It's been a while since my last post as Ive been recovering from the test prep and enjoying some much needed time with my family. I plan on picking up the pace a little in the new year so I haven't dropped off the planet or anything.
Just wanted to make a post and wish everyone who has emailed me or posted on the blog a very Happy Holiday season and a great new year!!
See you in '09!
Jim
Just wanted to make a post and wish everyone who has emailed me or posted on the blog a very Happy Holiday season and a great new year!!
See you in '09!
Jim
I'm still not planning on taking the Level 2 exam, but last night I read over the outline. Lots of new stuff, some I saw before in my MSF courses. I think I'm going to pass though and wait until 2010.
Another option is the CAIA exam. They give both tests in one year so you can obtain the charter much faster. The material doesnt look too bad and there's a lot of overlap with the Level 1 material it seems. I'm going to take the holiday season to rest up and think about what I want to do next year, I may try to pursue this charter.
Another option is the CAIA exam. They give both tests in one year so you can obtain the charter much faster. The material doesnt look too bad and there's a lot of overlap with the Level 1 material it seems. I'm going to take the holiday season to rest up and think about what I want to do next year, I may try to pursue this charter.
I never slept as good as I did last night, seriously. Here's a rundown of my day yesterday.
The Morning
Got a good 7.5 hours of sleep in the night before, had my clothes already picked out and showered the night before so I didn't have to waste any time in the morning. Woke up at 6, was not tired like I usually am since I'm not a morning person. Felt a strange calm while eating breakfast and reviewing my formula sheet and last minute notes. Right before I walked out, I watched the Rocky video I posted and some other inspirational clips and I tell you, it worked. I had this strange, 'i'm going to kick this test's ass' feeling.
I arrive at the testing center around 7:45. Parked across the street in the Bank of America building. Saw one of the guys who was in the Stalla class with me, we wished each other luck. I was surprised at how many people were there taking the test. Lots of kids right out of college or maybe still in it(saw plenty of U of Miami sweaters and t shirts). This actually made me more confident, I started thinking to myself, "I'm a 33 year old guy with 2 Master's degrees, 10 years of industry experience at top companies and I've just taken 10+ mock exams where I've passed every single one. I wonder who here has that level of preparation."
After waiting outside for about 15 minutes, they finally started letting us in, checking our ID's and exam tickets. They assign me a seat so I sit down, lay out my 2 calculators and pencils. I brought 5 pencils, a pen 2 calculators and a battery. I happen to have a picture of my kids in my wallet so I pull it out and stare at it for a while just to give myself some extra motivation. Right after I put it back in, one of the proctors comes up to me and says can you come with me and grab your stuff. I'm automatically thinking they saw me looking at the picture and are about to write me up, here goes all I worked for, all of that. It turns out I was sitting in the right seat just in the wrong section. Whew.
I get to my right seat and take my place. It's game time.
The Test - AM
They hand the test out, make us go thru the routine of putting our number and name on the front of the exam book, take out the answer sheet and sign it, all of that. As soon as they tell us we can start I immediately jump right into Ethics. I found the AM Ethics version relatively easy. I blew thru it in 5 minutes. As soon as I got to the Quant section, I knew this test was going to go well. I literally finished Quant in 8 minutes. Econ, some of the questions I knew right away and the others I think I got mostly right. FSA, I started to enter a zone. Before you know it, I'm done with the exam. I look at my watch, and only an hour and 15 minutes had passed, no lie. I couldn't believe it. I figured I would end early but not this early. So I went back thru the test 2 more times, caught some obvious mistakes, changed a few answers after I had time to really think thru the question. I know I got some wrong but overall I knew I did well enough to get over a 70 on the morning session. I was surprised at how "easy" I found it. There were no trick questions or anything I found truly difficult. I could have swore I saw the same questions on the mock exams I took. Although I could have finished early, I stayed until the end reviewing my calculations to make sure I didn't make any stupid mistakes. Anyone still sitting with 30 mins left has to stay until the end after they collect all the exams. This took forever and I started to get upset since I wanted to have as much time during lunch to review notes before the PM session. Finally they let us out. I'm feeling good at this point but figured the PM session would separate the men from the boys so I was cautiously optimistic.
