wow, this is one of the best posts i have ever seen on any forum, thank you ryguy. kudos to you. and congratulations on passing -- it sounds like your ordeal was just as challenging and draining as the one i have experienced.
i feel your pain on GIPS -- i had the exact same experience. no GIPS in the morning is an "uh oh" since the multiple choice GIPS are much harder than the fill in the blank GIPS (it's ironic since you would think the MC would be easier). the GIPS section was the last 6 questions and it required calculations. i must have dropped the ball on that, because i don't remember seeing that the LOS required calculations. anyway, i think i backed into the correct answers using logical reasoning and understanding the basics of the calculation even if i could not remember the formula. in the other sections, it was like scrapping for points -- it seemed like almost every question had a trick or some twist that made it hard. for example, i work in equity and had the hardest time answering a question about the justified PE multiple (they decided to hide one of the inputs in an unlikely place). the VWAP and IS stuff, as your friend noted, were also challenging (note that this entire item set was approximately 3 pages in the curriculum but they decided to test the heck out of it). basically, the whole exam was a confidence buster of epic proportions.
your post made me feel somewhat more optimistic -- even if i feel badly about my score, it doesn't mean that i failed. thanks for the kind words. since i study alone, sometimes it feels as though i am the only person going through the pain that this program dolls out, so in that respect it's nice to know that some other people understand what it's all about. i have to ask you though, would you do it again? it may be too soon for you to answer that since your wounds are still fresh and you have not enjoyed the full benefit of having the charter yet. congratulations on passing and conquering the beast.
also, did you get into school this year? i would not mind hearing your impressions about the value of the CFA in the b-school application process.
sudden wrote:
did you go 3/3 ryguy? how long did it take you to get through? how many hours do you think?
i just took level 3 and i am a bit disappointed. i studied *really* hard but the morning section was a trainwreck. i went 2/2, so i knew what it would take to get through the 3rd one, but there was no way to prepare for that section. i took the 2006 and 2007 official tests available on the website and they were pretty straightforward. nothing too funky -- even the IPS questions were manageable. 2008 was a monster though -- the IPS questions especially were just terrible 1.5 pages worth of details to come up with a return calc?? brutal. i crushed the afternoon, but i don't know if it will be enough.
have you seen a lot of benefit to having a charter? i am not sure that i want to go through this again in the event that i failed. i haven't failed yet, and i am optimistic, but i was shocked at how poorly the test was written. it's what, 1500 pages of material... there's one, ONE question on immunizing bonds which came out of a 50+ page reading (it was THE major topic for fixed income this year), and then they decide devote an entire item set to reverse cash and carry arbitrage, which is an obscure topic that they devoted like one page to in the readings. i mean, wow, how do you prepare for that? it's devestating to spend hundreds of hours studying and then feel like you failed some random, arbitrary "test" that doesn't even represent the material (i actually thought i was in the wrong test in the morning LOL!).
good luck on the results for everyone else who took the exam.
Hey Sudden,
I'm really really sorry to hear about your frustrating experience with the exam this weekend. I had very similar experiences at both Level II and Level III. Before I get to that, I spoke with one of my friends that took LIII this weekend as well. He felt like he got torn apart on the morning session. The afternoon was slightly better, but he was pretty beat down emotionally and felt like he had no confidence after lunch. This was his second time taking the exam, after having failed last year. He even read both the CFAI materials and the Schweser. He said there were some very challenging questions on VWAP and implementation shortfall. He also felt like the IPS questions, in terms of calculating required return, were tricky. As far as the afternoon goes, he said the ethics was brutal.
Level IA bit on my experience. I passed Level I in Dec 2004. I had planned to take Level II in June 2005, but there was no chance after I saw the material. I'm averse to accounting, so there was no way I could pass with only 4 months of studying (results released at the end of Jan.).
Level II I started studying for Level II after Thanksgiving 2005, leaving me with about 6 months of studying, including 3 weeks of review. My strongest area without a doubt was equities. When I got to that section in the afternoon, I read through the passage and completely understood everything. However, when I got to the questions, I thought what the ^&@*!!! What do these have to do with the passage that I just read? I still remember the basics of the case. It has something to do with a Swiss watch maker. Going into the test, I was banking on getting at least 5/6 from that passage, since I knew that if I were to pass the test, it would be by a slim margin. I walked out of the Level II exam and was completely devastated. Not only was the equities section difficult, but ethics, and FSA were also brutal. I felt that I could have gotten anywhere from 6/12 to 12/12 on the ethics (I ended up scoring in the 50-70 range in that area). I walked out of the Level II exam and was completely devastated.
