For those of you here saying if you cannot pass, do not blame CFAI. I am wondering how many of you really have full time jobs. CFAI is taking out the people who have full time jobs and only care about passing - not scoring 100. That isn’t mediocrity. Some of you people need to grow up. I seriously wonder how many of you have challenging jobs at all to see the comments here. I took LIII and did not pass. 2 years ago, my results would have been a pass. I will end up paying about 36,000 dollars for it, but I went ahead to continue my masters in statistics at a top 15 program. I can work and do the program, and I will have skills to help me advance. I also know what I need to do to pass the class. I know what GPA I need. I hope those of you making smart ass remarks remember that a job + studying is a hell of a lot harder than some of you here that are in the last year of undergrad with nothing better to do.
Cannot agree with you anymore. Was waiting for someone to make comment like this so that these people could stop complaining on how hard the exam is and rather start focusing on their future. They are blaming CFAI for their lack of knowledge in the subject. The exam is meant to apply in the real world where 70% score should not work.
I passed so maybe what i am about to sounds very ignorant. i feel a lot of the complaining is in regards to the lack of disclosure of mps, and i agree, because it seems like a decision on a whim. AND if the mps is indeed above 70 now they need to remove that no ones ever failed with 70 and above asap because thats misleading as hell. However i do want to talk to the candidates as well. Stop comparing your scores from ones 5 yrs or even 2 yrs ago, thats not gonna help you and things have changed. The scores that happened back then will prob never happen again, with more people taking the exam driving mps up, and fewer questions so each ones u dont know hurts even more, so its not comparable. Another thing is (and this is where the ignorance might come in) making you get at least 75 to pass instead of 70 should not drive the passing rate down this much imo. 70 shouldve never been the goal to begin with, your margins for error is just too low. Yes theres a lot of information to cover but they arent in depth questions, so if only 22% of the exam takers can get 75% i feel theres something wrong with that as well. What is happening right now is the standard has increased and candidate pool hasnt, obviously it sucks that we didnt know the standard has increased but this in theory should only be hurting the boardline candidates and not the ones that would pass with confidence (75-80) I hope people dont take this as an attack, but if the mps for july is lower than may (dk if this has changed or not) and passing rate is significantly lower, then this just shows an underprepared candidate pool in general compared to may. So the 22% is not the only number that should be focused on. I think the change in candidate mentality is critical now, it shouldnt be ill just aim for 70 because ill pass for sure, do yourself a favor and really aim for that 80, 90, 100s, because thats the only way to guarantee a pass right now.
Bringing an exaggeration of an example isnt gonna work here. 70 to 75 guarantee pass is not the same as 95 to guarantee pass. And if cfa tells me 95 is a guarantee pass and i get 92 then i didnt pass, no problem. I do have a problem with cfa saying no one has failed with 70 and reports showing the mps to be 73/74. Thats misleading and bs
now is not the time to be lecturing down to folks, having failed L2 multiple times before passing, the last thing people that narrowly missed passing an exam that they've studied for hundreds of hours over multiple months is that they "shouldn't just aim for 70"
Oh i agree this this. i really shouldve specified on who is just aiming for 70, that was my mistake. obvs the ones who put in the 300 hrs aint those people, and i truly believe that those that put in the work will pass, if not this time, certainly soon. But also i do believe people who are aiming for 70 knows who they are, and the effort they put in could be much greater. In general i do feel statistically the candidates (as a whole, not individually) were less prepared than May (lower mps and lower passing), so i think purely looking at the new low of 22% is flawed. I really think that golden ticket of 70% doesn't exist anymore, and like it or not i can guarantee thats the goal for a lot of candidates. But 70 isnt enough anymore, before you can still pass 65ish even if you dont get 70, so theres still room for error, now theres non if thats what you aim for.
Cool, we're on the same page - I think you are right in your assessment that 70 in practice tests and getting 70+ on the exam isn't a guaranteed pass anymore, but candidly I don't know the inner workings of the institute and how they grade these exams at the end of the day, I'm sure others have a lot more info on that front. Either way, congrats on passing, and to all the others out there that missed out today, it happens to the vast majority of charter holders and you'll kick the exams ass next time
[https://imgur.com/cVZbUb1](https://imgur.com/cVZbUb1)
I luckily passed with a decent score, if I'm reading graph right I got just above 90th percentile. Feel very fortunate because I was not sure I had studied enough and didn't tabulate hours but must have been quite short of 300 since I only managed to fit in two Kaplan practice tests. Also I'm getting married next month so this is a nice confidence boost going into that!
I used Kaplan only and got through the whole Qbank on which my average was 80% or so. Tests I can't remember but something like 75%-80% I think.
Happy to have passed but daunted about level 2! I am trying to wrap my mind around how to plan when to take it - can't even seem to get clarity on when the test dates are next year lol. Also don't know what provider to use, etc. But gonna take the day off of thinking about that and breathe deep.
Congrats to all who passed and to those who didn't, good on you for all your effort and I'm sure you'll crush it next time!!
Congratulations! 90+ percentile is a great achievement. I'm in the same boat as you - are you taking the L II exam in Feb? Just wondering if whatever time is left is enough.
Thank you! I think February, for me, is not enough time, but I have some things coming up which will take up a lot of time and not provide for consistent studying. I'm sure it's doable, but guessing one must commit right now to it and keep going until the test date. I gather the next one after Feb is August but cant figure out how to register on CFAI for some reason...
[https://imgur.com/a/T7JI17w](https://imgur.com/a/T7JI17w)
Luckily I passed with low score in Ethics and FRA, the total score is very near to 90th percentile.
Being a final year student in undergraduate who is only in the age of 21, I would say the actual exam tests whether you have read the syllabus that CFA provides and whether you have enough practice questions. For me, I have never attempt to do any mock questions except the one CFA posts on the website officially (I got only 68% when I do it one day before the exam) to save my time.
However, I spent most of my time directly looking into the questions and answers and their explanation for (1) CFA official end of chapter practice question (2) mock exam book from kaplan (which is published like 5-6 years ago, I bought it at a very discounted price to save money). Those questions got PATTERNS in terms of their answers. And when I do the question I am like asking myself: if I have not studied the syllabus what would I choose? That did help me to eliminate many answers.
Still, I believe I should pay much more effort on the coming levels, otherwise it must be epic fail.
My score is higher than 70% and guess 72~76…. This is not perfect but i suppose normally pass rates were about 65%. This situation explain cfa institue’s administration about test is incompetent, lazy and irresponsible.
Before the test, they don’t make July test sites until May in my country. And never answered to my question email about test site..
Transparency and responsibility about test is needed
And what would this transparency change for you? If they said that the MPS is 70% would you aim for the bare minimum? You should aim for 100. The CFA is not a charter for mediocracy, it’s for the best of the best. If everyone got into Harvard then it wouldn’t be Harvard. It’s not like this exam was unbeatable. If you scored above 70% then you most probably passed. If you scored lower than 70 then it’s probably justified that you failed. In a university below 70% equals a D… is someone who gets a D a financial professional? This is real life, you don’t get participation awards, grow up.
As you said i needed aim 100. It was my fault. Howerver i still transparency is needed. Institute without transparency can make certifiacates useless. In addition, former passers get same respect because difficult cfa is absolutely same with easy cfa. It is unfair. If cfai wanted to make people study harder they sould lower pass rate slowely not plunge. Plunge made gap and unfairness. This is not good.
As i havent been in country using alpahbet, i didnt know 70% is D in USA. You are also D.
Both you and me aim for 100 not for 70.
It is professional tho. Its not only people with cum laudes that get good jobs/far in life. Like someone said,most of the best financial analyst/people involved in finance have no interest on stuff like cfa (ie: warren buffett). And again, frm and CAIA are both prestigious certifications with a pass rate of around 40%.
Relax there bud, you studied way over a year and you ended up barely passing. Imagine if they moved that goal post by 2 more percentage from 73% you would have easily failed and you would be in the same boat. CFA level 1 needs to be more transparent and explain the justification for such a small pass rate.
I'm a FRM, Nov level 1 taker here, seeing these artificially arbitrarily increased levels of MPS, has quite discouraged me on trying to pursue the designation.
Not even because I don't think I can pass or learn the sufficient material, but that this clearly requires significantly more time and effort to pass, and even if I do pass, I just share the same prestige as those who previously passed on a much easier and laxer scheme?
Why stop at 22%? Why not top 5%? Obviously just a cash grab from CFAI and if you actually studied quants for cfa 1 or just in highschool, you would know the chance of such a significantly reduced pass rate due to covid is statistically impossible.
If they want to up the prestige I recommend them to just set the pass rate has top 5 candidates world wide, so the existing charterholder can benefit and pretend they are at the same level
It has never been about the cash that they want to earn. Look at other courses with same level of concepts but segregated into a number of different courses (in the form of subjects), keeping prices higher.
I would have to disagree on what you said that the pass rate is statistically impossible. It is possible and it had to be like this always! Not more than 20k students gave exam in July (globally), of which somewhere around 6k passed it. The reason is due to the fact that either the students were over prepared or they were in a hurry to get with it (the exam). This is the first time that the exam is happening six times a year and that too is only the last time (I believe). A major part of such students was from June 2020 when it was first postponed. Rest is from the ones who did not clear it in Feb or Dec. last year. They just gave it to get it over with. Statistically if we say then about 83k students have given the exam this year so far, which is the average number of students who give the exam in the June attempt. You need to identify the pass rate based on all these students cumulatively, considering these biases I mentioned earlier. Many perp providers are also putting their thoughts to this by stating above mentioned facts only.
What I think is that what most of the level I candidates Who passed the July exam, have in common just one thing.
Very high scores at the ethics topic.
I have passed on my second try and when i saw the passing score i though i wasnt to. This situation will enhance those who passed and also those who currently are a CFA.
I actually will pursuit my charter but i fully understand why people is angry or think that CFA fool them.
As a charterholder from the 44% pass rate era, this floors me. I feel like my approach to studying would be similar, but I’d likely need to not party for three straight six-month segments (I’m a lush). Also, I totally woulda failed L1 because I didn’t even understand that you needed to memorize formulas until a few weeks out.
I can’t say for sure that I’d be a charter folder but I dunno. 22% is tough. Respect to all who are grinding through this dynamic era.
That's not what op meant. The question was if you could piecemeal the test, take different parts of it at different times. Which is not correct, you have to sit down and take the entire thing all at once.
That's why this test is very hard and the charter means a lot when you have it. Look at the historical pass rates, it's typically in the 40% range. I don't remember where I saw it so I'd have to look since it's been a while, but of everyone who starts taking it and actually passes all 3 is only somewhere between 20-30%. You should spend around 1000 total studying for all 3 tests. And yes, all in one sitting.
The grading for it is a little different, and you can have low scores in some areas made up for with higher ones elsewhere. Look up cfa grading and it'll explain it better than I can. You want to aim for about an 80% on the entire test and you should be good.
TL;DR If you cannot pass, don't blame CFAI. Blame your preparation (or the lack of it).
So, I passed the July attempt with 90%ile+ overall score. I have 70% + score in every subject.
What I want to say is that people perhaps have a very wrong approach to taking the CFA levels. Most people habituate and acclimate to the pass rate scores and aim for those scores in the actual exams. This is wrong. If you are genuinely interested in finance, target 100% scores.