Lunch
I packed a sandwich I made for myself, an apple and downed a bottle of water I bought. Went back to the car where I left it and spent the hour I had reviewing Secret Sauce and my formula sheet. I knew I had gotten a few questions wrong and this was confirmed when I was going thru the notes. My thinking was that the PM session would be much harder so I wanted to make sure I didn't forget any key points. I went over Econ hard and also Derivatives. I also tried to find topics that weren't on the morning session since I figured they would ask them in the PM. After finishing lunch, I walked back to the testing center and brought my formula sheet with me, reviewing some last minute things. I'm prepping myself for a tough PM session.
The Test - PM
After the preliminaries, it's the 2nd half. I again jump into Ethics and found this part tougher than the morning session. Some of the questions were real borderline. I'm already thinking this is gonna be tough. As soon as I get to Quant, I couldn't believe how easy I found the questions, same with Econ, same with FSA, same with Corp Finance, Equities, etc. I was shocked at how easy I found this test. I was done in 90 minutes. I couldn't believe it, all of the mocks were harder than this. I went thru the test again, found some mistakes in places that I fixed, double and triple checked some answers, redid Ethics to make sure I didn't get anything blatantly wrong. I struggled to find questions I had issues solving. Again stayed until the end. All the while I'm thinking to myself, am I dreaming here? Was I really worried that I might not pass this? Why were the Stalla and Schweser exams so much harder?
Aftermath
I walked out of there feeling very confident that I passed this exam. Unless I just had some complete brain farts and made mistakes I didnt catch the 2nd and 3rd time I went thru the exam, I can't see a case where I don't get over a 70 on each session, especially the PM session. The only thing that worried me is that maybe everyone else found it easy too so that means the MPS will be higher than normal. Well walking out with people, I'm hearing them say it was hard, they thinked they failed, etc so maybe that won't be the case.
A couple of points about the actual exam itself:
- You don't use your calculator much during this exam except for basic math(add, minus, times, divide) and TVM questions. It really focuses more on theory than actual mechanics although you do need to know the basics.
- There were no complex questions on the exam in my view. I came in worried about stuff like FRA calculations, Swap and complex Derivative payoffs, Money Weighted returns, accrued interest on bonds, etc but nothing like that. I would say there were less than 10 questions that I would consider very difficult and even those I saw many times on the mocks previously so they were "easy" to me.
- Having 2 calculators helped. I routinely jumped back and forth between the 2 I brought. May seem strange but switchings calcs helped "reset" me from time to time when I was going off the deep end with a calculation or going too fast. I guess the actual act of switching calculators and starting "fresh" helped deal with the mental part of the test.
- Bringing lunch and going back to the car is definitely the way to go. No need to waste time finding a meal, you get away from the crowd and you can use the hour to bone up on some extra theory, especially if it wasn't tested in the morning. You can immediately ID what wasn't tested and can focus on those parts and formulas. This helped me in the PM, there was a point where I literally got 10 questions in a row on stuff I had just reviewed during lunch. I answered those 10 questions in less than a minute no lie.
- The proctors are definitely not CFA charterholders if you were curious. They're also not to be messed with that day.
- Noticed other people around me seemed to finish early too.
I tell you, now that it's all over, it's been such a ride and so worth it. Although I won't know the results for over a month(Jan 28 I believe), I feel confident that I passed with over 70% in each section. I'll probably have major egg on my face if those aren't the results but that's how good I feel after this exam. I went out with my boy last night to watch the fight and grab some drinks and it felt so good to not have the weight of this exam on my shoulders anymore. I'm so proud of myself for having the discipline to even try this. As I said in my first post ever, I'm trying to change my career and use the CFA charter as a springboard so yesterday was a major milestone in that overall process.
I'm waiting for Analystforum to come back up so I can see how other people felt about the exam. Maybe there will be some confirmation that it was as easy as I thought, or maybe not. Let me know what you thought about it, I'm really curious to hear what others thought and what your experiences were like.
