Chuckrox

How exactly did you not pass? I mean, it is a difference if you made good points in am but not pm and vice versa.

What topics went good and were those the same as last year?

I had to retake L2 after a poor preparation but that was easy to improve next year.

What helped me in L3 in general:
- every weekend of first half year was learning (at least some), plus some weeks of for finalization
- mapping results (i.e. was I stable in ethics or not and if no, I had to focus there)
- schweser videos, even if sometimes annoying
- looked on the net for every possible old exam and took it
- am session has big points for IPS: I made myself a large table with all buzzwords in it so I could calculate req ret and put in the constraints from the heart (and it worked for me as I see from my exam results)

cityboy

wow, I am in the exact same boat. I was a band 9 last year after passing level 1 and 2 on the first tries. This year I was a band 7. I felt better prepared going into this test, and felt better walking out. I was totally shocked with my result. Something isn't right here. My score just doesn't reflect how I felt I did on the test. There have been others who feel the same. I also actually thought this years exam was a bit easier than last years exam.. I'm going to do a retab, and I'm getting sick of people who believe that CFAI makes absolutely ZERO errors in their grading process. We did learn about statistics correct guys?

Unforseen

Agreed.Analysts should be at least a bit skeptical about everything.Here on the other hand CFAI is regarded as perfect, totally objective, uninterested in anything that has anything to do with money etc etc .....

kickthatcfa

pandeter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm going to do a retab, and I'm
> getting sick of people who believe that CFAI makes
> absolutely ZERO errors in their grading process.
> We did learn about statistics correct guys?


I haven't heard any AF poster claim that the CFAI doesn't make mistakes.

Can you name a single candidate that has achieved anything through the re-grading process, other than spending $100? Because instructors that have been teaching the CFA curriculum for more than a decade can't.

And if you have so little faith in the CFAI, what makes you think that the re-grading process involves anything more than taking your money and sending you another fail notification?

bcp901

Word to the wise...there is no "re-grading." If you pay the $100, they will simply ensure that they gave you a grade for the answers that you provided. I asked CFAI if they had ever reversed a score based on the $100 retabulation; the person that I spoke with said they could not remember any instance where a score was changed from fail to pass, for "at the least the last SEVERAL years."

I felt the same way leaving the test; I knew my stuff and I got crushed.

NakedPuts2011

WebGlider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am faced with a band 7 after a band 9 one year
> earlier. A band 7 with more preparation and a
> better exam done in my opinion.
>
> I was practicing past exams before the actual exam
> and was scoring above 70% in both essay type and
> multiple choice questions.
>
> I answered all the questions.
>
> I don't really know what to do.
>
> How to start studying again. What change should I
> bring about in my studying approach.


bro same story here only i went from band 10 to band 5. I think i completely burnt myself out in the last month of studying. I totally blanked out for the last half of the exam. I dont know how i should change my strategy so it doesn't happen again

genuinecfa

Contracan,

You are right in saying that this is the first time that candidates have begun looking at course content, method of testing etc .Past "after results" threads show that the main concern then was with the setting of the Minimum Pass Score (MPS). It was taken as a given that course content, setting of exams, marking of exams were all beyond question
This time around, CFAI is being confronted with the problem of many from finance and related academic backgrounds, who are already analysts, bringing their skills and experience to bear on the CFAI itself.
This was bound to happen when Level 3 became, as it has in recent years, a difficult hurdle to pass.

To all that you have said let me just add that having been a university level tutor ,post graduate with refereed publications ,and researcher in finance and law,I think I am in a good position to judge that the CFAI claim that this CFA course is a post-graduate course fails for the reasons you have stated.

CFA cannot claim to have a post-grad testing scheme when essays have been eliminated and replaced with constructive response questions which require answers which, as you put it, are multiple choice in reverse.

CFA has over the years reduced its exams to a test of memorizing phrases from the material that must be re-produced almost verbatim if one is to get a mark. The CFA claim that examiners accept a variety of answers does not seem to hold true.
I would ask anyone who has gone from Band 10 to some lower band, or performed better in PM than in the AM to consider their performance against what I have said above-and then tell me if there is a better explanation for their performance.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 12:23AM by monk.

bolligerallstar

Monk

You make some interesting points too.

I think to some extent, if you are not prepared for the nuances of the format, that the probability of passing is a random one, which does not seem right. I would rather see more complex questions where it would be clear as to what is a correct response than simple questions requiring "correct" answers.

Unfortunately there does not appear to be any formal route to raise one's concerns or have one's questions addressed.