Exam Marking Strategy
To increase your chances to pass the exam it is very important that you get more than 70% marks in the high weighted subjects namely FRA, Ethics, Fixed Income, Economics; Corporate Finance. The CFA Institute gives very high priority to Ethics so a more than 70% score can give you an edge.
Last Day Tips
· Go through your revision Notes or Formula Charts, and Summarize Recordings
· Don’t try to discuss new topics with friends. Instead focus on the material that you have referred
· Be calm on the last day before the exam. Don’t take too much stress on the last day by working late in the night. The exam is very long and requires stamina and energy. So on the last day take it easy. Revise the formulae; see a few questions (especially those in the mock test). But sleep for a comfortable duration so that you don’t feel tired on the D-Day.
Before the exam, check
· Take your Financial Calculator
· You have at least 4 pencils, 1 Eraser & 1 sharpener with you
· You have the Exam Admission Ticket on clean, unused paper and Passport.
CFA Level I Exam Day Strategy
· Morning Exam Time 9 am to 12pm: 120 questions are given subject wise i.e. 1.5 minutes for each question
· Afternoon Time 2pm to 5pm: 120 questions are given subject wise i.e. 1.5 minutes for each question
· Allocate time to questions and make sure that you maintain the pace. Don’t get stuck on a particular question and since all questions have equal weightage, so give equal importance to all questions
· Make sure that you mark the questions as soon as you do it. Don’t keep this till the last moment. There are few problems in keeping it till end. What if you mark 1 of the questions not in the right manner? It would change the sequence of filling for all questions. Also, during the last 10-15 minutes, you have the maximum efficiency. So if you waste that time in marking, it reduces the overall attempt percentage by at least 3-4%. In short, keep marking the answers as soon as you have done it. Don’t wait for marking till the end
· Submit your Test on Time, don’t get in an argument with the Invigilator (Proctor), he/she can report misbehavior to the CFA Institute and your Exam results can be delayed or cancelled
· Don’t get involved in cheating or copying from fellow students, There are more than 300 such cases every year, when the CFA institute either delay your result, or cancel your exam or debar you from writing the Exam in future
· In practical questions they might give lot of numerical values and information, wherein few are given just to confuse you and will not be used in solving the question
· Make sure that you go through the complete paper. Sometimes the easy questions are given towards the end
· Remember that sometimes the choice can be calculated using elimination. Try to see the choices and figure out the choices that would clearly not be the solution.
One point to note is that this is a relative examination. So if you are finding it difficult (and assuming you had prepared it to the best of your satisfaction), then rest assured everybody would be finding it difficult! So the key is now to best achieve whatever is possible. You have to do better than your peer. Read last minute strategy for CFA Level 1 Paper. Click here.
