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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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