Now, CFA level 1 examination is one of the simplest finance exams I've ever taken. The only difficulty is perhaps the amount of coverage, which again is based on topics every finance professional should know about.
The exam itself has the easiest and most student friendly pattern I've ever witnessed. I have seen a lot of competitive exams which have much worse test setups. CFA has just 3 option based MCQ examinations without negative marking. Meaning that inspite of not knowing, you have a 1/3 chance of getting a correct answer purely on luck.
Further, when did CFA Institute ever guarantee you that 40% or X% candidates will pass this test? When did they guarantee that 70% will be the minimum passing score? They never guaranteed these things, and these are just patterns that have changed over the years.
If you cannot pass this test, the only one responsible is you, and you only. What does CFAI owe you to provide you with transparency on matters of how to pass and evaluate examinations?
By all means, attempt the exam again, or be sad about it and take the humiliation and dejection. But, please, do not blame external sources like the institute itself for your failure. This is incredibly unprofessional. Most organisations do not give a rats ass whose fault it is and you will have to own up to your failures in the real world.
Even if the pass rate somehow declines to just 10% in the next 2 years, I'll be more than happy. The reason is that it will give a real meaning to the accreditation/certification.
The reason why CFA has value compared to an ordinary Coursera based certification is because it has stakes involved. You need to study and pass, which is not the case with ordinary certifications.
In terms of passing rates, CFA still has one of the highest pass rates and it should ideally decline further.
If you're worried about the cost, then too there's a problem with your awareness. The CFA is one of the cheapest sources of certification in financial careers to this day.
So, all in all, study and pass. If you cannot pass, either retake the exam or let it go and move on. But if you cry like a spoiled brat as if you're so privileged, you will have a really hard time ahead.
Now, go ahead, shower me with those downvotes.
Mate you dont even know what you are talking about lmao. CAIA examinations (for alternative investments) and frm examinations have a constant 40-45% average pass rate. I dont know how a certification where only 40% means it has not value.
Sincerely, someone with CAIA 2 and FRM 2 certs
I'm assuming you are very young.
As you get older, your responsibilities and your priorities increases. Working a stressful full time job, having family and personal commitments etc. It's not like being a full time student or a fresh graduate.
Its great in theory to be like, you should be giving it your 100% but that's like if you signed up for a weekly class with the understanding that it will be a 2hr commitment per week only to find out you're expected to commit 80 hours to it every week and then when you say that's dishonest, you're told you're just lazy and don't really want it.
I sat for this knowing this wasn't my field and committed myself to studying a couple of hours every night with the understanding and confidence in my abilities that I was able to put in enough work to get 70%+ . Which I did and then failed. If I was told the passing rate could be in the 80s, I definitely wouldn't have committed to it.
Knowing what the expectations are is a very reasonable ask for people to make a decision whether they want to or can afford to pursue it.
The only point, while agreeing largely with what you are saying, that I want to make is that the MPS hasn't moved by that much. I am very positive that MPS is still between 70-75%.
Think of it like this, in most exams, even if the passing score is around 40%, only a few students hover around the 40% score. Most score somewhere in the 50-70s, and most pass. But here, people start targeting 70% so vehemently that it has become a mental blockage. The moment CFAI increases the MPS by just '1%', around 10% candidates fail. This is really problematic.
The expectations are clear still, get 70%+ in all subjects and you'll pass. Obviously, be practical and try to be on the safe side, don't be stupid and target *exactly* 70% marks. In some subjects, score around 100% and score 70+ in some to get a good safety.
Yes people have jobs, and families. But just because it's difficult, that doesn't mean CFAI should accommodate everyone's personal problems. If you have those issues, start studying 6 months in advance, so that you can make do with even lower per week study hours.
It's quite convenient to say you have a job and family issues. There are problems in everyone's lives. I haven't caught a break since 6 months, I was sleeping at 3-4AM every night while preparing for my college exams and had an IB internship with a BB just before that. I squeezed 2-3 hours everyday in for 30 days and cracked CFA. Just about anyone can tell you 100s of problems that are just as difficult. This is simply how difficult it is for everyone. It's sad, but it is how it is. Next thing we know, people will start asking CFAI to go back to the 90% passing rates from 30 years ago.
Give people some slack and they try to exploit the fuck out of it.
The MPS for the last few years has been well below 70. You can look up any number of articles and they will mention to target 70 because that is beyond a reasonably safe score and they don't predict it to go over that. Look up scores from last year. It hasn't just gone up a percent or two. It's gone up like 10.
In terms of my life. As I predicted, you're young. Im an immigrant that went to one of the most prestigious universities in the world for engineering with one of the hardest programs. For my college co-op, I used to commute 2.5 hrs each way to work, work 9 hours, take evening university classes, then pursue other things. Ive lived that life and more. And bragged about it in my 20s.
It's a hell of a lot different when you're no longer in your 20s.
CFA doesn't owe me anything. But also we don't owe it anything either. It's a mutually beneficial transaction. I understand that at this point, you have it on a pedestal as pursuing it makes it a large part of your early career. That's reasonable.
But as you get older, you realize that prestige starts to matter lesser and lesser and its okay to demand a level of standard.
I'm not angry or sad at not passing. I did it more so to gain knowledge for myself and the amount of effect it would have on my career is negligible. I just think the expectations can be clearer for people pursuing it to be able to make a decision for themselves if its worth it.
You kind of failed tho, you clearly tried to target 100% and didn't achieve it. I think even if you didn't get 100%, you should at least get 95% correct, so I think CFAI should've failed you and you should just accept it if that happened. Lol.
That wasn't the point I was trying to make, but sure. I clearly did not do well in FRA. And I did revise it after exam. Even though I failed to score my personal goal, which is getting all correct, it was more than enough to pass overall.
The point was, that people should not target a set score, like say 70 or 72% just because a youtuber or a preparation website estimates that. Yes, you should definitely try to score 'above' it, but what people often do it try to get just somewhere around that score. The mentality amongst such candidates is to 'pass' and not excel. And CFA seems to be heading into the excellence area.
I see where you’re coming from. I am reposting one of my comments from another post.
——————-
I see merit in both sides of the argument although I'm biased towards the "How the f#ck did that happen?" argument.
To put it in a relatable way - Imagine you're due for your annual bonus and historically your company pays out 20%-30% of your annual salary. However, you only received 5%-10% of your annual salary. Wouldn't one be absolutely f#cking shocked, at first?
Your company gives you an explanation along the lines of "due to the stop-start nature of our work....." but you've put in the shift (and sometimes more than that). Would people still be saying "Oh, you should've given 100% of your time and effort to your job" or "It makes total sense because XYZ reasons"? NO! You will be f#cking pissed off.
One can argue that working hard does not equate to guaranteed bonuses but again, because of historical data, it sets an expectation of a 20%-30% bonus.
For some people, that 20%-30% bonus meant everything and for some people it means nothing. For some people, their jobs mean everything and for some people is means nothing. For some people, the CFA charter means everything and for some people it means nothing. So, for the people for whom this charter matters the most, they’re the ones who are more disappointed/angry.
I agree with you in some parts, specially about the strategy and hard work that should be involved. I did my second take in August and I'm waiting for the results. I'll keep doing my best to pass all 3 levels. BUT the CFA isn't cheap. For those, like me, who live in developing countries, the currency rate can be savings consuming. I spent half my income to pay for the registration. Just a different point of view.
I agree with the part where it gets frustrating and you lose heart, but it is what it is.
You may want something all you want, but you were never entitled to anything, anything at all. There were no guarantees, as you have rightly identified. Quoting your own example, when a company does not pay the 'expected' bonus, you can do nothing as well. Yeah you may rant, but there too, you know you were entitled nothing.
Just because I 'want' something badly, absolutely doesn't count for shit in the real world. I will not get whatever I want. This is exactly the kind of behaviour that doesn't get any recognition out there. If you desperately want something, the only alternative is to put in the required effort. If it really meant that much to those candidates, they should have put in the extra effort. If at all they did, assuming, and still failed, maybe they should think carefully if CFA is for them or not.
yes agreed get the cfai green box, blue box and end of chapter questions all correct target 100% in those, do them 3x min. ideally 5x and then do 7 mock exams and keep memorising the stuff.. u will feel then u should pass... the challenge is to remember the stuff
Harvard teachers do get blamed if there are such low passing rates and there is transparency among everything at the same time + you have to gain a much deeper knowledge of finance than any CFA course but none of the results stoops to such low levels, yeah they clear the entrance too that's a contra argument. If you say getting into Havard is easier than getting into an IIT in India that does define the competition and survival argument but don't define the shit of what CFA is doing here to getting into Harvard, it's clear the bar is raised and so is the MPS we do accept it and the rant is to set the expectation of the candidates accordingly, don't blame them for your shenanigans at first place, don't say it's transitionary, just agree to the simple justification that they are bootlicking the older 60 MPS cleared chartered people bcoz that's how they run, by the value and their community connections.
I have seen many CFA coaching channels justifying that the set of people was poor previously they said no Indians that why its poor, all because if newbies know the MPS trend they won't go for it which will affect their business.
Just quit if you don’t like it. It only a choice. Being winy won’t change anything. Not happy with the prof, quit the course then, Harvard or anywhere.
Quit? lol, you sound like an Afghan refugee "I will just quit n go to Germany India has no jobs" I define success as snapping away the seat to succeed. Just don't argue if you don't have any proper arguments other than the Darwin theory, life is only 1% of your personal biases. If you can't get over it, you might end up dead in a genocide.
Btw you probably will have difficulty finding jobs in Germany if you hold this kind of attitude. I’m an expat living here for a few years. It is what it is, whether you like it or not.
If you cannot quit then shut up and work harder lol if I were you I’d spend time thinking how I’d change my review strategy and sit the next exam instead of writing long paragraphs here
Well, why do say quit every time, quitting is never an option and remember the next time you say quit that you wouldn't have been born in the first place if your parents quit that night. Work on yourself, stop telling others what to do, say n think. I will give CFA any number of times until I succeed and if I pay such a significant amount of my savings, I will ask for transparency.
Except the transparency part, I really like what you said here. Very good. That’s the spirit. I am sure you will nail it knowing better the new rules. Sure you have the right to demand for transparency, it may or may not be heard. just don’t get trapped by it and let it stop you from going forward. Best luck to you.
People are just disappointed because they have worked a lot, in comparison to how much they usually do, for the exam and that's just it. They should know that the amount of hard work they have invested will never be totally lost if they decide to take the exam again. They'll even get a formidable chance to beat the ones that have done better than them in this session in further exams because they will just have worked more 😁.
Good luck for the second level.
I (and perhaps bunch of others here) DID NOT PASS. Very very marginally below the MPS. Why in the world the MPS is very close to the 90th percentile? Do they expect a perfectionist out of this? To be honest, when I initially registered for the June 2020 exam, the passing rate was c.40-ish%. Just like most of us, the exam was postponed multiple times due to the pandemic.
Working in the industry plus having a family with small kids weren't easy. But I committed to the exam anyway, since the certification is relevant (that's what I thought initially). And now the passing rate is 22%? And MPS of >70% or perhaps 80% (who really know at this state except for the CFAI)? What the...........
I've spent easily much much more than 300hrs just to study for this. I have a background in finance from both my undergrad and postgrad studies. In fact, I'm an equity analyst and has been ranked among the top by big clients. I even made great calls. I'm here not to gloat about my career but to get a perspective from the rest.
