CFA CFA General How many practice papers are you going for?

How many practice papers are you going for?

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    • Avatar of ReenaReena
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        • CFA Charterholder
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        So I got 3 from Schweser, one CFAI mock, was thinking of getting more. Perhaps another set of 3 Schweser papers? Or perhaps Elan, Financetrain or Simplilearn that was recommended here before?

        How many full practice papers should we aim to do? is 5-6 sufficient?

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        Dude that’s fine @vincentt… I somehow never passed 70% too often myself either! Note that the 70% is arbitrary too, as we wouldn’t have known how the difficulty change over the years. It’s just a comforting number 🙂

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        Personally I don’t think doing lots of practice exams is helpful in all cases unless your mark is even throughout sections. If particular sections are antagonizing you take the time to go over that chapter slowly and work through every single question related to that topic.

      • Avatar of Zee TanZee Tan
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          @vincentt I don’t think you should ever be ‘comfortable’ with your score, you should always aim higher! 🙂

          You should aim to score >70% though – if you get that in the actual exam you should be fairly assured of a pass.

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          Hi @vincentt , at my time Elan didn’t exist yet, 7city doesn’t sell their papers separately. Hence I used 2 volumes of Schweser then.

          I’d say 65% is minimum (borderline dangerous), but don’t worry too much about it, as long as you’re not consistently below 60%, and your score is improving or above 65/70%, it’s not something to fuss about too much…

        • Avatar of vincenttvincentt
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            • CFA Level 3
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            @zee I know we should always aim higher (or above 70%), but for some reason when I did the schweser’s practice question, my scores are averaging around 65-68%, which is frustrating as I consistently hitting that range so that created lots of unnecessary pressure.

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            Try taking the Schweser Live/Online Mock exam as well, if possible.

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            @sidmenon, @vincentt – I know it’s nearer to the exam and practice exam period. I’d say it’s natural to feel slightly stressed and pressured about the scores you’re getting, but for me it’s more important that after every exam, you nail down exactly why you get certain areas wrong (+ make sure you understand it and not repeat those mistakes), and you’re on your way to continuous improvement – and that’s what matters. Because with time and enough practice, it will be sufficient

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            Hi @Reena, it’s good that you’re thinking ahead of the practice papers and the time you have.

            Generally, in addition to the CFAI mock, I would say one should try at least 3 more papers – so 4 in total as a minimum, like what you have there.

            In Level 2, I went for more as the materials are vast and I felt I needed more practice. So I went for 6 + 1 CFAI mock. It depends on available time really. One rule of thumb as you probably already know is the more practice the better!

          • Avatar of SnippySnippy
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              • CFA Level 2
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              I am planning to do 6 Schweser and 1 CFAI. If after these, i feel it necessary to get more, i will.

            • Avatar of Zee TanZee Tan
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                I targeted Schweser book 1 and 2 for my level 1. I did book one and 2 exams from book 2, so 5 in total.

              • Avatar of vincenttvincentt
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                  • CFA Level 3
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                  @sophie I haven’t started with any practice exam this time round, but i’m pretty sure the first attempt won’t be as good as what i did in level 1. Hopefully I’m able to improve more in the remaining 44 days. :-S

                • Avatar of hairyfairyhairyfairy
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                    • Undecided
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                    I’ve done 1 Schweser. I didn’t score it officially but I don’t think it was good. I’m still working through the answers though, following @diya’s guidance… I still have 3 (2 Schweser and mock) but I’m starting to think that is not enough.

                  • Avatar of vincenttvincentt
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                      Hi @sophie , the 6 mocks you mentioned are they mainly schweser’s vol 1 and 2 practice questions?
                      Or did you diversify from various sources?

                      Also, what’s the average min score should one get in the mocks before feeling ‘comfortable’ for the exam? (I know this is subjective, but thought it’s good to have a benchmark as a guideline).

                    • Avatar of SnippySnippy
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                        • CFA Level 2
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                        You will @vincentt! Have some faith in yourself 🙂

                        I am currently feeling a little stressed too. But i have the advantage that i didn’t have when i wrote L1 in Dec, time. And with practice, we can definitely aim to do way higher than expected and nail this exam. Practice is the key.

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                        @diya @sophie @zee

                        There’s a possibility for me to get a 2012 practice.
                        What do you guys think: is it safe to work through it too?
                        I mean, quants, econ, derivatives, even probably ethics, those should all be the same stuff?
                        As far as that document about changes from 2012 to 2013 went, it didn’t seem like drastic stuff got transformed.
                        Safeness verdict?

                        PS: I would definitely do this one as the last which I practice on.

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                        I’d go for it @lulu123, but last priority like you said. Materials should be largely similar.

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