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Up1
Hi guys,
I just completed the AM session Mock exam Level 1, and although I haven’t analysed my scores in a lot of detail, I have identified a few errors in the questions and marking.
I just shot an email to the CFAI with a screen shot of the errors (such as marking incorrect to an answer that was actually correct etc) so they should be fixed soon. But nevertheless something to bear in mind.
On the topic of the Mock exam, I wasn’t sure if I should give it a crack this early on (~ 5 months to D-Day), but I am glad I did. Reinforces which areas I have pretty much nailed, and rubs salt into the wounds of my weaker subjects…which is just the kick up the arse I need.
I completed the test in 2hr 5 min, which included a quick run downstairs for a caffeine injection. By the time I “finished” I had earmarked 30 questions as being in the “don’t know/wild guess” category, with most of these being FRA or economics related (I only scored 37% out of these 30 questions — evidently there are parts of the curriculum that I sped over too quickly as there were some questions I had no freaking idea what they were talking about…not necessarily difficult questions, but if you haven’t heard the terminology before it’s a 1 in 3 guess).
Out of interest, for those who have already done a Level 1 exam, how did you find the difficulty compared to the Mock? I have seen this written about quite a bit, with people suggesting the Mock was as difficult or more difficult than the actual exam. Does this sound right? Is the CFAI trying to harden us up before the actual battle, or is it pure chance?
Cheers….
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Up5
@mitch895 there are a lot of theories around mock exams and actual exams difficulty. Based on what I know, either is possible. The mock exams are questions that did not make it into the actual exam – they were questions that are conceived by the same process used to create the actual exam questions. So they could be either harder or easier – I don’t think there is a systematic skew to it.
If I’m not mistaken CFAI also publishes an errata for mock exams (or did I imagine this)?
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Up5
Exactly. Personally I like to get a feel of my starting point so that I can quantify what progress I have made – i.e., if I scored 50% the first time, then 60% a month later it validates my investment of time studying stuff that (for a big chunk of it) I probably won’t use again. But you’re right, it’s each to their own 🙂
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Up4
Thanks @Zee
Hey @CFAchartrewannabe… don’t confuse my attempts at the mocks as “success”!
I have had review of the material and had an idea of which areas I am still weak in (based on CFA EOC practice questions). The mock was to confirm which areas I need to concentrate on.
Like most of us here, I am pretty busy working full time (running a company & non-exec director of another)…plus a 2-year-old who I would much prefer to be playing with than memorising formulas! By focusing on the areas that I have the most wrong answers I am hoping to cover more ground toward a comfortable pass than would be the case if I try to memorise all of the curriculum!
After yesterday’s post I actually did the “PM” session as well. I scored slightly (+2%) better than the “AM” session, though still short of where I want to be. Took 2’30” to complete, so I am pretty happy that time isn’t going to be what kills me.
For me, taking the Mocks was quite a confidence booster in that a lot of the questions I got wrong had a similar theme – for example, I know I need do a bit of work on covariance stuff, and revise some terminology.
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Up4
@mitch895: hey bud if it works for you that’s good. Me I simply can’t do a mock so soon. I have a serious issue with my self-esteem already. If I fail at doing something even moderately well early on, then I get really messed up.
+1, same feeling here.
I just wished I had not read this thread … 🙁
Congrats that you are getting 60% already, just 10% more to go …
Good luck …
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Up3
@mitch895: hey bud if it works for you that’s good. Me I simply can’t do a mock so soon. I have a serious issue with my self-esteem already. If I fail at doing something even moderately well early on, then I get really messed up. I always wait till I have had a go at most of the study material and the EOC’s before I can think about mocks and stuff. But hey, like I said we should all do what works for us. So if this works for you all well and good. In the end I am simply hoping that we ALL pass cos I know everyone is working to their best capacity and putting a lot of time and effort into this. So, keep up the good work and best of luck!
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Up2
Oh dear, freaking out right now! think I need to up my game but might be just what I needed to read also!
thanks for sharing @mitch895 I am only halfway through my third book(Fin Reporting) I am not sure if the material is sticking just yet. I keep revising and doing the EOC questions from other chapters I have covered earlier on but my score is pretty low ~50% or so. 🙁 -
Up2
Thanks guys. The “50% then 60%” was just an example. My initial scores (before actually reading the material, mind you) were a decent bit lower than 50%.
I have found that becoming familiar with the way that the questions are written helped boost scores quite a bit — i.e., reading the questions twice slowly before attempting to answer — and understanding that the three multiple-choice answers are all going to to trick you into thinking they are correct (and if you’re unsure, the answer is probably the first one your rule out)
To make a multiple-choice exam so freaking difficult credit has to be given to the guys writing these exams (sneaky buggers!).
My rule of thumb:
*Score 80% on 80% of the material = ~ 70% (assumes a score of 30% on stuff you don’t know)If you can rule out one of the MC answers in 1/3 of the “don’t know” questions, then the actual score should be closer to 75.7%, leaving a buffer (assuming MPS of ~68%) of 18 questions throughout the day’s exams. That’s the idea anyway. As we all know, it’s a lot harder in practice!
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