Why On Earth Are CFA Derivatives and Economics So Hard?

I find Economics pretty interesting, and I did OK in L1 (50-70 band). I get quite confused by derivatives though – the questions can be really tricky.

I’d say a bit of both option #1 and #2. It’s slightly difficult for me, but I also spent less time on it because of the topic weighting – although I’m not sure which direction the causality points to! Could be reinforcing 🙂 i.e. it’s difficult cos I spent so little time on that topic.

Yeah I feel the same about econs @westmantooth for Level 2. I think I’m just gonna continue moving ahead to stick to my study schedule. I’ll find out how much I retain in the last month I suppose

I believe option #2 is the reason. Candidates that currently work full time want to manage their time as more efficient as they can.

I found the Econ and Derivative sections difficult because they were both relatively foreign to me. I haven’t been exposed to much for Derivatives in school or in work and I took Econ in school almost 15 years ago!
None of the concepts are overly hard to understand (derivatives obviously gets a little dicey) but I found them hard to retain. I would read a couple pages and think to myself “yes that makes perfect sense”, then i’d do the practice problems the next day and draw a complete blank. I found myself having to read a section multiple times to retain the jist of it.
The fact that they are given a lower weighting on the exam compounded the problem in that I allocated less time to reviewing those topics.
I’m studying for level two right now and after getting through the Econ section, I can already feel that I don’t remember much of it. I’m torn on how much time to spend reviewing vs plowing ahead to ensure I get through everything else.

I think it is tough because it is hard to teach.

I’m having trouble getting focused as well. I’m trying to get through the majority of lectures to get at least an overview of the topic areas so that I can really dive into the details and learning the nuances in second half of Apr/May through problems.

Level 2 seems like everything has been annoying so far. Hopefully I’ll feel more comfortable once I get through some more practice problems.

Economics has been consistently my worst subject (I went back to old results to check). Derivatives not great, but not terrible either. I take exception with your comment that economics are logical and there is not much memorization. The problem for me is that for every theory with logical reasoning, there is another theory using logical reasoning that contradicts it. Particularly with regard to currency, there are 4 contradicting ways to explain the same phenomenon. I don’t have a background in economics, so it does require a lot of memorization. I can do memorization when there is consistent logic, but with economics the logic seems contradictory.

Fair point @mikpatty‌ , I can understand why you say that, economics is after all a ‘dismal science’. A bit of science and art in the mix, especially when it comes to human behaviour and irrationality! i guess that’s where the confusion lies.

I find Economics pretty interesting, and I did OK in L1 (50-70 band). I get quite confused by derivatives though – the questions can be really tricky.

I find them super tricky as well – always end up with a 50/50 choice.

Was there a follow up with the tips & tricks you mentioned?