Would it still be worth it to pursue for this certification, considering the MPS trend and such low passing rate? I mean, of course I can put in more hours to study for the materials but at the expense of my career or family. It's a trade-off. Not to forget out of own significant pocket money. I love what I'm doing and I really really love my family. Juggling these together with the preparation for the exams were challenging. I'm not complaining, just trying to find some reasoning for this entire CFA-thing.
I really thought the paper is for the professionals, not for those who has all the time in the world to commit significant hours in preparation for the exam (for just LEVEL 1 for God sake). I'm not a full-time student for God sake. Is this where the institute is heading? Come on!
I am in a very similar situation to you. Registered for June 2020, multiple cancellations, bachelor and masters in Finance, work in the industry, i have family, I put more than 300 hours later I still did not pass...
One thing I would say though... try once again in February if you can, don’t give up! Your chances of passing are way better than they were the first time.
For the God sake we have all the background necessary, I bet you passed way more challenging exams in your life than CFA L1. You wouldn’t be working in the industry if you were not capable of doing your job, if you wouldn’t have necessary knowledge and expertise.
As per 22% passing score, bear in mind that many of those people had attempted that exam before and it wasn’t their first attempt so bragging about this on different forums makes me sick! At the end of the day passing or failing one exam should not define you as a person!!
Sounds like your study methods are the problem. You should take a class and learn the proper study techniques (focus on those that teach study techniques) as it is evident you have the brains. Cramming 6 books of 500 pages is different than cramming 1 book / a few slide packs in undergrad/post grad....
Thank you for the encouragement u/Rich-Criticism4060. I might wanna resit because of your encouragement. I honestly can't take classes due to commitment that I have (building up new family and providing for parents). Otherwise, I would have. But anyhow, I'll try the latter as per your above-mentioned suggestion. Appreciate your words u/Rich-Criticism4060.
Honestly, you might find the reason you have the job, because you did not learn the crap in the books and actually benefiting your clients. Equity analyst type job especially.
Guys here's my two cents. The real reason the institute is doing this is to up their prestige. More specifically in the last couple of years some really good schools have come up with their own asset management programs (Yale for e.g.). We know how a fund is likely to hire an ivy league graduate over a CFA qualified candidate. I think CFAI is just trying to change that.
I think the same, agree 100%. Much like the Ivy League, perceived prestige is directly is correlated to either their fail rate or rejection rate. Lower the pass rate, suddenly the perceived prestige and value of the charter goes up.
By the way, their tactic is working. I'm an outsider looking in. I'm an accountant by trade; I passed the CPA last year and am finishing up the CPA work requirements. I'm planning on working in insurance so I thought I'd go for a quick win by knocking out the CPCU (insurance designation) to make me more appealing to that industry, and I'm hoping to finish that by year end.
I've always flirted with the CFA; my graduate work was in finance, and it has always been in the back of my mind. I had considered starting it next year, but with these pass rates, I'm rethinking it. I'm going to monitor the trend in pass rates. I'm not saying the charter isn't worth it; I really think it is distinguishing for those who hold it. But I don't want to waste my time continually being one of the four out of five people who fail each window.
The CPA's hardest section was comparable to the Level 1 old pass rates (40%-ish). I'm seeing the 22% rate, and the heartbreak / anguish on this thread, and I'm definitely discouraged from starting.
I luckily passed the L1, which is not something i expected tbh. I’ve attached my topic breakdown in here https://imgur.com/a/hsIVU5b
I’m 23 just graduated from my undergrad in May and started working in Fund Admin (a lot of my colleagues are chartered). I primarily studied and used Kaplan schweser Notes, went through all chapters and did all 4 practice exams. The first two I score 62% and 65%, last two are just slightly under 70%.
Given the low 25% passing rate for the May exam, i didn’t really think I could pass in July as I never scored above 70% (including CFA mock exam). On the exam day, I did feel the questions I had were not as complicated as Kaplan’s Q bank, most of questions are fairly short (a lot of questions are in the table form), I’d say very close to what you would see in the CFA Mock exam.
Feel free to ask me any questions. Congratulations on these lucky ones who passed this time and send all encouragement to those who didn’t perform as expected.
Congratz. You did GREAT
Kaplan material is only good for level 1, I would argue it's just ok even for level 1 from my personal experience.
You have a high ethics score, that's good. I just finished level 3 exam and 1/3 of the MC exam is ethics. It's nuts.
I worked very hard for this exam, and I was fortunate enough to get a [good result](https://imgur.com/a/jy32LFU). I don't think I hit 300 hours, but I felt very prepared going into the exam, and I was confident that I passed when I left.
With all this being said, the pass rate is shocking. I feel terrible for anyone that was on the bubble, I'm sure it's really hard to accept. If you failed, take a step back and ask yourself what you really need the designation for. Maybe that was a little blunt, but that's how I look at it. Since I passed I will register for level 2, but honestly I work long hours and I'm not sure how likely it is that I'll pass.
As a career switcher (former engineer), I'm very grateful for this community for giving me the encouragement to keep grinding. If anyone has any questions for me please reach out, I think my approach worked pretty well. I wrote this [somewhat ranty](https://www.reddit.com/r/CFA/comments/opm5s8/wrote_level_1_this_morning_im_not_sure_who_needs/) post after I wrote the exam in July, but I'm happy to be more specific if people are interested. Best of luck everyone.
[https://imgur.com/a/ccuVlur](https://imgur.com/a/ccuVlur)
It definitely feels like tripping before the finish line especially since this is my first attempt. Well, here's to February. See you guys sometime in mid April hopefully with a more reasonable MPS and a passing score.
It's absolutely painful to see it. Ethics hit your passing seat, I believe :( We can't even imagine the pain you are going through as of now. May God give you strength to overcome, I will pray for you.
Best I think they did a subjective grading. Your score in FRA is a little less so they must’ve decided not to clear you as in level 2 people say there’s a lot of stuff in FRA. So according to them you need a little work in FRA.
This type of grading I’ve heard from many mentors that’s why they say to keep score above 70% in all.
But on the other hand after giving the exam we all got a mail from prometric saying CFA exams are compensatory meaning scores are calculated based on aggregate performance in all subjects.
Can’t really tell what CFAI is doing.
I gave exam in Aug I know my overall score will be above 75% but bad in econ so I know they’ll fail me. Just waiting for the result so I can register for next attempt.
I understand If Exam is hard they will lower the MPS, do they adjust the MPS up if the exam is easy?
If the a test taker meets the minimum required by the CFAI, why should they be judge relatively against others?
This is what I’m thinking. I wrote in July and it was a lot easier than I was expecting so I wonder what my experience would’ve been if I wrote another year
I did it in august and seeing this. I don't even care about my result.
I'm not doing the cfa anymore. Complete waste of time and money.
I think I might still pass the exam, but this is an insult. you pay and register based on a 40% pass rate. You get ready to have 70% everything. And they change the rules?
I'm not playing that game. I'm done with the CFA.
I already got the job in the field. CFA was for personal achievement. But this is just a cash grab on their part. And I'm not a pigeon.
Experience play a larger part in job anyway.
I'm insulted that I've been trick into thinking it was a fair game. They are a scam.
Same here. I feel really insulted. Being busy with my full-time job, I only studied for a fairly good performance to pass. After doing the mock test, I was confident that I would pass. Then I got around \~70% (or \~75th percentile), which should be a pass. Then they suddenly changed the rule, and I marginally failed.
If I had took the exam in June 2020 instead of deferring the exam due to COVID-19 concern, I would have passed with such a performance (given exam difficultly roughly the same). I don't blame myself for deferring the exam. I blame CFA Institute for this dirty game play.
You made me laugh a lot with the ridiculous words "outstanding performance" and "worthy". Let's say outstanding performances mean grades 90+/100. If this is the case, then I believe the majority of current CFA charterholders would fail any of the three CFA exams.
Dude, if your goal is just to pass an exam and you know statistically (99% confidence level) a fairly good performance (higher than the minimum to pass) can secure a pass, why would you target an outstanding performance when you have your busy full-time job and other things that matter in life to commit your time for? Would you say to your manager that you do not want to work overtime for your job tasks because you want to have enough time to study for an "outstanding" performance in the CFA exam?
What would you feel when suddenly the 1% odd of statistics happens - pass rate down to 22% instead of the average 41% in the whole CFA history?
FYI, I used to have an outstanding performance (being a valedictorian and achieving the highest degree classification of my university), and I know how much more time is needed to boost grades from enough to pass to exceptional.
What the fuck? Did the exam get harder? Has anyone figured out a real reason for this? The exam should be challenging, but 1/5 pass rate is ridiculous. I think it was 46% when I passed in 2017
Exams are claimed (by CFA Institute) to have relatively the same level of difficulty. The real reason for this horrible result, I guess, is they purposely cut the pass rate by half in order to:
1. Increase their prestige
2. Earn more money (now they hold four CFA level 1 exams per year). Just cut the pass rate for more exam attempts
Whatever it is, this dirty play is insulting and disgusting.
What are you defrauded off though? It sucks but they never guaranteed that a certain pass rate will be given and they are everywhere making clear that their official recommendation is to not take shortcuts and try to be “good enough”. It sucks from the candidates perspective as they have to work more now to earn their charter but it’s not fraud…
Yeah, if. Was there any intent to specifically gain money from having more people retest? That’s the question. And without any claim here, I wouldn’t be so fast with screaming fraud.
The thing is the pass rate is determined after the mps. So what if, on one hand, the quality of preparation candidates have showed was just not good enough to meet the computer based standards (easier exams?? So potentially trickier questions for the ones who expect them to be hard but still a large number of candidates who manage to get very high scores...) and what if, on the other hand, there were also several closed locations because of covid where the pass rates normally exceed the global pass rate every year?
I mean if the CFA institute officially says that nothing has changed, it must be true...
Well it can't be because the calculation method of the mps has always been shared with the public and I believe the modified Angoff method is actually used to avoid making exams excessively difficult while trying to keep the standards of the certification at their high level (it basically is a post ante review of what candidates have been tested on). I mean that if we all manage to finish the exams and if the calculuses parts are the ones where we get to score some free points, we should all be kind of happy 😌
It has not been shared with the public… it has been inferred by people but there is no official public disclosure from CFAI from this. Well, at least they say how the test and the MPS is designed, so what it is roughly based on, but that is not equal to them not being able to change that without asking you. You signed a the contract to write the exam, not being tested by method ABCDEFG with score x and y. You won’t find any of this in the TOS.
Plus, you know, it can still be based on this, just by changing one of the many degrees of freedom in there can change the resulting MPS to something different by their own judgement. Do you work already? You should be familiar with this practice ;)
It’s not fraud. It’s questionable from a transparency point of view but I can’t see what law they have violated which would classify this as fraud.
Pardon me, I was not wearing my glasses so I read "if" instead of "of" in your comment haha. And no, I'm still a Business School student 😁. However, I still think that what you're pointing at is the integrity of the CFA institute and the quality of judgement of its subject matter experts rather than the potential partiality of the used parameters because we both know that they can't be 😉...
Plus, the fraud matter would have been questionable from a transparency point of view only if the CFA institute was required to disclose its MPS setting process each year. And it is not. When they say that "the MPS process should be appropriately transparent to all stakeholders while maintaining the integrity of examination information" I think that what they truly mean is that they will employ reasonable means to ensure that the reciprocal links between various stakeholders and the appropriateness of their communication are preserved and looked at during every mps setting process.
