Progress is being made! In fact, I have now studied more hours for this sitting than I have for any previous sitting, and I still have 25 days left to go. I haven’t been keeping an exact count, but I am sure I am over 300 hours at this point. I have studied almost every night since taking MFE, with a little bit of time off around the holidays.
I plan to do a post specifically about preparing for this exam once I am done, but it really boils down to two things: hours and persistence. I have spent so much time on this exam really expecting to be almost 100% of the way there by now, but really I am only 60-70% of the way there. There is a TON of material in this exam, and while by themselves most of the chapters aren’t overly complicated (surely some are, but most aren’t), taken as a whole this is a huge exam. It just takes a commitment that will challenge you and push you beyond what you think your limits are. I have been 100% focused on this exam for 5 months, will be for another month, and I’m still not totally confident of passing. I think I will when the time comes, but there is still so much left for me to grasp.
I have been using the TIA 240 block of questions as my practice question block, and recently re-watched every TIA video and took careful notes. While I found the videos a little tough to grasp the first time through, now that I am pretty familiar with the material, the videos were great to watch the concepts in action and fill in a lot of the blanks. Just like every other exam, it takes multiple passes through the material before everything starts to click. After multiple bouts of frustration at trying to grasp this material, things have been clicking well recently and hopefully they will continue to.
That does bring up a good point – this exam is really a test of will and determination. At this risk of making it sound overly dramatic, it really is a true test of your commitment and dedication. I’ll have more to say on this in the future, but I really believe this exam is a challenge for all but the serious math genius types.
At this point, I would rate my chances of passing as a 7.5 out of 10. I feel like if I can keep up this pace another 25 days, I should be in good shape, but I don’t think I will ever reach the point of being truly confident. Which is a good thing, because I need that little kernel of panic to keep me studying!