The Morning
Got a good 7.5 hours of sleep in the night before, had my clothes already picked out and showered the night before so I didn't have to waste any time in the morning. Woke up at 6, was not tired like I usually am since I'm not a morning person. Felt a strange calm while eating breakfast and reviewing my formula sheet and last minute notes. Right before I walked out, I watched the Rocky video I posted and some other inspirational clips and I tell you, it worked. I had this strange, 'i'm going to kick this test's ass' feeling.
I arrive at the testing center around 7:45. Parked across the street in the Bank of America building. Saw one of the guys who was in the Stalla class with me, we wished each other luck. I was surprised at how many people were there taking the test. Lots of kids right out of college or maybe still in it(saw plenty of U of Miami sweaters and t shirts). This actually made me more confident, I started thinking to myself, "I'm a 33 year old guy with 2 Master's degrees, 10 years of industry experience at top companies and I've just taken 10+ mock exams where I've passed every single one. I wonder who here has that level of preparation."
After waiting outside for about 15 minutes, they finally started letting us in, checking our ID's and exam tickets. They assign me a seat so I sit down, lay out my 2 calculators and pencils. I brought 5 pencils, a pen 2 calculators and a battery. I happen to have a picture of my kids in my wallet so I pull it out and stare at it for a while just to give myself some extra motivation. Right after I put it back in, one of the proctors comes up to me and says can you come with me and grab your stuff. I'm automatically thinking they saw me looking at the picture and are about to write me up, here goes all I worked for, all of that. It turns out I was sitting in the right seat just in the wrong section. Whew.
I get to my right seat and take my place. It's game time.
The Test - AM
They hand the test out, make us go thru the routine of putting our number and name on the front of the exam book, take out the answer sheet and sign it, all of that. As soon as they tell us we can start I immediately jump right into Ethics. I found the AM Ethics version relatively easy. I blew thru it in 5 minutes. As soon as I got to the Quant section, I knew this test was going to go well. I literally finished Quant in 8 minutes. Econ, some of the questions I knew right away and the others I think I got mostly right. FSA, I started to enter a zone. Before you know it, I'm done with the exam. I look at my watch, and only an hour and 15 minutes had passed, no lie. I couldn't believe it. I figured I would end early but not this early. So I went back thru the test 2 more times, caught some obvious mistakes, changed a few answers after I had time to really think thru the question. I know I got some wrong but overall I knew I did well enough to get over a 70 on the morning session. I was surprised at how "easy" I found it. There were no trick questions or anything I found truly difficult. I could have swore I saw the same questions on the mock exams I took. Although I could have finished early, I stayed until the end reviewing my calculations to make sure I didn't make any stupid mistakes. Anyone still sitting with 30 mins left has to stay until the end after they collect all the exams. This took forever and I started to get upset since I wanted to have as much time during lunch to review notes before the PM session. Finally they let us out. I'm feeling good at this point but figured the PM session would separate the men from the boys so I was cautiously optimistic.
Lunch
I packed a sandwich I made for myself, an apple and downed a bottle of water I bought. Went back to the car where I left it and spent the hour I had reviewing Secret Sauce and my formula sheet. I knew I had gotten a few questions wrong and this was confirmed when I was going thru the notes. My thinking was that the PM session would be much harder so I wanted to make sure I didn't forget any key points. I went over Econ hard and also Derivatives. I also tried to find topics that weren't on the morning session since I figured they would ask them in the PM. After finishing lunch, I walked back to the testing center and brought my formula sheet with me, reviewing some last minute things. I'm prepping myself for a tough PM session.
The Test - PM
After the preliminaries, it's the 2nd half. I again jump into Ethics and found this part tougher than the morning session. Some of the questions were real borderline. I'm already thinking this is gonna be tough. As soon as I get to Quant, I couldn't believe how easy I found the questions, same with Econ, same with FSA, same with Corp Finance, Equities, etc. I was shocked at how easy I found this test. I was done in 90 minutes. I couldn't believe it, all of the mocks were harder than this. I went thru the test again, found some mistakes in places that I fixed, double and triple checked some answers, redid Ethics to make sure I didn't get anything blatantly wrong. I struggled to find questions I had issues solving. Again stayed until the end. All the while I'm thinking to myself, am I dreaming here? Was I really worried that I might not pass this? Why were the Stalla and Schweser exams so much harder?
