CFA ... bah ...

I bombed out CFA exam level 1 earlier this morning. Result won't be out for a while yet, but I doubt that I will see "Pass" on the that day. If, and I would say this is a minuscule probability, somehow I miraculously pass this exam there will be huge party with beer flowing on my tap. That's a promise.

I did reasonably well on the first part of the exam. Using my own intuition on exam result (I'm quite good at this, usually spot on during high school/uni days), I should get around 75% ish. It was the second exam that got it. I reckon I would be extremely lucky to score 60%.

What went wrong? And how did I manage to throw the past 4 months of studying down the drain?

On the long train ride to Baker St. from the Excel centre I thought about this. Basically it can be narrowed down to 2 simple factors:

1. I underestimated the amount of materials.
2. I severely overestimated my motivation and ability to study.

All those unanswered questions on exam are covered in the assigned readings, there's not a lot of derivation required but you do need to understand the materials. I simply could not recall them. I lost count how many times I said "Darn ... I wished I had reviewed this last night".

So where to now? It would seem to be a waste to throw away that study. Would I do it again this December? I don't know yet. I'm not sure if I have the motivation to do this again, although if I do, I would know how to study this time.

Suggestions to those studying for CFA Lv 1:

Study more ... earlier.

It is not a hard exam, but the amount of materials to be read can kill a person ... literally (those assigned reading books weigh a ton).

A consolation, straight after the exam I went to the new Wembley Stadium to see Foo Fighters. Those guys are amazing life and on recording studio. It was the best show I've seen so far. Nothing like it, great show, great atmosphere and great crowd. 86,000 people all came to see just 1 band. I had a bit of reservation earlier on a stadium concert, but they did such a great job. It's also great to see a band on their prime on a huge concert.

What a way to end this first half of 2008 :)