2011 Band 10er . . . seeking advice on Ethics and AM failing, only, advice, children, 2011

dece2011

I've been a member of the board for a few years and really enjoy the informative and comical posts. Was hoping to put CFA L3 behind me after failing in Band 5 last year, but only improved to the infamous Band 10 in 2011. I have two young children (5 and 1.5 years) and am hoping to put my fam out of the misery of CFAdom in 2012 on my 3rd and final attempt at this beast.

My achilles heels in 2011 (and last year) were Ethics and the Am section.

For Ethics, I've never been able to get in the 70%+ category on any of the three levels. I even suck when doing the CFAI examples (usually getting about 2/3 correct). For all of you Ethics studs out there, can you share what helped you master this section of the exam?

In terms of the am section, I feel very comfortable with the material, but find it hard to grind out more than a couple of sentences in bullet point format given the time constraints. It sounds like practicing the old (and still relevant) portions of the am section over and over again in timed sessions is really important. Have also heard about the Creighton camp, but the cost might be an issue. Any additional advice people can provide RE: mastering the am session would be greatly appreciated.

For what it's worth, here are my results:

Essay Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70%
1 Portfolio Management - Individual 15 - * -
2 Portfolio Management - Individual 23 * - -
3 Portfolio Management - Institutional 26 - * -
4 Economics 23 - * -
5 Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 20 * - -
6 Fixed Income Investments 19 - * -
7 Equity Investments 22 - * -
8 Portfolio Management - Risk Management 16 * - -
9 Portfolio Management – Performance Eval. 16 * - -


Item Set Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70%
- Alternative Investments 18 - * -
- Economics 18 - - *
- Equity Investments 18 - * -
- Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - * -
- Fixed Income Investments 36 - * -
- Portfolio Management - Execution 18 - - *
- Portfolio Management - Individual 18 - - *
- Portfolio Management - Risk Management 18 - - *


We have divided the full group of candidates who did not pass into 10 approximately equal score bands. Your score band below shows how your overall score on the exam compares with all other failed candidates.

Your score band: 10

- bdoggles