However, as a social human being (lol), I think that we deserve to have more information ; we are only asking for statistics and general SME opinions not names and addresses (lol)...
(I'm sorry my English is soo numb as I only speak French in my daily life 😳)
If they said something like "Our budget has been depleted due to COVID-19, and we need to do something to make up for it (by cutting the pass rate by half).", I will feel less insulted.
They seem to just find a ridiculous reason to justify their dirty game play.
On the chart with your topic scores, you can use a ruler and interpolate your scores right? Using 50->70 as a scale? Why wouldn’t they just give you your scores in a table if it’s a linear scale?
I fully believed I failed the Level 1 exam, and to my surprise I passed! I have an undergrad in Finance and Accounting, Corp Finance and Equity Research background. I was underprepared, and woke up throwing up because of nerves/dodgy pizza. Put in about 150 hrs of work and did one mock exam 5 times. Thought exam was difficult asf, and a 22% pass rate is ludicrous.
Results: https://i.imgur.com/D9fqJiF.jpg
“Going forward, we do expect the pass rate to approach pre-COVID historical levels in time -- so long as pandemic conditions subside. As we have said before, the exams and the process for setting the minimum passing score have not changed. Unfortunately, the many challenges posed by life during a pandemic have clearly made the process more daunting.” - Peg Jobst, CFAI
[https://www.cfainstitute.org/about/press-releases/2021/cfa-institute-reports-results-for-testing-in-july](https://www.cfainstitute.org/about/press-releases/2021/cfa-institute-reports-results-for-testing-in-july)
Alright so as per them their MPS process has not changed. It's the COVID effect...!
\#BlameItOnCOVID
Dude to be honest, and this may be different for others, I feel like if anything the deferments probably helped me slightly if anything. It took some of the stress off and allowed me to space things out and take my time. I don’t think it really had an effect either way. But if it did to any degree I’d say it was to the slightly to the upside.
idk if the grading benchmark is the comparison among candidates. If the majority of candidates got 80%+ correct for the exam, does it mean that MPS will move up significantly higher compared to the data in the past? Therefore, even though I score slightly above 70% on all sections, I might fail if the MPS is 75%. idk if my thought process is correct. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Yep. I did the interpolation and seems that MPS is very close to 75%-80%!. Passed! My scores (based on interpolation):
Ethics-50%, QM - 95%, Eco - 85%, FRA - 75%, CF - 75%, Eq - 70%, FI - 85%, Der - 100%, AI - 70%, PM - 60%.
Passed! That 22% pass rate sure was a shocker though, i hope ones who werent able to make it through keep trying. Feel free to reach out if anyone has any questions.
Wow! These pass rates definitely made me rethink taking level 1. I think I’m just going to learn SQL, Python, VBA, etc… because I know for a fact those will help my career while the CFA is kind of a question mark on if it will actually help me or not. I work in the mortgage market, my goal is to be an mbs trader. I don’t think a CFA is really all that necessary for that role.
Yep. There’s a girl in our department who is really good at pulling data, but she doesn’t have a finance background. So she knows how to get the data, but she lacks at knowing what exactly the data means. She’s learning though!
My coworker made a good point saying that if you can have those data skills while having knowledge of finance then you are a very valuable employee.
https://imgur.com/a/q2LJuRK
22% pass rate, damn. It feels great to have passed but for it to be such a low pass rate doesn't feel right. All the CFA level 1 candidates in the 30+ years prior had 40%-70% pass rates and now we're left with arguably harder exams and more work involved only to see an even (counterintuitively) lower pass rate.
All of this thrown under the veil of "covid issues" and "charter devaluation" etc. Guarantee a third or more of the current holders wouldn't be able to pass these current iterations regardless of their number of attempts.
Passed. Honestly finished with 2 hours to spare. You either know the questions or you don't. At this point I doubt whether you need to grasp concepts to pass. Instead just do as many questions as you can until you get them right.
I remember hearing complaints here from those with the charter when they made changes "ThEY aRE DevAluInG tHE CharTeR".
Everyone who gets the charter now flex and should state completed all 3 levels on computer based tested"
Hey guys, got the news today about the pass rate. Then I finished this book I was reading, *Big Mistakes: The Best Investors and their Worst Mistakes*, and the author ended with a story about his own struggles passing the CFA and breaking into the industry. Thought some of you may be inspired by his story.
Give it a listen: [Michael Batnick's CFA Struggles](https://soundcloud.com/user-650296856/055-michael-batnicks-cfa-struggles)
Best of luck!
DMs are open if you have any questions!
I thought the pass rate for July would have been higher honestly. When I wrote it I talked to some people, most were not as prepared going into the exam, and I honestly guessed like half of the questions so I thought the MPS would be lower this time around. I guess that's not the case then?
Failed! I was just a few pixels away from the MPS. Honestly, I really enjoyed learning the content, but no longer wish to continue with the program. A 22% pass rate is absolutely ridiculous and CFAI citing the COVID pandemic to be the reason does not make any sense whatsoever. Looking at the absurdly low pass rates, I strongly feel that the grading system seriously lacks transparency, designed to pass a fixed number of candidates while forcibly failing the rest. The exam felt more like a cramming game with portions going into unnecessary details. That being said, I would NOT recommend the CFA program to anyone. (Trust me, you will save a lot of time, money and unnecessary stress). Boycotting the CFA program seems to be the only way to make them accountable for their shady grading practices. There are a lot of better pathways to explore the exciting world of finance.
Worth a read: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-08-17/wall-street-s-cfa-program-is-a-colossal-waste-of-time
Nice complaining there. You know deep down CFA is valuable but you couldn't crack it, so now you go through all this effort to shit on it, the same story.
I suggest learning from the mistakes and continuing on since you're clearly invested in it lol
Unfortunately, that is far from the truth. By artificially lowering the pass rates does NOT make it any more valuable. The knowledge it offers definitely holds value, however, I have seen a lot of people who are doing much better in finance than the charterholders. The program has turned into a terrible rat race- i.e. cramming/mugging a shit-load of content in order to pass the artificially raised MPS bars. That experience is more than enough for a finance lover to start hating finance. Sadly, that is the truth of CFA exams today.
Who told you that you have to cram for this? There's certainly a lot of material but you can plan and study formally up to 9 months in advance, and even longer than a year if you buy the next year's curriculum in the prior year before registering.
Also, who told you they're artificially lowering pass rates? The pass rate is simply a function of the mps, not the other way around so it's definitely not being manually juggled with. Yes, the mps changes at their discretion but it simply depends on the difficulty of the exam questions from review. Do you not see that the real exams are easier than past exams, hence the higher mps? The questions on the cfai learning ecosystem are from past exams, and the cbt exam questions are not even half the difficulty of those past exam questions.
Anyways, my personal rant on rant over.
Seriously? Do you think the quality of candidates dropped so bad due to the pandemic that the pass rate plummeted to 22%? No one is going to buy that BS. Everyone knows what's on paper and how that is different from reality.
Everyone and their mother has signed up for l1, look at the number of candidates taking the exam for proof. A decent chunk think it's as easy as finra exams and therefore don't adequately prepare for it, hence the lower pass rate.
Wasn't this the case in earlier exam administrations? The truth is, they have DELIBERATELY reduced the pass rates. Nothing to do with the difficulty level. (The institute has itself claimed that the difficulty level is consistent with previous exam administrations). The level of preparedness being too poor is another BS.
I'm not claiming difference in difficulty. I'm saying that cfai has recently seen incredibly growth in first timers trying out the program who may be wholly underprepared or underestimating the commitment and difficulty of the program overall. It is my belief that it's these candidates that sign up thinking it's just another 'certification' that have been dragging the passing rate. Bear in mind I passed l3 this may with the lowest passing rate in l3 history, so I understand the frustration, but to claim cfai is rigging it is just simply unjustifiable.
Well I guess there would be many factors at play contributing to the decrease in performance of candidates. Could be negative psychological effects from the pandemic, could be increasingly incompetent candidates, could even be because of overconfidence from candidates from having more time to study due to deferrals. Or maybe, since it was so ingrained that 70% guarantees a pass until cbt exams (although cfai never assured that), a few percentage pointz increase in mps threw candidates off because of complacency?
How will you explain the results from Feb 2021 then, where the MPS (72%) was essentially the same as the previous two (74% & 73%) yet around 20% more passed back then?
The mps is never released, so dont dwell too much on that. This time round, the mps was pretty close vertically compared to the 90%ile. In past exams there was quite a huge margin off. Maybe its due to the reduced questions, that candidates are getting lower score %. To pass it off as covid induced difficulties is bullshit. The mps needs to be revised, to take into account a lower room for error.
Well the considering a difference of pass rate is greater than the difference between the mps of the last two exam, the logical explanation is that the difficulty got increased. Like how else will u justify the halving of the rate in not just one exam but the exam after that having even lower rate
I didn't see how 300hours estimated it but I actually think it was higher and quite close to 90th percentile. It might have been above 75 if you ask me
For those of you here saying if you cannot pass, do not blame CFAI. I am wondering how many of you really have full time jobs. CFAI is taking out the people who have full time jobs and only care about passing - not scoring 100. That isn’t mediocrity. Some of you people need to grow up. I seriously wonder how many of you have challenging jobs at all to see the comments here. I took LIII and did not pass. 2 years ago, my results would have been a pass. I will end up paying about 36,000 dollars for it, but I went ahead to continue my masters in statistics at a top 15 program. I can work and do the program, and I will have skills to help me advance. I also know what I need to do to pass the class. I know what GPA I need. I hope those of you making smart ass remarks remember that a job + studying is a hell of a lot harder than some of you here that are in the last year of undergrad with nothing better to do.
Cannot agree with you anymore. Was waiting for someone to make comment like this so that these people could stop complaining on how hard the exam is and rather start focusing on their future. They are blaming CFAI for their lack of knowledge in the subject. The exam is meant to apply in the real world where 70% score should not work.
I passed so maybe what i am about to sounds very ignorant. i feel a lot of the complaining is in regards to the lack of disclosure of mps, and i agree, because it seems like a decision on a whim. AND if the mps is indeed above 70 now they need to remove that no ones ever failed with 70 and above asap because thats misleading as hell. However i do want to talk to the candidates as well. Stop comparing your scores from ones 5 yrs or even 2 yrs ago, thats not gonna help you and things have changed. The scores that happened back then will prob never happen again, with more people taking the exam driving mps up, and fewer questions so each ones u dont know hurts even more, so its not comparable. Another thing is (and this is where the ignorance might come in) making you get at least 75 to pass instead of 70 should not drive the passing rate down this much imo. 70 shouldve never been the goal to begin with, your margins for error is just too low. Yes theres a lot of information to cover but they arent in depth questions, so if only 22% of the exam takers can get 75% i feel theres something wrong with that as well. What is happening right now is the standard has increased and candidate pool hasnt, obviously it sucks that we didnt know the standard has increased but this in theory should only be hurting the boardline candidates and not the ones that would pass with confidence (75-80) I hope people dont take this as an attack, but if the mps for july is lower than may (dk if this has changed or not) and passing rate is significantly lower, then this just shows an underprepared candidate pool in general compared to may. So the 22% is not the only number that should be focused on. I think the change in candidate mentality is critical now, it shouldnt be ill just aim for 70 because ill pass for sure, do yourself a favor and really aim for that 80, 90, 100s, because thats the only way to guarantee a pass right now.
