Tackling old exams

M

MGR250

New member
Joined
Jun 18, 2026
Messages
0
Reaction score
0
Curious to hear how people are going to go about this? Would it make more sense to knock out Schweser constructed response questions first, and then delve into the old exams? I plan to work the old exams a few times and dont want to find myself memorizing the answers and not effectively learning/practicing them. Anyone have any thoughts regarding this?
 
I think im going to use Schweser exams as inital practice and then move exclusively to CFAI mocks.
 
Galli wrote:
I think im going to use Schweser exams as inital practice and then move exclusively to CFAI mocks.
Click to expand...
This is what I did too. Started with Schweser to get going and then moved to very old papers (2002/3/4 etc) and then moved to last 5 years.
Most important point is to learn from the exam mistakes. Make hard notes of why you didnt award yourself points. Dont use the exams to find if you are reaching 70%, instead use it to sharpen up skills. 2013, I made this mistake of being a bit lenient to myself and being content with reaching 75 - result was a terrible Band 10. Spend atleast 3 hours learning what you did right and what you did wrong. Served me very well in 2014 and passed it quite decently in the end.
Good luck!
 
Seriously, I go to the LevelUp BootCamp and Marc should have 10 yrs worth of the old exams in this huge Binder categorized out by topic with all the crapp taken out that’s no longer tested. And I would do that in May until u r blue in the face or just use it to target weak spots, like IPS stuff.
Honestly, that binder scared the heck out of me, very overwhelming looking. I didn’t do it much my first time, friend told me it made a huge difference to him passing. Writing respondes is really a dead trap for most people, me too.
Don’t waste limited time on doing old exams with topics no longer in the curriculum.
 
Godism17 wrote:
Don’t waste limited time on doing old exams with topics no longer in the curriculum.
Click to expand...
Agree, but IPS has not changed much at all though. And thats where we require lots of practise.
 
Agree, what I am saying is not to blindly do all parts of the old exams. I did that before, then realized it wasn’t in the curriculum anymore, serious waste of time. This is why I am recommending people get the 10yrs of old CFAi exams Binder thing Marc LeFrebre (sp) can’t ever spell his name right, has been putting together: it has all the non-2015 topics taken out already so you don’t pull your hair out.
There’s enough CFAI old essay exam material out there, why would someone play chase the monkey with third party material that can’t even closely replicate the exam especially on L3 is beyond me.
 
Do you know if Marc LeFebvre sells any of his study resources separately?
 
He really should but my understanding is that you get it all with the 4 Day Bootcamp. This year since he Founded LevelUp LLC he has created bada$$ color coded slide book for focus n clarity he said, since the Schweser slides had so many errors in them and aren’t detailed and to the point enough for his OCD…lol
I guess that happens to you if u have been reading the whole curriculum year after year for like 21 years it will screw u up…lol I’m personally not sure if that guy is human anymore but definitely genius. Anyways, I’m looking forward to fresh new slides and it sounds like you can cut them out to make very comprehensive index cards.
Come to the darn BootCamps, you won’t regret it. Marc has found a curriculum based method that is consistently working for people. I’m not sure I should or can even say this but the unofficial, unverified, unendorsed, rumored pass rate for my 2013 Bootcamp class was some crazy ~70%, must be true bc everyone I used to know is “gone” done, bittersweet.
Once you know the way and who to follow, then it’s jus self discipline to execute it. If I ever have a baby, I might name it after Marc if he can get me over L3 n be done with this hell. I think he can, all he does is L3 only.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top