WarrenB1

I'm wondering if you take the practice tests too literally. I use them as more of a learning tool then an actual gauge of what the test is actually like.

CFAI loves to give trap questions. one word here or there can totally reverse the answer you think it is. It's possible you were so confident going into the exam, you didn't read carefully enough and grabbed onto key words and fell into the traps

yuoska

iteracom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm wondering if you take the practice tests too
> literally. I use them as more of a learning tool
> then an actual gauge of what the test is actually
> like.

I would agree with that!

@STL23
Remember there is only 1 CFA exam. You can mock all you want but when it is Test day you cannot say you feel like you should have passed b/c you passed all these mocks and practice exams. There is a lot more stress and pressure on test day and you can make small mental mistakes. Band 7 is not that far off. I woudl re-evaluate your stuffy approach...if this is your 3rd time then you need to change something up. Best of luck. Hang in there.

______________________________________________________

CFA Jay, CFA

Valores

brubaker... Thanks for the link, I have submitted for retabulation although it will probably be to no avail, however the link does give me some hope. Someone from my work who also works with CFA has also told me horror stories of this happening so although i'm not holding on to hope anything is possible.

iteracom.... I do use the mock exams as a learning tool as well as a gauge. I took the CFAI mock, the Boston CFA Society Mock, and the Schweser Mocks as well as just working through numerous vignettes. On each of these I scored well and i'm not saying that just because I scored well on these that I should have scored well on the actual exam. However, on the actual exam I felt like I did well, I felt like I knew the material and I looked for the many tricks I have seen in the preparations and actually caught quite a few of them. I do believe that by passing many of the mock exams it is indicitive of knowledge of the material to an extent, I mean how could you pass those exams if you didn't know the material.

CFA Jay.... I am not sure what you mean by stuffy approach. Also as far as changing something up i'm not sure what else I can do really. This was my second time sitting for Level II so I had already gone threw the entire material the first time and spent about 400 hours studying, however I felt un-prepared and was not surprised to have failed the exam.

The second time around I read the material, listened and took notes of each Schweser CD, did all of the CFAI end of chapter questions 3 times, did all 6 schweser mock exams, took the CFAI mock exam, and took the CFA Boston Society mock exam. While taking all of these mock exams I sat down and did them both in actual format to get used to the test and by going back threw and reviewing the material and what I did wrong. I also attended both the Schweser 3 day review course and completed the accompaning book. I also attended the John Harris accounting review course and completed his accompaning book and notes. So as far as studying more (which I studied about 500 hours or so) and more efficiently I have no clue what else I could do. It is just so surprising to me that I could feel so confident while taking the exam and after the exam and still do so horrible. I'm not saying that the mock exams should be indicitive of my actual score but I don't see how they could be so far off.

jmh530

Once you submit the retabulation does anyone know how long it usually takes to receive back the new results. I know that it says 30-60 days and on previous threads they say anywhere from 3 days to 14 days but was just curious if anyone else had any other experiences. Thanks

cityboy

Well I got my receipt back that they received my retabulation, I will let you know when I get back my results.... not getting my hopes up.

segalm

Imho, the exam isn't really that straight forward; nearly every vignette had many tricky questions in it.
After the morning session this year, a couple of my friends and I started to discuss some questions.. A friend found one of the vig to be very simple and easy whereas I found it to be quite tricky.. When he told me that it was really easy, I was so sure that he missed those tricks and so I asked them to stop discussing the paper lol.
You guys should get the papers re tabulated for satisfaction though.. There is a possibility of error from their end.
Best of luck everyone!

zephyranalyst

STL23 and brubaker, did you get your retab results back? I felt the exact same way you all did. I was sure I nailed the exam, only to find out I failed with a band 3.....horrible! Just doesn't make sense at all.

Wendy01

Did anyone receive their retab results? If so, what was the outcome?

segalm

I received my retab results. Sadly, there "were no errors in the scoring process". It looked like an automated email.

hassan

^ And that's probably what everyone else will see.

CFAI has very good safeguards in place for exam grading. They verify candidate ID numbers, check your circles, even grade a % of exams by hand, etc

The mistake of printing someone else's score on yours is almost an impossible error.