The official “talk about Level I without violating CFAI rules” thread

[LeChiffre]

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Well I just got home about 20 minutes ago. What a day. I found the AM to be a bit simpler/easier than the PM. Most people in my room (20 or so candidates, all Level I) were going till the last minute in the afternoon. Overall, AM felt good, PM was a bit tougher, or I was just feeling that way after the previous 5 hours of the day.

[LeChiffre]

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For both sessions I went through and did all the ones I knew or felt pretty confident on, then went back to the stragglers. For the AM first pass took out about 100 questions, PM took out about 90. Went through to the others and had a few moments of clarity where the answer was obvious the second or third time I looked at it.

If I got 70+ in all categories I’d be surprised (probably dipped <70 in one), but if I did any worse than failing band 10 I’d be even more surprised.

[EQ_Arbitrage]

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I actually found it to be the opposite in terms of difficulty.

[googs1484]

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I agree with @LeChiffre. I would be extremely shocked if I didn’t do very well on that test.  I thought the whole thing was pretty cut and dry overall. This will be the only thing I say about the test.  These threads can get borderline quickly and I’d be required to report it.  >:)

[Lollypolly]

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I thought the AM was easier too, I’m crossing all my finger and toes that I passed. 

[RoyD]

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Wasn’t it easier than the mocks? Tbh both Level 1 and 2 were easier than the mocks for me. Based on that I’m hoping I can pass because the worst mock score for me was 60% and the best was 75% and this was slightly better than the best mock. But you can never say when the MPS can be as high as 67 or 68%

[rsparks]

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Personally, I felt the AM was harder, but to each their own. In the morning I finished with 10mins to spare and about 20min in the afternoon. I rocked a couple of topics, but not as well as I did on the mocks beforehand. I believe I will be borderline as well. I keep focusing on the questions I know but got wrong on the day, which was 2%, but it could make the difference…The sad thing is with all this, is how much you’ll remember after you get the charter? 

Any other stories besides the questions? I only had about 50% in my area show up on the day, one person didn’t come back for the afternoon session and a person brought in the wrong calculator which was pretty surprising for me. 

I also find it frustrating that the CFA institute does not talk to the respective transportation authorities on the day. Granted a lot of people may find it different than I did, but if they can organise a venue and peeps for the day, then why can they not notify them. Most of you may be in the northern hemisphere enjoying summer after. For me, it’s winter, dark, crap weather and after a 12hr day, I don’t want to stand with 1000s of other people waiting to get on a tram. I ended up walking to the train station only to find it packed with people going to the sports game. All I wanted was to sit my arse down and relax. Next time, I’ll organise someone to come pick me up. However, according to people after the exam it was the same situation over the years as this year, so I will also write them a letter instead of venting on here. I’m just wondering if anyone else has any stories or found things in similar boat?

[Matilda]

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Good to learn from others..

[RoyD]

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For me the order of difficulty has always been Actual Exam, KS Mock, CFAI Mock being the the hardest. I feel the CFAI Mock is a good representation but the difficulty is over the top. KS Mocks have a slightly different way of testing but it’s always been easier than the actual exam. The actual exam is straightforward w.r.t. testing your knowledge of the material vis a vis trying to confuse, trap or make you do several steps before you can reach your answer. 

Any ways I’m not complaining at all because good mocks should always be harder than the actual exam. It may be bad for your confidence but does wonders for getting you prepared.

[LeChiffre]

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@RoyD, in my opinion it was not harder than the CFAI mock. That being said, it wasn’t as if I walked in there and blazed through it in 90 minutes. Comparing Schweser, the CFAI mocks, and the real exam is tough because Schweser is just a bit different, probably a very similar difficulty, but question style differs from CFAI’s. I’d certainly say it was a fair exam.

My last 2 mocks 72 (Schweser) and 69 (CFAI), so we’ll see how it transferred to exam day.

TL;DR – CFAI mock was a pretty accurate representation of the real thing, perhaps a tad harder. Schweser mocks, while different than CFAI, were about the same, trending towards tougher than the real thing.

[bjw699]

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I found the PM session to be much easier than the AM session.  I wonder if all test centers administer the same 120 questions at the same time or if perhaps the “easier” part was given to some in the AM and others in the PM.

[Nedo]

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I beleive PM test was easier than AM

over all the test was good 

[wink_12]

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According to my “number system” I got an 80% on the AM and a 75% on the PM, but that’s usually + or – 5-6%. So hoping for a 70%+. Agree that AM was easier, but both fairly straightforward.

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