Remembering Formulas hypothesis, presented, tricks, testing

RobertA

you can do almost all TVM problems on your calculator. check the LOS, if it doesn't say "calculate" you don't have to memorize the formula. a lot of the quant section is based on knowing the concepts.

clearlycanadian

Hi all,

Do any of you have any tips/tricks to remembering all of the formulas in Quant. Specfically, TVM and test stats for hypothesis testing.

Will we be presented with formulas, or are many of the statistical questions on the exam concept based and lighter on calcs?

rgonzalez

For the ones you need to remember flash cards.

sgupta0827

Ditto on Robert's comment - I think the longer you spend doing practice problems, reading, etc., the more easily it will all come to you. At some point it just started to click. Honestly, for a few of the topics, it wasn't until I was doing full length practice exams, then drilling down by topic, that I really GOT the stuff.

MonkeyBusiness

I completely forgot the DDM calculation when I was doing the initial reading (D/(k-g). It was only when I got relentless questions on the Schweser practice exams that I realized I had to really bone up on this thing.

If you're using Schweser, their practice exams (not the Qbank) are really beneficial. It's unfortunate that CFAI offers so little in this regard.

- Robert

kd26gioi

I would study all of that. You should definitely be able to compute a confidence interval.

Beatnik

I can't answer you directly because the institute would nail me on it, however I can share with you some general observations.

When I saw the kurtosis and skewness formulas in the text, I was struggling so hard that I wanted to quit the program. The quant instructor in my review class said he had not heard any reports that these calculations were on past exams. If you think about it, it would take so long to lay it out long-hand, that it couldn't be done in the allotted time, never mind the fact that you don't have enough space in your booklet to do it.

My experience going through lots of mock and practice exams (which were reasonable proxies for the actual exam) is that you need to understand the concepts of skew and kurtosis, but not the actual formulas.

Computational work is an important element of the exam, but understanding the underlying concepts is even more important.

praj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Robert (or any of the previous exam takers), your
> thoughts on the following would be really
> appreciated.
>
> is it true that you don't need to know the formula
> (for example for kurtosis or skewness) if the LOS
> statements don't have the command word "calculate"
>
>
> Also does the actual CFA exam only ask questions
> relating to the LOS statements? The reason I ask
> is because I am using the CFAI texts as my primary
> learning tool (for readings) and they have so much
> information that is not mentioned in the LOS. Am i
> wasting time focusing on those concepts as well?
> For example I am currently reading about "Point
> Estimators & Confidence Intervals" the LOS only
> says "distinguish between point estimates and
> confidence intervals" it says nothing about the
> three desirable properties of estimators (which
> the texts talk about) Should I not worry much
> about concepts such as these?

- Robert

Maddin

Robert,

Thanks for the quick response. I recently took an Econ class that was almost point-for-point the same as the first 2 readings in the Econ book (I believe it was the same author but there was a lot of calculus involved), so I am not totally new to this stuff, but the class was much less theory and much more calculations, so I am not gonna get a free pass here haha.

I am disappointed that it is so much micro and almost all theory. I was hoping for much more about relevant macro-factors like GDP, housing starts, purchasing index, etc. I agree that it could be much more interesting and also much more useful!

smartpants

Learn the value of the Brain Dump.

When I was preparing for the S7 back in 2003, I took the week long crash course. The facilitator taught us tricks and shortcuts. We all practiced "dumping" them on a sheet of paper. So the idea is that the minute the proctors says begin, you "dump" all your formulas and shortcuts on paper and then you have them for reference.

For the CFA, you need to be very selective with what you choose to include in your Brain Dump. In my opinion, all TVM, basic financial ratios, and basic statistics formulas should be 100% memorized and NOT included in your brain dump. You really should have more advanced concepts or formulas on your Brain Dump.

Personally, I practiced my Brain Dump a lot, even in the car before going in to the exam. When it started, I did my Brain Dump and began taking the test. It was definitely one of those things that you're rather have and not need than need and not have.

Hope this helps.

T

draz

Sorry Tony!

I am gonna have to disagree with you there. Personally I have no experience with the brain dump, but I have taught a lot of students. What I suggest is that you get enough practice over the course of your study and specially over the last 3-4 weeks to ensure that you are on top of all the formulas.

By the end of it, with wnough practice under your belt, you really wont be struggling with them. I agree with Robert about paying attention to the wording of the LOS. For example, the supr complicated formulas in the latter half of Hypothesis testing are not testable. You just need to identify and apply the appropriate test statistic to conduct tests...