I had studied for 300-350 hours (maybe more, who knows!) and I thought that it was all a waste. I even thought to myself that maybe this CFA thing was not for me. Seriously, I’m not kidding. I beat myself up over the exam for about 2 weeks. How can somebody study so hard and have such a poor outcome. Nevertheless, when the results came out in August, they read, ryguy904: PASS. Un-believable.
Level IIINow to Level III last year. First of all, last year was the lowest passing % in the history of Level III. I think only 50% passed. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, I just believe that people really underestimate Level III and it’s staring to show in the results. I had two friends that I went through the first two levels with, and sadly, both of them were sitting in Pomona (Los Angeles test center) again last Saturday. I felt that I did OK on the essay portion, but definitely below what I was capable of. The individual IPS required return calc was very difficult (which I ended up getting wrong) and the portfolio attribution section was a bear. I knew the formulas like the back of my hand, but somehow the questions were asked in a way in which I came up shooting blanks. In the afternoon, I wanted to cry. I felt like I was getting my *ss handed to me. I seriously felt like all of my study time had gone to waste. I put in the most time for this exam, maybe 400 hours+. I felt like I was 50/50 on every question that I “should” know. For Level III, the section that irked me was risk management (VaR, etc.) I felt that I knew the section well and had read it maybe 4-5 times (it was relatively short, maybe only 60 pages for the entire study session). When I got to the questions, I was hoping for at least 4/6, if not better. I thought that at best, I only managed 2/6 - and that was if I was lucky. Meanwhile, GIPS appeared in the afternoon section of the test, for the first time since--I don’t even know when! I reviewed the previous exams from 2003-2006 (four stinkin’ years!) and the format was virtually the same each year. Also, it was in the essay portion in those years. When I got to lunchtime, and hadn’t seen GIPS yet, I was a little worried. I knew it would be in the pm for sure, but in what format?? GIPS ended up being the last six questions on the exam. I basically got ripped a new one. We had to calculate the return for a portfolio….HUH?!?! I had skimmed through these sample questions in the reading, because I was like “no way, these questions take like 5 minutes each to solve.” Yet there were two questions in the pm that had us do this. I walked away praying that I hit 3/6 in GIPS, although 1 or 2 was more likely. And of course, ethics was a monster, as usual. I thought 9/12 would’ve taken a miracle. Ironically, Level III was the only year in which I scored >70 in ethics. Go figure. End result LEVL III: PASS. And to answer your question, I did go 3/3.
I really feel your pain, Sudden, and understand what you just went through. That’s why I wanted to post you comprehensive note on my personal experience. There’s a long way to go until the results come out. Trust me, I was as anxious as anyway to get them. I was literally having nightmares a couple weeks after the exam was over. For instance, I had a dream that the person next to me was cheating of my exam, and we both got in trouble! I had another dream that there were 30 minutes left on the essay section and I was just starting question 2!! Ultimately, you really did the best that you could. If I had put money on how I did after I left the test centers, I would have lost EVERY time. I really didn’t even have much of a glimmer of hope for Level II and Level III. As far as your test goes, you put down YOUR best answers on paper. You can’t go back and change them at this point. With that in mind, do not pick up any CFA materials. You will only make matters worse. Try to take your mind off of the situation as much as you can. Go on vacation, read books, rent movies, play Halo, or whatever floats your boat. It’s a long way until the results come out. Enjoy your free to and remember what it’s like to have a “normal” life.
All the best,
ryguy
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09 Jun 2008, 08:57
You wake up in the morning thinking about it and lay down in bed at night worrying about it (and if you're like me, you have bad dreams about it too!!). It's something that you can't get away from. 
He does have a little bit of IM experience under his belt, which may have helped his case slightly. Perhaps some of the more “senior” members on the board can address the age issue a little better, though.
). If you can read, understand, and interpret financial statements, that is a big plus. CFA Level I under your belt will definitely show your dedication and interest in IM. If you can take it without it affecting your essays, GMAT studying, etc. please do so by all means. Although if you are applying THIS fall, your only chance would be for the June 09 exam. I'd focus on getting in first and then CFA L1.