Aftermath
I walked out of there feeling very confident that I passed this exam. Unless I just had some complete brain farts and made mistakes I didnt catch the 2nd and 3rd time I went thru the exam, I can't see a case where I don't get over a 70 on each session, especially the PM session. The only thing that worried me is that maybe everyone else found it easy too so that means the MPS will be higher than normal. Well walking out with people, I'm hearing them say it was hard, they thinked they failed, etc so maybe that won't be the case.
A couple of points about the actual exam itself:
- You don't use your calculator much during this exam except for basic math(add, minus, times, divide) and TVM questions. It really focuses more on theory than actual mechanics although you do need to know the basics.
- There were no complex questions on the exam in my view. I came in worried about stuff like FRA calculations, Swap and complex Derivative payoffs, Money Weighted returns, accrued interest on bonds, etc but nothing like that. I would say there were less than 10 questions that I would consider very difficult and even those I saw many times on the mocks previously so they were "easy" to me.
- Having 2 calculators helped. I routinely jumped back and forth between the 2 I brought. May seem strange but switchings calcs helped "reset" me from time to time when I was going off the deep end with a calculation or going too fast. I guess the actual act of switching calculators and starting "fresh" helped deal with the mental part of the test.
- Bringing lunch and going back to the car is definitely the way to go. No need to waste time finding a meal, you get away from the crowd and you can use the hour to bone up on some extra theory, especially if it wasn't tested in the morning. You can immediately ID what wasn't tested and can focus on those parts and formulas. This helped me in the PM, there was a point where I literally got 10 questions in a row on stuff I had just reviewed during lunch. I answered those 10 questions in less than a minute no lie.
- The proctors are definitely not CFA charterholders if you were curious. They're also not to be messed with that day.
- Noticed other people around me seemed to finish early too.
I tell you, now that it's all over, it's been such a ride and so worth it. Although I won't know the results for over a month(Jan 28 I believe), I feel confident that I passed with over 70% in each section. I'll probably have major egg on my face if those aren't the results but that's how good I feel after this exam. I went out with my boy last night to watch the fight and grab some drinks and it felt so good to not have the weight of this exam on my shoulders anymore. I'm so proud of myself for having the discipline to even try this. As I said in my first post ever, I'm trying to change my career and use the CFA charter as a springboard so yesterday was a major milestone in that overall process.
I'm waiting for Analystforum to come back up so I can see how other people felt about the exam. Maybe there will be some confirmation that it was as easy as I thought, or maybe not. Let me know what you thought about it, I'm really curious to hear what others thought and what your experiences were like.
Well, after 4 months of prep, actually make that 2.5 years counting grad school, tomorrow is the big day. I've done all I can do to prep. While there are still some topics I'm not too strong at, overall I feel about as prepared as I can be for the real thing. I spent today reviewing Economics and FSA and going thru the Secret Sauce on the later topics which I'm strong on. I'm about to do a little workout just to get the last minute stress out and then take a shower, prep clothes for tomorrow and off to bed by 10. Up by 6 for a good breakfast and try to get to the exam site by 8. Maybe do some last minute review of formulas and quick tips but that's it.
In the end it'll all come down to what questions are asked and how difficult they are. No matter how much you think you may know material, a question can always be asked in a certain way that will make you get it wrong. If it's on the level of the mock exams, I'm confident I'll pass. If it's on the level of the Stalla mock which I thought was very hard, I'm not so sure. At any rate, no matter what happens tomorrow, I've left it all on the floor.
I'll leave you with a video I've been watching today and will be watching tomorrow. This is really what it's been like for the past few months for me and I'm sure for most of you as well. If you can't stand the mushy part, forward to the 2:10 mark. That's the part that gives me goose pimples. It's what I plan on doing tomorrow.
Good luck to everyone on the exam tomorrow. I'll be posting my experience probably Sunday at some point after I take some much deserved time to unwind and enjoy my first night without having to worry about school of CFA studies in over 2.5 years.
