I feel pretty good about the exam. I answered 25 questions with a high degree of confidence, I’d say 22 were 100% confidence and 3 were 80-90%. I didn’t have time to really narrow the 100% confidence v the slightly less, but that should be about right. There were 2 questions I was 50-50 on. One was a guess where I was able to eliminate 3 of the answers, and one was a question where it could have been either answer depending on exactly what the question was asking. On the question I was able to eliminate 3 answers, opinion online seems to be my guess was correct (I have seen others discussing the question and the answer with enough detail that I know it is the same question), and on the other I thought depending on how you read the question you could have thought they were asking for two different things, and both answers were options. In general terms, the name of the thing they were asking for was different than what they described in the question. I have seen practice questions where even though they are asking for an interest rate put you calculate it as a call (because the price goes up as rate goes down), but this was slightly different.
I made pure guesses on 3 questions, but instead of just picking a random answer I went with answers that seemed familiar based on practice questions I had done. I can only remember two off the top of my head. One was a topic that was in my study material but unlikely to be tested and pretty difficult, so I only got a passing familiarity with it. The other was a question I knew how to do in theory, but the answer choice were pretty complex and in variable form. I tried to start it and got nowhere quickly, so just decided to punt as I didn’t think my time was best spent on that one.
I had at least one question I had on my previous exam, maybe two. The one I had for sure I knew I got wrong last time, so even though I knew the answer as soon as I looked at it this time I did calculate it out and double check it.
There were a couple of topics I studied hard for and expected to get at least one question on, but did not. That was disappointing in a way, as I was really prepared for them!
All in all, I think I would have passed this version of the exam had I taken it in the spring (I failed in the spring with the version I took), but there isn’t anything I can do about that of course. I’m pretty confident of having passed, but you never really know until you see the result. I left this exam about as confident as I was after taking FM, which I got a 9 on. I don’t expect a 9 this time, I’m more mentioning that to give some perspective. I was definitely more confident than I was with P or my previous MFE try, which I got a 6 and 4 on respectively.
I have started studying for C. I took one night off, but within 24 hours I was knee deep in C material! I am leaning towards making a first attempt at C in February, with the expectation of taking it again in May and passing then. That being said, the fact of taking it in February will lead me to do everything in my power to pass in February. The studying would be more like my studying for P and FM, just an intense short period of trying to absorb as much as I can to pass.
For C study material, I have the Mahler manual (which I still love) and TIA. I have been using the Mahler manual for my initial review, and listening to TIA in the car. My plan right now is to finish a first pass (reading, highlighting and taking notes, not working problems) in Mahler by Dec 7 and then to start working a problem set. Right now I intend to work the TIA 240 set of problems, as they have video solutions that I think I will learn well from. I have read good things about Mahler’s practice exams, so I may end up using those as a practice question bank as well. I don’t generally take sample exams under exam conditions, I tend to use them as question banks to practice, so doing so a little earlier than normal won’t be all that unusual. Overall, I don’t know that I will have time for much more than 240 questions, and the TIA bank and the practice exams both total to about that number. As I start looking at the questions more closely I will get a feel for what will best prepare me in a short time.
I’m sure the ideas will change as I go along, but that is the plan as of now!
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