes heard a couple of people find their Schweser Practice exam to be more difficult than the actual exam.
I’d say your ranking is probably right on average, though it’d be better to ask someone who’s used them all and taken the exam.
 
Thanks for your comment Rayankh! Anyone else shed any insight? Are the Schweser practice exams harder than the real thing?
Thanks in advance!
 
strongly advice you to do EOC at first. its really helpful. do EOC and then go back to review,
 
I think the Q-Bank is incredibly valuable, especially early on. Yes the questions are easier but theres a lot of them and doing all of them for a particular chapter makes you see, think about and execute each relevant concept multiple times. The key to memorizing formulas and being able to apply them quickly and efficently is practise. Yes, some of the more difficult CFAI questions will require you to piece multiple concepts together which is required for the exam, but the Q-Bank questions will hammer each individual concept into your head and force you to see them multiple times.
I believe that the Q-Bank was the single most valuable item at my disposal for level 1 because it hardened each individual concept into my head. There’s a lot of plug and chug in level 1 and a lot of just know and interperet the ratio and in order to do that you need to have them right at your finger tips.
Mocks are the most important part of the late game studying but don’t underestimate the value of the Q-bank at L1. I finished both the morning and afternoon sessions with over an hour to spare because of all the reps I did and that gave me the time to really dig deep into some of the more difficult questions.
 
CFAI mock and Qbank saved my a$$ in L1. I actually thought the CFAI Sample Exams were harder than the real deal. CFAI Mock is as close as you’ll get, and for L1 at least Qbank is good for drilling. Never took Schweser practice tests for L1, but I will for L2 pretty soon.
edit: oh yeah, don’t skimp on the CFAI EOC’s either, and be mindful of topics in the chapter that aren’t tested…you still need to know it!
 
Many of my friends who cleared L1 last December, had a more or les similar priority list.
I would like to point out that donot take CFA mock immediately. First try to complete the CFA Sample Exams and Practice Exams. Once you feel that you have taken a good number of mocks, only then go for the CFA mock. Prevent it for the later period as CFA mock is pretty similar to actual exams.
Hope this helps !!!
 
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