Rocky Balboa
In the end it'll all come down to what questions are asked and how difficult they are. No matter how much you think you may know material, a question can always be asked in a certain way that will make you get it wrong. If it's on the level of the mock exams, I'm confident I'll pass. If it's on the level of the Stalla mock which I thought was very hard, I'm not so sure. At any rate, no matter what happens tomorrow, I've left it all on the floor.
I'll leave you with a video I've been watching today and will be watching tomorrow. This is really what it's been like for the past few months for me and I'm sure for most of you as well. If you can't stand the mushy part, forward to the 2:10 mark. That's the part that gives me goose pimples. It's what I plan on doing tomorrow.
Good luck to everyone on the exam tomorrow. I'll be posting my experience probably Sunday at some point after I take some much deserved time to unwind and enjoy my first night without having to worry about school of CFA studies in over 2.5 years.
Rocky Balboa
Took the 1st CFAI Mock today, got a 93 out of 120 for a 78% score. Not bad. Somehow I feel this is easier than the real thing when you add the pressure. I'm tempted to take the 2nd one. We'll see.
I'm finishing up the reading of the Standards of Professional Conduct tonight. I regret not reading this a lot earlier, before I started taking the mock exams. My scores would have dramatically improved had I known all the little nuances. It's all good, I'll know them for the real exam. I'll be quizzing myself tonight and tomorrow morning on Ethics just to drill it home some more. Tomorrow is also the day I'll do a final passthrough of the material using the Secret Sauce. I'll also reread some of the trivial pursuit material. I'll probably end the day by reviewing the mock exams I've taken so far before shutting it down early.
Earlier today I stocked up on pencils, sandwich bread and a powerbar for lunch and I also found extra batteries for the calculator. I should be good to go. The exam site is actually the same hotel they held the Stalla course classes in which is about 30 mins from me.
I'm finishing up the reading of the Standards of Professional Conduct tonight. I regret not reading this a lot earlier, before I started taking the mock exams. My scores would have dramatically improved had I known all the little nuances. It's all good, I'll know them for the real exam. I'll be quizzing myself tonight and tomorrow morning on Ethics just to drill it home some more. Tomorrow is also the day I'll do a final passthrough of the material using the Secret Sauce. I'll also reread some of the trivial pursuit material. I'll probably end the day by reviewing the mock exams I've taken so far before shutting it down early.
Earlier today I stocked up on pencils, sandwich bread and a powerbar for lunch and I also found extra batteries for the calculator. I should be good to go. The exam site is actually the same hotel they held the Stalla course classes in which is about 30 mins from me.
Finished a Schweser exam this evening after taking yesterday off from exams. Scored a 71%. Ethics killed me(8/18), the Schweser questions just are so nuanced. I decided to drop everything and start reading the Standards of Professional Conduct front to back starting tonight instead of waiting for Friday. I'm doing well on every other part of the exam but I want to do well on Ethics. The good news is that I'm doing well on every other section. The questions I'm getting wrong are typically on obscure topics I don't have memorized, not making as many dumb mistakes(actually didn't make any on this exam).
Overall I'm feeling good. The rest of the week is scheduled as follows:
Tomorrow - Stalla Mock Exam - this is the one with the CD.
Thursday - CFAI mocks in AM and PM.
I wanted to finish Book 6 of the Schweser exams and also the Stalla practice exams but don't think I can squeeze all of them in between now and the test. I may just go thru them and answer various questions and/or look at the answers.
Will review all the exams I have taken so far and the answers. I've pretty much seen every topic covered at least once so this should be a good final review.
Friday is the Ethics review and a re-reading of the trivial pursuit material I identified here. The plan is to be in bed lights off by 10 so I'm well rested in the morning.
Overall I'm feeling good. The rest of the week is scheduled as follows:
Tomorrow - Stalla Mock Exam - this is the one with the CD.
Thursday - CFAI mocks in AM and PM.
I wanted to finish Book 6 of the Schweser exams and also the Stalla practice exams but don't think I can squeeze all of them in between now and the test. I may just go thru them and answer various questions and/or look at the answers.
Will review all the exams I have taken so far and the answers. I've pretty much seen every topic covered at least once so this should be a good final review.
Friday is the Ethics review and a re-reading of the trivial pursuit material I identified here. The plan is to be in bed lights off by 10 so I'm well rested in the morning.
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