Navigating The Exam Delay - Part 1 — The Real Finance Mentor

The June 2020 CFA exams have been postponed, and it’s so easy to get demotivated and/or confused.
Worry not. There are quite a few solutions. 😊
First things first. CFA Institute will most likely ask you to accept one of two options: December 2020 or June 2021. They’ve promised to reveal more details before 8 May 2020. Check your emails and also track regularly on https://www.cfainstitute.org/en/about/press-room/cfa-institute-coronavirus
Now, the trick is to focus on the 6 Ms at this point- Momentum, Mastery, Memory, Motivation, Markets and Models. We will talk about the first three in this, the first post of a two part series..

Of course, the assumption in this blog post is that you have registered for June 2020 and are about 50% through in your studies.

One potential issue is loss of momentum. The exams are now farther away, and you may be tempted to stop and start much later.
Take the exam at the earliest available opportunity (December 2020). Do NOT delay to June 2021
Also, do NOT stop studying entirely, leave a big gap and then start closer to the exam; you may lose the momentum
You may have been studying frantically but now you have more time. Slow down. Don’t run but walk.
Finish one reading of the material by 30 June 2020.
What to do between 15 July 2020 and 30 September 2020? This is the plan:

For all levels, work out enough, relevant CFAC end of chapter questions.
For Level I, work out enough questions from the various question banks (CFAC, Schweser etc).
For Levels II and III, work out all relevant blue box examples in the CFAC.
What is “enough”? Aim for at least 65% on the key topics by 30 September 2020

The delay gives you enough time to spend on the tough material.
Read from the CFA Curriculum (“CFAC”). The CFAC has a lot of depth, explaining in detail from scratch and has relevant examples and good end of chapter questions. But it’s a LOT and takes more time to read. This is a perfect opportunity to study from the CFAC, either wholesale or for select, complex topics like Ethics, Economics, Quants or Derivatives.
Develop solid foundations. Many students bomb because their base in the previous level/s is rubbish. I have seen many struggle in Level II and Level III fixed income because they still haven’t grasped the critical concepts of Yields, Duration and Convexity. This is an excellent chance to brush up your basics.
Read Ethics from the CFAC, especially for Level II and III where Ethics Qs can be very tough from what I have seen in the CFAC.
Level I has the lowest pass rate. One reason is that candidates have a weak base in key topics like accounting, quants and economics. This delay should be used to get your basics right BEFORE starting Level I studies (more about that later).

Another BIG issue with the exam delay is that you often forget a lot of what you have studied so far. Some tips to retain more stuff:

Work out enough questions (see above). This will help a lot in retaining what you learnt
Spend 1-2 hours each week trying to recall as many formulae as you can.
If you like writing notes, start that. This does two things- as you write in your own words, you understand much better plus when you write it gets embedded deeper making it easier to recall. But be aware that note taking can be a pain!
Occasionally, pick up topics that have always been difficult to retain and browse through it
Do NOT revise till the revision (October 2020)
Do NOT do any mock or practice exams till revision
Do NOT do any of the tougher questions (e.g. on CFAI site) now. Delay for the revision
Since you’d have forgotten a lot, extend the revision. Revise over 5-6 weeks instead of 3-4 weeks.

That’s all for now.

I will set out the last three tips and summary in the next post. Be on the lookout for Part 2 coming later this week.

Navigating The Exam Delay - Part 1