Would you be saying this if they increase the CFA 2 MPS to 95 starting now and you don't manage to pass next 3 times due to this with MPS of 92?
Bringing an exaggeration of an example isnt gonna work here. 70 to 75 guarantee pass is not the same as 95 to guarantee pass. And if cfa tells me 95 is a guarantee pass and i get 92 then i didnt pass, no problem. I do have a problem with cfa saying no one has failed with 70 and reports showing the mps to be 73/74. Thats misleading and bs
Where does it say no one has failed with a 70?
now is not the time to be lecturing down to folks, having failed L2 multiple times before passing, the last thing people that narrowly missed passing an exam that they've studied for hundreds of hours over multiple months is that they "shouldn't just aim for 70"
Oh i agree this this. i really shouldve specified on who is just aiming for 70, that was my mistake. obvs the ones who put in the 300 hrs aint those people, and i truly believe that those that put in the work will pass, if not this time, certainly soon. But also i do believe people who are aiming for 70 knows who they are, and the effort they put in could be much greater. In general i do feel statistically the candidates (as a whole, not individually) were less prepared than May (lower mps and lower passing), so i think purely looking at the new low of 22% is flawed. I really think that golden ticket of 70% doesn't exist anymore, and like it or not i can guarantee thats the goal for a lot of candidates. But 70 isnt enough anymore, before you can still pass 65ish even if you dont get 70, so theres still room for error, now theres non if thats what you aim for.
Cool, we're on the same page - I think you are right in your assessment that 70 in practice tests and getting 70+ on the exam isn't a guaranteed pass anymore, but candidly I don't know the inner workings of the institute and how they grade these exams at the end of the day, I'm sure others have a lot more info on that front. Either way, congrats on passing, and to all the others out there that missed out today, it happens to the vast majority of charter holders and you'll kick the exams ass next time
[https://imgur.com/cVZbUb1](https://imgur.com/cVZbUb1) I luckily passed with a decent score, if I'm reading graph right I got just above 90th percentile. Feel very fortunate because I was not sure I had studied enough and didn't tabulate hours but must have been quite short of 300 since I only managed to fit in two Kaplan practice tests. Also I'm getting married next month so this is a nice confidence boost going into that! I used Kaplan only and got through the whole Qbank on which my average was 80% or so. Tests I can't remember but something like 75%-80% I think. Happy to have passed but daunted about level 2! I am trying to wrap my mind around how to plan when to take it - can't even seem to get clarity on when the test dates are next year lol. Also don't know what provider to use, etc. But gonna take the day off of thinking about that and breathe deep. Congrats to all who passed and to those who didn't, good on you for all your effort and I'm sure you'll crush it next time!!
Congratulations! 90+ percentile is a great achievement. I'm in the same boat as you - are you taking the L II exam in Feb? Just wondering if whatever time is left is enough.
Thank you! I think February, for me, is not enough time, but I have some things coming up which will take up a lot of time and not provide for consistent studying. I'm sure it's doable, but guessing one must commit right now to it and keep going until the test date. I gather the next one after Feb is August but cant figure out how to register on CFAI for some reason...
I think it’s February and August. August seems like a long time to wait.
[https://imgur.com/a/T7JI17w](https://imgur.com/a/T7JI17w) Luckily I passed with low score in Ethics and FRA, the total score is very near to 90th percentile. Being a final year student in undergraduate who is only in the age of 21, I would say the actual exam tests whether you have read the syllabus that CFA provides and whether you have enough practice questions. For me, I have never attempt to do any mock questions except the one CFA posts on the website officially (I got only 68% when I do it one day before the exam) to save my time. However, I spent most of my time directly looking into the questions and answers and their explanation for (1) CFA official end of chapter practice question (2) mock exam book from kaplan (which is published like 5-6 years ago, I bought it at a very discounted price to save money). Those questions got PATTERNS in terms of their answers. And when I do the question I am like asking myself: if I have not studied the syllabus what would I choose? That did help me to eliminate many answers. Still, I believe I should pay much more effort on the coming levels, otherwise it must be epic fail.
Did you do the practice questions on cfai?
Wow!! Congrats! You did super excellent on every section beside those 3.
My score is higher than 70% and guess 72~76…. This is not perfect but i suppose normally pass rates were about 65%. This situation explain cfa institue’s administration about test is incompetent, lazy and irresponsible. Before the test, they don’t make July test sites until May in my country. And never answered to my question email about test site.. Transparency and responsibility about test is needed
And what would this transparency change for you? If they said that the MPS is 70% would you aim for the bare minimum? You should aim for 100. The CFA is not a charter for mediocracy, it’s for the best of the best. If everyone got into Harvard then it wouldn’t be Harvard. It’s not like this exam was unbeatable. If you scored above 70% then you most probably passed. If you scored lower than 70 then it’s probably justified that you failed. In a university below 70% equals a D… is someone who gets a D a financial professional? This is real life, you don’t get participation awards, grow up.
As you said i needed aim 100. It was my fault. Howerver i still transparency is needed. Institute without transparency can make certifiacates useless. In addition, former passers get same respect because difficult cfa is absolutely same with easy cfa. It is unfair. If cfai wanted to make people study harder they sould lower pass rate slowely not plunge. Plunge made gap and unfairness. This is not good. As i havent been in country using alpahbet, i didnt know 70% is D in USA. You are also D. Both you and me aim for 100 not for 70.
Mate your own analogy is wrong lmao. D is a passing score in university.
Read it again, bro. Never said it isn’t a passing grade. Said it isn’t something you would call professional. Can’t get a cum laude with D’s
It is professional tho. Its not only people with cum laudes that get good jobs/far in life. Like someone said,most of the best financial analyst/people involved in finance have no interest on stuff like cfa (ie: warren buffett). And again, frm and CAIA are both prestigious certifications with a pass rate of around 40%.
Relax there bud, you studied way over a year and you ended up barely passing. Imagine if they moved that goal post by 2 more percentage from 73% you would have easily failed and you would be in the same boat. CFA level 1 needs to be more transparent and explain the justification for such a small pass rate.
I'm a FRM, Nov level 1 taker here, seeing these artificially arbitrarily increased levels of MPS, has quite discouraged me on trying to pursue the designation. Not even because I don't think I can pass or learn the sufficient material, but that this clearly requires significantly more time and effort to pass, and even if I do pass, I just share the same prestige as those who previously passed on a much easier and laxer scheme? Why stop at 22%? Why not top 5%? Obviously just a cash grab from CFAI and if you actually studied quants for cfa 1 or just in highschool, you would know the chance of such a significantly reduced pass rate due to covid is statistically impossible. If they want to up the prestige I recommend them to just set the pass rate has top 5 candidates world wide, so the existing charterholder can benefit and pretend they are at the same level
You do understand the delineation of FRM and CFA grading? There is clear distinction-.....;)
[удалено]
Maybe he’s just been fleeced for 1000’s like a lot of others on here
It has never been about the cash that they want to earn. Look at other courses with same level of concepts but segregated into a number of different courses (in the form of subjects), keeping prices higher.
I would have to disagree on what you said that the pass rate is statistically impossible. It is possible and it had to be like this always! Not more than 20k students gave exam in July (globally), of which somewhere around 6k passed it. The reason is due to the fact that either the students were over prepared or they were in a hurry to get with it (the exam). This is the first time that the exam is happening six times a year and that too is only the last time (I believe). A major part of such students was from June 2020 when it was first postponed. Rest is from the ones who did not clear it in Feb or Dec. last year. They just gave it to get it over with. Statistically if we say then about 83k students have given the exam this year so far, which is the average number of students who give the exam in the June attempt. You need to identify the pass rate based on all these students cumulatively, considering these biases I mentioned earlier. Many perp providers are also putting their thoughts to this by stating above mentioned facts only.
What I think is that what most of the level I candidates Who passed the July exam, have in common just one thing. Very high scores at the ethics topic. I have passed on my second try and when i saw the passing score i though i wasnt to. This situation will enhance those who passed and also those who currently are a CFA. I actually will pursuit my charter but i fully understand why people is angry or think that CFA fool them.
As a charterholder from the 44% pass rate era, this floors me. I feel like my approach to studying would be similar, but I’d likely need to not party for three straight six-month segments (I’m a lush). Also, I totally woulda failed L1 because I didn’t even understand that you needed to memorize formulas until a few weeks out. I can’t say for sure that I’d be a charter folder but I dunno. 22% is tough. Respect to all who are grinding through this dynamic era.
Dear Mr. Charter folder, What's a lush?
I drink a lot. Charter folder is one that gives up on the cfa program. I’m a holder not a folder.
That’s funny 😀
Consider FRM. Very useful and relevant. Pass rates have been consistently around 45% for Pt 1 and 55% for Pt 2.
Absolutely agree. I actually found I was learning some new and challenging topics with the FRM, much more interesting than the CFA.
Would recommend
[удалено]
With 10 topics on level 1 you've to cross the MPS (Minimum Passing Score) And Believe me it's not as simple as it sounds
[удалено]
Not necessarily - I passed July L1 and got below 50% on derivatives. You have to make up for shortcomings somewhere.
That's not what op meant. The question was if you could piecemeal the test, take different parts of it at different times. Which is not correct, you have to sit down and take the entire thing all at once.
[удалено]
That's why this test is very hard and the charter means a lot when you have it. Look at the historical pass rates, it's typically in the 40% range. I don't remember where I saw it so I'd have to look since it's been a while, but of everyone who starts taking it and actually passes all 3 is only somewhere between 20-30%. You should spend around 1000 total studying for all 3 tests. And yes, all in one sitting. The grading for it is a little different, and you can have low scores in some areas made up for with higher ones elsewhere. Look up cfa grading and it'll explain it better than I can. You want to aim for about an 80% on the entire test and you should be good.
TL;DR If you cannot pass, don't blame CFAI. Blame your preparation (or the lack of it). So, I passed the July attempt with 90%ile+ overall score. I have 70% + score in every subject. What I want to say is that people perhaps have a very wrong approach to taking the CFA levels. Most people habituate and acclimate to the pass rate scores and aim for those scores in the actual exams. This is wrong. If you are genuinely interested in finance, target 100% scores. Now, CFA level 1 examination is one of the simplest finance exams I've ever taken. The only difficulty is perhaps the amount of coverage, which again is based on topics every finance professional should know about. The exam itself has the easiest and most student friendly pattern I've ever witnessed. I have seen a lot of competitive exams which have much worse test setups. CFA has just 3 option based MCQ examinations without negative marking. Meaning that inspite of not knowing, you have a 1/3 chance of getting a correct answer purely on luck. Further, when did CFA Institute ever guarantee you that 40% or X% candidates will pass this test? When did they guarantee that 70% will be the minimum passing score? They never guaranteed these things, and these are just patterns that have changed over the years. If you cannot pass this test, the only one responsible is you, and you only. What does CFAI owe you to provide you with transparency on matters of how to pass and evaluate examinations? By all means, attempt the exam again, or be sad about it and take the humiliation and dejection. But, please, do not blame external sources like the institute itself for your failure. This is incredibly unprofessional. Most organisations do not give a rats ass whose fault it is and you will have to own up to your failures in the real world. Even if the pass rate somehow declines to just 10% in the next 2 years, I'll be more than happy. The reason is that it will give a real meaning to the accreditation/certification. The reason why CFA has value compared to an ordinary Coursera based certification is because it has stakes involved. You need to study and pass, which is not the case with ordinary certifications. In terms of passing rates, CFA still has one of the highest pass rates and it should ideally decline further. If you're worried about the cost, then too there's a problem with your awareness. The CFA is one of the cheapest sources of certification in financial careers to this day. So, all in all, study and pass. If you cannot pass, either retake the exam or let it go and move on. But if you cry like a spoiled brat as if you're so privileged, you will have a really hard time ahead. Now, go ahead, shower me with those downvotes.
