Difficulty of The Actual CFA exam difficulty, because, feeling, similar, people

Nishant1

Please people give advice on the difficulty of the actual CFA exam
Compared to CFA Mocks, Schweser Practice Exam and CFAI EOC(case lets)
Personal feeling CFA Level 2 can’t be as tough as CFAI EOC because EOCs are lengthy
CFA Level 1
The level of CFA level 1 was of similar difficulty compared to CFAI mock ‘

Please people give some advice on this ………

busterbluth

@ Satuross thanks a lot u just increased my confidence level for Ethics !!!

cfalevel2011

When i prepared for Level 2, I used Stella extensively because i purhased the whole “program” including DVDs and lectures and Q-bank and mock exams… i actually also purchased Schweser exams as well, so as you can see, I had absolutely NO TIME to open the CFAI texts.
I think with Level 2, because the cirriculum is so broad and many of the topics are unrelated of each other, I kept re-watching the DVDs just to keep myself familiar with materials i studied (actually i even played them while i sleep so i can subconsciously brain-wash myself to know the material).
As for LAST MONTH PREPERATION goes, it’s all about mock exams! Do as many as possible, do them and spend equal amount or more time on grading them. Don’t just waste the exams by looking at the answers before working them through, do NOT check the answers to incorrect answers only! You have to check every question and what you did correctly may only be a flute, and what you think is the rationale behind the right answer may not necessarily be correct.
And lastly, take care of your body in the last month, take annual leave, exercise and eat right! You cannot pass a 6-hour exam with a tired body.

tikfed

2013 mock exam was worst due to poor language and so many incorrect questions.
Actual exam was much easier

strikethree

I actually found the style of the of questions very similar to the BSAS mock, I think they were at about the same level of difficulty although BSAS was equally weighted.
I think the 2010-2012 mocks are very very close, but ultimately harder than the exam.
I don’t feel schweser really captures the tone or feel of CFAI at all and reccomend not doing many of their mocks or questions.  I have done everything cfai and elan have done and felt really welll prepared both times.

eoin

Lvl 1: simpler than any mock exam I did - Schweser and CFAI. Qbank is fine for this
Lvl 2: mix between Schweser difficulty and Finquiz exams. IMO not comparable to the mock in any way

anshultongia

L1, June 2012: Slightly easier than the CFAI and Schweser mocks.
L2, June 2013: About the same level of difficulty as the CFAI mock MINUS the mock’s poor wording.  Very similar to Schweser mocks in difficulty (which have much easier wording but similar level of difficulty of concepts tested.)

jcfa2011

@pierrewoodman_fan
I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but if you actually believe that, you really have no clue what’s going on in the CFA-world today.  The CFA Institute intentionally develops all their actual test questions to be completely different from Schwesser sample questions, and from all other test prep providers as well.  They don’t want you to memorize the questions from the test prep providers, and pass the test, when you really haven’t learned anything at all (other than memorizing some random stuff).  A couple years ago I went through every sample test I could find; I worked through each one over and over, until I was getting at least 90% correct on every test.  Sometimes I’d get 100% correct.  Nevertheless, on the actual CFA test, I got every single question wrong…according to the CFA Institute.

yodacaia

Thanks guys, this thread is very helpful to me.
I have explained to many how I am very crunched for time, and only have on average 16 hours a week to study. Just completed Schweser readings and the thought of going through the text book to do BB questions seems daughnting and time consuming (I have done EOC CFAI texts). I think I will focus the rest of my time on Qbank and other Schweser questions.

Analyze_This

I personally think that it is a waste of time to read cfa books and that it is imprudent to not do CFA EOC questions.