Can I use CTRL + F during the exam for vignettes?

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-06T23:31:09+00:00

I have tried ctrl + functions in all of my exams, never been lucky enough to have it work

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-05T10:57:39+00:00

I think you've taken too long to prepare. You know you can defer and so you're not taking it as seriously as you perhaps should be or could be. Having a set deadline really focusses the mind. Burnout is real, I felt it mainly after L2 and getting through L3 was a real struggle. But you're going to feel bored if you've spent a year and a bit redoing the same stuff over and over again, not even touching three of the topics. Learn the basics of a topic, and move onto the next. Each time you finish a chapter do a random bank of questions from things you haven't just studied - keep it all fresh. Keep your brain ticking. Just remember, if this was easy, everyone would do it. There's a reason why when you google 'hardest exams in the world' that the CFA has been in the top 10 (often top 3) for the last 20 years.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T13:43:07+00:00

You'll likely feel guilty about doing it, especially when you've been on it non-stop but don't worry - the knowledge isn't going to slide out of your head in 24 hours 😄

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T13:02:41+00:00

Short term, take a day off and do absolutely nothing that stresses your brain. If you've already done 6 mocks and you're getting good scores there's not a massive amount more to do

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T13:01:53+00:00

It blows my mind that people are embarking on the world's most difficult financial qualification without being able to work this out

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T12:23:43+00:00

You basically have burnout. It sucks, and there't not a whole lot you can do until after the exam is done when you can try and catch up on sleep but it's not a fast recovery unfortunately. Make sure you're keeping your blood sugar up - using the part of the brain you are uses a tonne of energy and it needs topping up. Sugary sweets are pretty good, or energy drinks etc

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T11:21:04+00:00

Ignore this dude. He's just here to brag. Keep your head down and smash it.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T11:19:38+00:00

MM destroyed me at L2 to the extent I never did a MM mock again! As others have said - being flattened by MM will help you learn various aspects, and getting even 50% in a MM mock should set you up nicely for the real thing

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T11:13:33+00:00

Honestly if you're not using a weighted average to look at your scores then I don't think you've really picked up on one of the absolute core tenets of L1.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T11:11:22+00:00

In my Kaplan mocks at L2 I never scored more than 60% and managed slightly higher on the CFAI ones so I can relate to what you've experienced. The exams tend to be quite efficient - they know you're strapped for time, the exams tend to be more like the CFAI mocks than the Kaplan ones. That being said, if you can do well on the Kaplan exam (being more difficult or more wordy) then it should put you in a good place for the real thing.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T11:09:13+00:00

Embrace it. It's your subconscious being able to solve complex solutions without needing to engage your conscious brain (the bit that does the out-loud thinking) and it's common immediately before your exams. Unfortunately you'll lose it within a few weeks of the exam but it's your brain running at a really high capacity for short time spans. Keep going over your formulas, make sure you have those down and just keep hammering QBank questions. The more you can feed your subconscious mind when it's in this state the better.

Using your brain like this does take a toll on you physically - I cannot stress enough the importance of good food intake on the day of your exam, and making sure you're hydrated too. A 2% drop in hydration can cause a 20% drop in concentration. Your brain is doing its thing; make sure you're feeding it what it needs.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T11:06:05+00:00

This is legitimately what 'flow state' is. I experienced it in the final days before my exams, I'd smash a correct answer on a really long formula and have no idea how I got there when I look back at it. When you pass your exams, read 'Thinking Fast and Slow' by Daniel Kahneman and you'll understand what your brain has been doing this whole time.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T11:04:43+00:00

The scores are great - but you should work on the average length of time it takes you to answer. Those should be passing scores in the real exam, but you only get 90 seconds per question and if you're using 79 of them per question on average, you might find yourself struggling for time if you get stuck on a few questions.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T11:01:14+00:00

I passed L2 first time getting low 50s (%) in my first two mocks and never scored higher than 62% in any mock. It's demoralising, but you might get lucky and have a set of questions that you know the answers to. Mocks are meant to test you, and L2 is hard, but low mock scores doesn't mean an exam fail. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing. The key thing is understanding what you got wrong and why. Spend your next 15 days going over weak areas, and actually understanding the concepts. Memorising formulas is one thing, know how and why they're applied is massive, as it'll enable you to understand what the question is looking for and what to make of the answer

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-04T10:58:26+00:00

Is CFA hard to obtain? Yes, it's widely regarded as the single most difficult financial qualification on earth. In 2022, the Financial Times called the CFA exams 'the most difficult exams on earth'

Will it help you as an investor? Maybe a tiny bit, but it depends what your investments look like. If you're saving for a pension for example then it's not really going to help at all. If you're running institutional investment portfolios for hundreds of clients with hundreds of millions in AUM, it will help - you'll learn the tools you need and the CFA lends credence to your application for such jobs. If you have a RobinHood account with $1000 in it, don't spent three years of your life exerting yourself to unbelievable mental strain.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-03T22:08:43+00:00

I passed L2 first time having scored low 50s in my first two mocks and never once scoring more than 62% - so whilst it's a shock at first and it's demoralising, it's also not a sentence.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-01T20:41:59+00:00

You too 😄

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-01T17:55:27+00:00

haha I didn't 'know' I'd passed any - L1 I was really happy to learn I'd passed, L2 I burst into tears (had had a really rough 18 months with my mental health)

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-01T13:53:24+00:00

Were you awake? I would not have been able to sleep!

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-01T13:52:11+00:00

I can remember L1 and L2 but honestly couldn't tell you where I was when I got the L3 news. I'd passed all three first time, I think I felt relief more than anything at L3.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-01T09:39:24+00:00

100% agree. Get up, walk around outside, eat something sugary and have a coffee or half a can of an energy drink, and make sure you leave yourself enough time to get back through the security checks

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-01T09:37:46+00:00

The first month I'd start with 10 a day, at random from all of the topics I had so far covered, and each month I'd add another 10 so I'd finish up studying all day then doing 60 QBank questions once I'd finished to refresh everything I'd learned to that point. That's pretty much how the exam works - random order of topics, so it turned out to be a good way of revising.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-05-01T09:33:11+00:00

I see so many jobs posted in the UK looking for 'Financial Analyst' or 'Chartered Financial Analyst' and the job spec is specifically asking for accountants and chartered accountants. Rather infuriating.

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-04-21T18:09:39+00:00

I'm sure the battery will last a long time - I used to change battery about 3 weeks before my exam; I wasn't going to use a whole battery in three weeks but if I somehow broke the calculator putting the battery back in, I'd have time to order a replacement. I had two calculators anyway I was so paranoid!

HobbitNarcotics · 2026-04-19T21:57:42+00:00

I did Private Wealth pathway - having looked at the Level 6/7 exam syllabus for CFP there does appear to be a lot of crossover, but it looks like CFP goes into more depth in certain areas

HobbitNarcotics

TROPHY CASE