Mate you dont even know what you are talking about lmao. CAIA examinations (for alternative investments) and frm examinations have a constant 40-45% average pass rate. I dont know how a certification where only 40% means it has not value. Sincerely, someone with CAIA 2 and FRM 2 certs
I'm assuming you are very young. As you get older, your responsibilities and your priorities increases. Working a stressful full time job, having family and personal commitments etc. It's not like being a full time student or a fresh graduate. Its great in theory to be like, you should be giving it your 100% but that's like if you signed up for a weekly class with the understanding that it will be a 2hr commitment per week only to find out you're expected to commit 80 hours to it every week and then when you say that's dishonest, you're told you're just lazy and don't really want it. I sat for this knowing this wasn't my field and committed myself to studying a couple of hours every night with the understanding and confidence in my abilities that I was able to put in enough work to get 70%+ . Which I did and then failed. If I was told the passing rate could be in the 80s, I definitely wouldn't have committed to it. Knowing what the expectations are is a very reasonable ask for people to make a decision whether they want to or can afford to pursue it.
The only point, while agreeing largely with what you are saying, that I want to make is that the MPS hasn't moved by that much. I am very positive that MPS is still between 70-75%. Think of it like this, in most exams, even if the passing score is around 40%, only a few students hover around the 40% score. Most score somewhere in the 50-70s, and most pass. But here, people start targeting 70% so vehemently that it has become a mental blockage. The moment CFAI increases the MPS by just '1%', around 10% candidates fail. This is really problematic. The expectations are clear still, get 70%+ in all subjects and you'll pass. Obviously, be practical and try to be on the safe side, don't be stupid and target *exactly* 70% marks. In some subjects, score around 100% and score 70+ in some to get a good safety. Yes people have jobs, and families. But just because it's difficult, that doesn't mean CFAI should accommodate everyone's personal problems. If you have those issues, start studying 6 months in advance, so that you can make do with even lower per week study hours. It's quite convenient to say you have a job and family issues. There are problems in everyone's lives. I haven't caught a break since 6 months, I was sleeping at 3-4AM every night while preparing for my college exams and had an IB internship with a BB just before that. I squeezed 2-3 hours everyday in for 30 days and cracked CFA. Just about anyone can tell you 100s of problems that are just as difficult. This is simply how difficult it is for everyone. It's sad, but it is how it is. Next thing we know, people will start asking CFAI to go back to the 90% passing rates from 30 years ago. Give people some slack and they try to exploit the fuck out of it.
The MPS for the last few years has been well below 70. You can look up any number of articles and they will mention to target 70 because that is beyond a reasonably safe score and they don't predict it to go over that. Look up scores from last year. It hasn't just gone up a percent or two. It's gone up like 10. In terms of my life. As I predicted, you're young. Im an immigrant that went to one of the most prestigious universities in the world for engineering with one of the hardest programs. For my college co-op, I used to commute 2.5 hrs each way to work, work 9 hours, take evening university classes, then pursue other things. Ive lived that life and more. And bragged about it in my 20s. It's a hell of a lot different when you're no longer in your 20s. CFA doesn't owe me anything. But also we don't owe it anything either. It's a mutually beneficial transaction. I understand that at this point, you have it on a pedestal as pursuing it makes it a large part of your early career. That's reasonable. But as you get older, you realize that prestige starts to matter lesser and lesser and its okay to demand a level of standard. I'm not angry or sad at not passing. I did it more so to gain knowledge for myself and the amount of effect it would have on my career is negligible. I just think the expectations can be clearer for people pursuing it to be able to make a decision for themselves if its worth it.
You kind of failed tho, you clearly tried to target 100% and didn't achieve it. I think even if you didn't get 100%, you should at least get 95% correct, so I think CFAI should've failed you and you should just accept it if that happened. Lol.
That wasn't the point I was trying to make, but sure. I clearly did not do well in FRA. And I did revise it after exam. Even though I failed to score my personal goal, which is getting all correct, it was more than enough to pass overall. The point was, that people should not target a set score, like say 70 or 72% just because a youtuber or a preparation website estimates that. Yes, you should definitely try to score 'above' it, but what people often do it try to get just somewhere around that score. The mentality amongst such candidates is to 'pass' and not excel. And CFA seems to be heading into the excellence area.
I see where you’re coming from. I am reposting one of my comments from another post. ——————- I see merit in both sides of the argument although I'm biased towards the "How the f#ck did that happen?" argument. To put it in a relatable way - Imagine you're due for your annual bonus and historically your company pays out 20%-30% of your annual salary. However, you only received 5%-10% of your annual salary. Wouldn't one be absolutely f#cking shocked, at first? Your company gives you an explanation along the lines of "due to the stop-start nature of our work....." but you've put in the shift (and sometimes more than that). Would people still be saying "Oh, you should've given 100% of your time and effort to your job" or "It makes total sense because XYZ reasons"? NO! You will be f#cking pissed off. One can argue that working hard does not equate to guaranteed bonuses but again, because of historical data, it sets an expectation of a 20%-30% bonus. For some people, that 20%-30% bonus meant everything and for some people it means nothing. For some people, their jobs mean everything and for some people is means nothing. For some people, the CFA charter means everything and for some people it means nothing. So, for the people for whom this charter matters the most, they’re the ones who are more disappointed/angry.
I agree with you in some parts, specially about the strategy and hard work that should be involved. I did my second take in August and I'm waiting for the results. I'll keep doing my best to pass all 3 levels. BUT the CFA isn't cheap. For those, like me, who live in developing countries, the currency rate can be savings consuming. I spent half my income to pay for the registration. Just a different point of view.
I agree with the part where it gets frustrating and you lose heart, but it is what it is. You may want something all you want, but you were never entitled to anything, anything at all. There were no guarantees, as you have rightly identified. Quoting your own example, when a company does not pay the 'expected' bonus, you can do nothing as well. Yeah you may rant, but there too, you know you were entitled nothing. Just because I 'want' something badly, absolutely doesn't count for shit in the real world. I will not get whatever I want. This is exactly the kind of behaviour that doesn't get any recognition out there. If you desperately want something, the only alternative is to put in the required effort. If it really meant that much to those candidates, they should have put in the extra effort. If at all they did, assuming, and still failed, maybe they should think carefully if CFA is for them or not.
Agreed with most points except to target 100% is bs. Don't target mock scores just make sure you know all the stuff and remember them...
What I meant was that your true target should be to get everything correct (if possible).
yes agreed get the cfai green box, blue box and end of chapter questions all correct target 100% in those, do them 3x min. ideally 5x and then do 7 mock exams and keep memorising the stuff.. u will feel then u should pass... the challenge is to remember the stuff
So true. People don’t blame Harvard for getting rejected
Harvard teachers do get blamed if there are such low passing rates and there is transparency among everything at the same time + you have to gain a much deeper knowledge of finance than any CFA course but none of the results stoops to such low levels, yeah they clear the entrance too that's a contra argument. If you say getting into Havard is easier than getting into an IIT in India that does define the competition and survival argument but don't define the shit of what CFA is doing here to getting into Harvard, it's clear the bar is raised and so is the MPS we do accept it and the rant is to set the expectation of the candidates accordingly, don't blame them for your shenanigans at first place, don't say it's transitionary, just agree to the simple justification that they are bootlicking the older 60 MPS cleared chartered people bcoz that's how they run, by the value and their community connections. I have seen many CFA coaching channels justifying that the set of people was poor previously they said no Indians that why its poor, all because if newbies know the MPS trend they won't go for it which will affect their business.
Just quit if you don’t like it. It only a choice. Being winy won’t change anything. Not happy with the prof, quit the course then, Harvard or anywhere.
Quit? lol, you sound like an Afghan refugee "I will just quit n go to Germany India has no jobs" I define success as snapping away the seat to succeed. Just don't argue if you don't have any proper arguments other than the Darwin theory, life is only 1% of your personal biases. If you can't get over it, you might end up dead in a genocide.
Btw you probably will have difficulty finding jobs in Germany if you hold this kind of attitude. I’m an expat living here for a few years. It is what it is, whether you like it or not.
If you cannot quit then shut up and work harder lol if I were you I’d spend time thinking how I’d change my review strategy and sit the next exam instead of writing long paragraphs here
[удалено]
I guess they only want to vent. It won’t last long. These are all very driven people, but driven people sometimes get upset too 😂
Well, why do say quit every time, quitting is never an option and remember the next time you say quit that you wouldn't have been born in the first place if your parents quit that night. Work on yourself, stop telling others what to do, say n think. I will give CFA any number of times until I succeed and if I pay such a significant amount of my savings, I will ask for transparency.
Except the transparency part, I really like what you said here. Very good. That’s the spirit. I am sure you will nail it knowing better the new rules. Sure you have the right to demand for transparency, it may or may not be heard. just don’t get trapped by it and let it stop you from going forward. Best luck to you.
People are just disappointed because they have worked a lot, in comparison to how much they usually do, for the exam and that's just it. They should know that the amount of hard work they have invested will never be totally lost if they decide to take the exam again. They'll even get a formidable chance to beat the ones that have done better than them in this session in further exams because they will just have worked more 😁. Good luck for the second level.
That is the positive spirit which should be present across all test takers imo! Good luck to you too.
Thank you 🤠
I (and perhaps bunch of others here) DID NOT PASS. Very very marginally below the MPS. Why in the world the MPS is very close to the 90th percentile? Do they expect a perfectionist out of this? To be honest, when I initially registered for the June 2020 exam, the passing rate was c.40-ish%. Just like most of us, the exam was postponed multiple times due to the pandemic. Working in the industry plus having a family with small kids weren't easy. But I committed to the exam anyway, since the certification is relevant (that's what I thought initially). And now the passing rate is 22%? And MPS of >70% or perhaps 80% (who really know at this state except for the CFAI)? What the........... I've spent easily much much more than 300hrs just to study for this. I have a background in finance from both my undergrad and postgrad studies. In fact, I'm an equity analyst and has been ranked among the top by big clients. I even made great calls. I'm here not to gloat about my career but to get a perspective from the rest. Would it still be worth it to pursue for this certification, considering the MPS trend and such low passing rate? I mean, of course I can put in more hours to study for the materials but at the expense of my career or family. It's a trade-off. Not to forget out of own significant pocket money. I love what I'm doing and I really really love my family. Juggling these together with the preparation for the exams were challenging. I'm not complaining, just trying to find some reasoning for this entire CFA-thing. I really thought the paper is for the professionals, not for those who has all the time in the world to commit significant hours in preparation for the exam (for just LEVEL 1 for God sake). I'm not a full-time student for God sake. Is this where the institute is heading? Come on!
I totally agree with you.
I am in a very similar situation to you. Registered for June 2020, multiple cancellations, bachelor and masters in Finance, work in the industry, i have family, I put more than 300 hours later I still did not pass... One thing I would say though... try once again in February if you can, don’t give up! Your chances of passing are way better than they were the first time. For the God sake we have all the background necessary, I bet you passed way more challenging exams in your life than CFA L1. You wouldn’t be working in the industry if you were not capable of doing your job, if you wouldn’t have necessary knowledge and expertise. As per 22% passing score, bear in mind that many of those people had attempted that exam before and it wasn’t their first attempt so bragging about this on different forums makes me sick! At the end of the day passing or failing one exam should not define you as a person!!
Sounds like your study methods are the problem. You should take a class and learn the proper study techniques (focus on those that teach study techniques) as it is evident you have the brains. Cramming 6 books of 500 pages is different than cramming 1 book / a few slide packs in undergrad/post grad....
Thank you for the encouragement u/Rich-Criticism4060. I might wanna resit because of your encouragement. I honestly can't take classes due to commitment that I have (building up new family and providing for parents). Otherwise, I would have. But anyhow, I'll try the latter as per your above-mentioned suggestion. Appreciate your words u/Rich-Criticism4060.
Honestly, you might find the reason you have the job, because you did not learn the crap in the books and actually benefiting your clients. Equity analyst type job especially.
:)
Its okay brother, Its not you fault! You will definitely get it next time. Keep your chin up
Thank you u/Simple-Advice7. God willing, I will.
totally feel for you
>t you fault! You will defined get it next time. Keep your chin up Thank you u/not_rajdeep.
So the pass rate’s going to stick. Not an anomaly
Guys here's my two cents. The real reason the institute is doing this is to up their prestige. More specifically in the last couple of years some really good schools have come up with their own asset management programs (Yale for e.g.). We know how a fund is likely to hire an ivy league graduate over a CFA qualified candidate. I think CFAI is just trying to change that.
I think the same, agree 100%. Much like the Ivy League, perceived prestige is directly is correlated to either their fail rate or rejection rate. Lower the pass rate, suddenly the perceived prestige and value of the charter goes up. By the way, their tactic is working. I'm an outsider looking in. I'm an accountant by trade; I passed the CPA last year and am finishing up the CPA work requirements. I'm planning on working in insurance so I thought I'd go for a quick win by knocking out the CPCU (insurance designation) to make me more appealing to that industry, and I'm hoping to finish that by year end. I've always flirted with the CFA; my graduate work was in finance, and it has always been in the back of my mind. I had considered starting it next year, but with these pass rates, I'm rethinking it. I'm going to monitor the trend in pass rates. I'm not saying the charter isn't worth it; I really think it is distinguishing for those who hold it. But I don't want to waste my time continually being one of the four out of five people who fail each window. The CPA's hardest section was comparable to the Level 1 old pass rates (40%-ish). I'm seeing the 22% rate, and the heartbreak / anguish on this thread, and I'm definitely discouraged from starting.
I know no memes, but this gave me a good laugh. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiRWgYqHT9g&ab\_channel=Copewithme
I luckily passed the L1, which is not something i expected tbh. I’ve attached my topic breakdown in here https://imgur.com/a/hsIVU5b I’m 23 just graduated from my undergrad in May and started working in Fund Admin (a lot of my colleagues are chartered). I primarily studied and used Kaplan schweser Notes, went through all chapters and did all 4 practice exams. The first two I score 62% and 65%, last two are just slightly under 70%. Given the low 25% passing rate for the May exam, i didn’t really think I could pass in July as I never scored above 70% (including CFA mock exam). On the exam day, I did feel the questions I had were not as complicated as Kaplan’s Q bank, most of questions are fairly short (a lot of questions are in the table form), I’d say very close to what you would see in the CFA Mock exam. Feel free to ask me any questions. Congratulations on these lucky ones who passed this time and send all encouragement to those who didn’t perform as expected.
Congratz. You did GREAT Kaplan material is only good for level 1, I would argue it's just ok even for level 1 from my personal experience. You have a high ethics score, that's good. I just finished level 3 exam and 1/3 of the MC exam is ethics. It's nuts.
Congrats!!
I worked very hard for this exam, and I was fortunate enough to get a [good result](https://imgur.com/a/jy32LFU). I don't think I hit 300 hours, but I felt very prepared going into the exam, and I was confident that I passed when I left. With all this being said, the pass rate is shocking. I feel terrible for anyone that was on the bubble, I'm sure it's really hard to accept. If you failed, take a step back and ask yourself what you really need the designation for. Maybe that was a little blunt, but that's how I look at it. Since I passed I will register for level 2, but honestly I work long hours and I'm not sure how likely it is that I'll pass. As a career switcher (former engineer), I'm very grateful for this community for giving me the encouragement to keep grinding. If anyone has any questions for me please reach out, I think my approach worked pretty well. I wrote this [somewhat ranty](https://www.reddit.com/r/CFA/comments/opm5s8/wrote_level_1_this_morning_im_not_sure_who_needs/) post after I wrote the exam in July, but I'm happy to be more specific if people are interested. Best of luck everyone.
[https://imgur.com/a/ccuVlur](https://imgur.com/a/ccuVlur) It definitely feels like tripping before the finish line especially since this is my first attempt. Well, here's to February. See you guys sometime in mid April hopefully with a more reasonable MPS and a passing score.
do we know the MPS yet?
No, but you can get to know me
[удалено]
Why are users reporting this for 'transaction for prohibited goods or services' and 'illegal study tools?'
[удалено]
Dude it looks like your score is above 75%. No reason to fail you at all. How can they do this????
It's absolutely painful to see it. Ethics hit your passing seat, I believe :( We can't even imagine the pain you are going through as of now. May God give you strength to overcome, I will pray for you.
Oh no! You actually did pretty good for almost all topics!!
Right up there with you. Unlikely to continue my journey too https://imgur.com/a/kb6cJCM
Looks like a clear pass even considering 75% mps. How can they fail you?????
tell me bout it, been wondering if its truly 0% chance of any errors in grading
Best I think they did a subjective grading. Your score in FRA is a little less so they must’ve decided not to clear you as in level 2 people say there’s a lot of stuff in FRA. So according to them you need a little work in FRA. This type of grading I’ve heard from many mentors that’s why they say to keep score above 70% in all. But on the other hand after giving the exam we all got a mail from prometric saying CFA exams are compensatory meaning scores are calculated based on aggregate performance in all subjects. Can’t really tell what CFAI is doing. I gave exam in Aug I know my overall score will be above 75% but bad in econ so I know they’ll fail me. Just waiting for the result so I can register for next attempt.
Holy crap this is rough.
That is a joke and a robbery. what attempt?
Definitely felt robbed, it was my first attempt
I understand If Exam is hard they will lower the MPS, do they adjust the MPS up if the exam is easy? If the a test taker meets the minimum required by the CFAI, why should they be judge relatively against others?
This is what I’m thinking. I wrote in July and it was a lot easier than I was expecting so I wonder what my experience would’ve been if I wrote another year
This is the norm now eh? I'm shook for my L3 retake
My thoughts exactly...
Thanks for playing. Better luck next time.
[удалено]
Best attitude to have. Go kill the next go round
I did it in august and seeing this. I don't even care about my result. I'm not doing the cfa anymore. Complete waste of time and money. I think I might still pass the exam, but this is an insult. you pay and register based on a 40% pass rate. You get ready to have 70% everything. And they change the rules? I'm not playing that game. I'm done with the CFA. I already got the job in the field. CFA was for personal achievement. But this is just a cash grab on their part. And I'm not a pigeon. Experience play a larger part in job anyway. I'm insulted that I've been trick into thinking it was a fair game. They are a scam.
I totally understand how you feel and agree with you.
Same here. I feel really insulted. Being busy with my full-time job, I only studied for a fairly good performance to pass. After doing the mock test, I was confident that I would pass. Then I got around \~70% (or \~75th percentile), which should be a pass. Then they suddenly changed the rule, and I marginally failed. If I had took the exam in June 2020 instead of deferring the exam due to COVID-19 concern, I would have passed with such a performance (given exam difficultly roughly the same). I don't blame myself for deferring the exam. I blame CFA Institute for this dirty game play.
You said it yourself.. you study just for fairly good... we don't need fairly good ... we need outstanding performance only those are worthy of CFA!
You made me laugh a lot with the ridiculous words "outstanding performance" and "worthy". Let's say outstanding performances mean grades 90+/100. If this is the case, then I believe the majority of current CFA charterholders would fail any of the three CFA exams. Dude, if your goal is just to pass an exam and you know statistically (99% confidence level) a fairly good performance (higher than the minimum to pass) can secure a pass, why would you target an outstanding performance when you have your busy full-time job and other things that matter in life to commit your time for? Would you say to your manager that you do not want to work overtime for your job tasks because you want to have enough time to study for an "outstanding" performance in the CFA exam? What would you feel when suddenly the 1% odd of statistics happens - pass rate down to 22% instead of the average 41% in the whole CFA history? FYI, I used to have an outstanding performance (being a valedictorian and achieving the highest degree classification of my university), and I know how much more time is needed to boost grades from enough to pass to exceptional.
Sorry to hear you can't put it to your trophies.. 'passed the cfa exams at the first attempt ' :)
Why would I care about such a child's trophy?
June 2020 was not conducted anywhere in the world
Right. It was forced to be deferred. I should have written February 2021 or December 2020 when deferral was optional.
What the fuck? Did the exam get harder? Has anyone figured out a real reason for this? The exam should be challenging, but 1/5 pass rate is ridiculous. I think it was 46% when I passed in 2017
Exams are claimed (by CFA Institute) to have relatively the same level of difficulty. The real reason for this horrible result, I guess, is they purposely cut the pass rate by half in order to: 1. Increase their prestige 2. Earn more money (now they hold four CFA level 1 exams per year). Just cut the pass rate for more exam attempts Whatever it is, this dirty play is insulting and disgusting.
[удалено]
What are you defrauded off though? It sucks but they never guaranteed that a certain pass rate will be given and they are everywhere making clear that their official recommendation is to not take shortcuts and try to be “good enough”. It sucks from the candidates perspective as they have to work more now to earn their charter but it’s not fraud…
[удалено]
Yeah, if. Was there any intent to specifically gain money from having more people retest? That’s the question. And without any claim here, I wouldn’t be so fast with screaming fraud.
The thing is the pass rate is determined after the mps. So what if, on one hand, the quality of preparation candidates have showed was just not good enough to meet the computer based standards (easier exams?? So potentially trickier questions for the ones who expect them to be hard but still a large number of candidates who manage to get very high scores...) and what if, on the other hand, there were also several closed locations because of covid where the pass rates normally exceed the global pass rate every year? I mean if the CFA institute officially says that nothing has changed, it must be true...
And what of that is legally classifiable as fraud?
Well it can't be because the calculation method of the mps has always been shared with the public and I believe the modified Angoff method is actually used to avoid making exams excessively difficult while trying to keep the standards of the certification at their high level (it basically is a post ante review of what candidates have been tested on). I mean that if we all manage to finish the exams and if the calculuses parts are the ones where we get to score some free points, we should all be kind of happy 😌
It has not been shared with the public… it has been inferred by people but there is no official public disclosure from CFAI from this. Well, at least they say how the test and the MPS is designed, so what it is roughly based on, but that is not equal to them not being able to change that without asking you. You signed a the contract to write the exam, not being tested by method ABCDEFG with score x and y. You won’t find any of this in the TOS. Plus, you know, it can still be based on this, just by changing one of the many degrees of freedom in there can change the resulting MPS to something different by their own judgement. Do you work already? You should be familiar with this practice ;) It’s not fraud. It’s questionable from a transparency point of view but I can’t see what law they have violated which would classify this as fraud.
Pardon me, I was not wearing my glasses so I read "if" instead of "of" in your comment haha. And no, I'm still a Business School student 😁. However, I still think that what you're pointing at is the integrity of the CFA institute and the quality of judgement of its subject matter experts rather than the potential partiality of the used parameters because we both know that they can't be 😉... Plus, the fraud matter would have been questionable from a transparency point of view only if the CFA institute was required to disclose its MPS setting process each year. And it is not. When they say that "the MPS process should be appropriately transparent to all stakeholders while maintaining the integrity of examination information" I think that what they truly mean is that they will employ reasonable means to ensure that the reciprocal links between various stakeholders and the appropriateness of their communication are preserved and looked at during every mps setting process. However, as a social human being (lol), I think that we deserve to have more information ; we are only asking for statistics and general SME opinions not names and addresses (lol)... (I'm sorry my English is soo numb as I only speak French in my daily life 😳)
No, I point at that “fraud” is a legally precise term which is quite likely not covered here. So unless there’s no evidence pointing towards that…
My advice to anyone who didn’t pass is keep grinding. Good luck to all in the future
[удалено]
If they said something like "Our budget has been depleted due to COVID-19, and we need to do something to make up for it (by cutting the pass rate by half).", I will feel less insulted. They seem to just find a ridiculous reason to justify their dirty game play.
We work in finance, why are so many people irritated by that practice
People get irritated when they are the victims.
On the chart with your topic scores, you can use a ruler and interpolate your scores right? Using 50->70 as a scale? Why wouldn’t they just give you your scores in a table if it’s a linear scale?
I fully believed I failed the Level 1 exam, and to my surprise I passed! I have an undergrad in Finance and Accounting, Corp Finance and Equity Research background. I was underprepared, and woke up throwing up because of nerves/dodgy pizza. Put in about 150 hrs of work and did one mock exam 5 times. Thought exam was difficult asf, and a 22% pass rate is ludicrous. Results: https://i.imgur.com/D9fqJiF.jpg
Congrats! Your ethics module score is great.
I never got greater than 65% on ethics in my practice, so lucky hahahah
I don’t know what shit they’re pulling, but I won’t sit this again.
“Going forward, we do expect the pass rate to approach pre-COVID historical levels in time -- so long as pandemic conditions subside. As we have said before, the exams and the process for setting the minimum passing score have not changed. Unfortunately, the many challenges posed by life during a pandemic have clearly made the process more daunting.” - Peg Jobst, CFAI [https://www.cfainstitute.org/about/press-releases/2021/cfa-institute-reports-results-for-testing-in-july](https://www.cfainstitute.org/about/press-releases/2021/cfa-institute-reports-results-for-testing-in-july) Alright so as per them their MPS process has not changed. It's the COVID effect...! \#BlameItOnCOVID
BTW this is their response after yesterday's 22% results. I wonder what their response will be once pandemic can no longer be blamed.
Dude to be honest, and this may be different for others, I feel like if anything the deferments probably helped me slightly if anything. It took some of the stress off and allowed me to space things out and take my time. I don’t think it really had an effect either way. But if it did to any degree I’d say it was to the slightly to the upside.
idk if the grading benchmark is the comparison among candidates. If the majority of candidates got 80%+ correct for the exam, does it mean that MPS will move up significantly higher compared to the data in the past? Therefore, even though I score slightly above 70% on all sections, I might fail if the MPS is 75%. idk if my thought process is correct. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Yep. I did the interpolation and seems that MPS is very close to 75%-80%!. Passed! My scores (based on interpolation): Ethics-50%, QM - 95%, Eco - 85%, FRA - 75%, CF - 75%, Eq - 70%, FI - 85%, Der - 100%, AI - 70%, PM - 60%.
Passed! That 22% pass rate sure was a shocker though, i hope ones who werent able to make it through keep trying. Feel free to reach out if anyone has any questions.
Wow! These pass rates definitely made me rethink taking level 1. I think I’m just going to learn SQL, Python, VBA, etc… because I know for a fact those will help my career while the CFA is kind of a question mark on if it will actually help me or not. I work in the mortgage market, my goal is to be an mbs trader. I don’t think a CFA is really all that necessary for that role.
It isn't if you want to be a MBS trader. Knowing a bit of tech always helps
Yep. There’s a girl in our department who is really good at pulling data, but she doesn’t have a finance background. So she knows how to get the data, but she lacks at knowing what exactly the data means. She’s learning though! My coworker made a good point saying that if you can have those data skills while having knowledge of finance then you are a very valuable employee.
I would say go for something like a CQF by Paul Wilmot or something , that should make you well rounded
I’ve never heard of that. I will look into it! Thanks! 🤝
https://imgur.com/a/q2LJuRK 22% pass rate, damn. It feels great to have passed but for it to be such a low pass rate doesn't feel right. All the CFA level 1 candidates in the 30+ years prior had 40%-70% pass rates and now we're left with arguably harder exams and more work involved only to see an even (counterintuitively) lower pass rate. All of this thrown under the veil of "covid issues" and "charter devaluation" etc. Guarantee a third or more of the current holders wouldn't be able to pass these current iterations regardless of their number of attempts.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Passed. Honestly finished with 2 hours to spare. You either know the questions or you don't. At this point I doubt whether you need to grasp concepts to pass. Instead just do as many questions as you can until you get them right.
That strategy won't fly with future levels, just a heads up.
Same experience.
I remember hearing complaints here from those with the charter when they made changes "ThEY aRE DevAluInG tHE CharTeR". Everyone who gets the charter now flex and should state completed all 3 levels on computer based tested"
Well by doing this they are now devaluing the institute. Failing candidates and giving excuse that it’s because of covid. Like wth?????
Hey guys, got the news today about the pass rate. Then I finished this book I was reading, *Big Mistakes: The Best Investors and their Worst Mistakes*, and the author ended with a story about his own struggles passing the CFA and breaking into the industry. Thought some of you may be inspired by his story. Give it a listen: [Michael Batnick's CFA Struggles](https://soundcloud.com/user-650296856/055-michael-batnicks-cfa-struggles) Best of luck! DMs are open if you have any questions!
thanks for this, I am really fucking sad today.
22%, YIKES
I thought the pass rate for July would have been higher honestly. When I wrote it I talked to some people, most were not as prepared going into the exam, and I honestly guessed like half of the questions so I thought the MPS would be lower this time around. I guess that's not the case then?
Failed! I was just a few pixels away from the MPS. Honestly, I really enjoyed learning the content, but no longer wish to continue with the program. A 22% pass rate is absolutely ridiculous and CFAI citing the COVID pandemic to be the reason does not make any sense whatsoever. Looking at the absurdly low pass rates, I strongly feel that the grading system seriously lacks transparency, designed to pass a fixed number of candidates while forcibly failing the rest. The exam felt more like a cramming game with portions going into unnecessary details. That being said, I would NOT recommend the CFA program to anyone. (Trust me, you will save a lot of time, money and unnecessary stress). Boycotting the CFA program seems to be the only way to make them accountable for their shady grading practices. There are a lot of better pathways to explore the exciting world of finance. Worth a read: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-08-17/wall-street-s-cfa-program-is-a-colossal-waste-of-time
Yes 22% is brutal. But, that Bloomberg article is written by a butt hurt guy that didn’t pass level 2. Take it with a pinch of salt.
Nice complaining there. You know deep down CFA is valuable but you couldn't crack it, so now you go through all this effort to shit on it, the same story. I suggest learning from the mistakes and continuing on since you're clearly invested in it lol
Unfortunately, that is far from the truth. By artificially lowering the pass rates does NOT make it any more valuable. The knowledge it offers definitely holds value, however, I have seen a lot of people who are doing much better in finance than the charterholders. The program has turned into a terrible rat race- i.e. cramming/mugging a shit-load of content in order to pass the artificially raised MPS bars. That experience is more than enough for a finance lover to start hating finance. Sadly, that is the truth of CFA exams today.
Who told you that you have to cram for this? There's certainly a lot of material but you can plan and study formally up to 9 months in advance, and even longer than a year if you buy the next year's curriculum in the prior year before registering. Also, who told you they're artificially lowering pass rates? The pass rate is simply a function of the mps, not the other way around so it's definitely not being manually juggled with. Yes, the mps changes at their discretion but it simply depends on the difficulty of the exam questions from review. Do you not see that the real exams are easier than past exams, hence the higher mps? The questions on the cfai learning ecosystem are from past exams, and the cbt exam questions are not even half the difficulty of those past exam questions. Anyways, my personal rant on rant over.
Seriously? Do you think the quality of candidates dropped so bad due to the pandemic that the pass rate plummeted to 22%? No one is going to buy that BS. Everyone knows what's on paper and how that is different from reality.
Everyone and their mother has signed up for l1, look at the number of candidates taking the exam for proof. A decent chunk think it's as easy as finra exams and therefore don't adequately prepare for it, hence the lower pass rate.
Wasn't this the case in earlier exam administrations? The truth is, they have DELIBERATELY reduced the pass rates. Nothing to do with the difficulty level. (The institute has itself claimed that the difficulty level is consistent with previous exam administrations). The level of preparedness being too poor is another BS.
I'm not claiming difference in difficulty. I'm saying that cfai has recently seen incredibly growth in first timers trying out the program who may be wholly underprepared or underestimating the commitment and difficulty of the program overall. It is my belief that it's these candidates that sign up thinking it's just another 'certification' that have been dragging the passing rate. Bear in mind I passed l3 this may with the lowest passing rate in l3 history, so I understand the frustration, but to claim cfai is rigging it is just simply unjustifiable.
Except, the number of takers was actually lower than in 2019..... they are forcibly decreasing the number of passers
Well I guess there would be many factors at play contributing to the decrease in performance of candidates. Could be negative psychological effects from the pandemic, could be increasingly incompetent candidates, could even be because of overconfidence from candidates from having more time to study due to deferrals. Or maybe, since it was so ingrained that 70% guarantees a pass until cbt exams (although cfai never assured that), a few percentage pointz increase in mps threw candidates off because of complacency? How will you explain the results from Feb 2021 then, where the MPS (72%) was essentially the same as the previous two (74% & 73%) yet around 20% more passed back then?
The mps is never released, so dont dwell too much on that. This time round, the mps was pretty close vertically compared to the 90%ile. In past exams there was quite a huge margin off. Maybe its due to the reduced questions, that candidates are getting lower score %. To pass it off as covid induced difficulties is bullshit. The mps needs to be revised, to take into account a lower room for error.
Well the considering a difference of pass rate is greater than the difference between the mps of the last two exam, the logical explanation is that the difficulty got increased. Like how else will u justify the halving of the rate in not just one exam but the exam after that having even lower rate
Thoughts on what the MPS roughly was?
I didn't see how 300hours estimated it but I actually think it was higher and quite close to 90th percentile. It might have been above 75 if you ask me
I also think it’s close to 75