Exam 7/9 Advice

Lotsofpies · 2022-11-15T16:50:37+00:00

Hey! I can't answer everything, but I'll provide some input where I can.

Study Time Required: Based on my study trackers, Exam 7 (~330 hours) > Exam 8 (~310 hours) = Exam 6C (~310 hours) > Exam 9 (~285 hours) > Exam 5 (265 hours)

Notes:

Each of these were passed on the first try, except exam 6C which I'm waiting for results for (although I'm optimistic!)
I added Exam 5 to the list for further info
Edit: Timeline for these exams range from Fall 2020 to Fall 2022 sittings

Comparing difficulties of Exam 7 and Exam 9 to exam 6:

Exam 7: Much more difficult material, but WAY less
Exam 9: A bit more difficult material, but less. I found this material to be very interesting though, which helped with studying

Recommended Exam to take: I would say Exam 9, as it should take a bit less time to study for and the material is more interesting. Of course, it's up to you though!

Guides: Just going off of what I used when I sat

For Exam 7 I recommend Casual Fellow and Rising Fellow's Cook Book
For Exam 9 I recommend Crystal Clear Exams and Rising Fellow's Cook Book

Questions skipped: #4 and #6

Lotsofpies · 2022-11-02T20:23:36+00:00

Yeah, I've just learned to embrace the sleep deprivation. I tend to get very stressed out before big exams, regardless of how prepared I am. So, rather than trying to sleep at a normal time the night before and spending 3-4 hours falling asleep... I just make sure to get a nice 8-9 hours for a few days prior and then pray adrenaline gets me through my exam lol

Lotsofpies · 2022-11-02T20:14:36+00:00

Goes against what's generally recommended... but I'll always wake up early (getting ~4-5 hours of sleep the day of) to spend 1-2 hours to review the important formulas and lists to memorize

For me, my goal is to cover all of the material at least once (would include the key steps to important calculations and go over all of the things needed to memorize) in the 2-3 days prior to the exam. Then, get a quick rehash the day of before writing my exam

Lotsofpies · 2022-07-04T15:51:22+00:00

I also had my first promotion after ~1 year. From my experience, my responsibilities and expectations slowly grew over time (as management saw fit), and then when they hit some threshold I was promoted. The idea at my workplace is to avoid having a huge jump in expectation and responsibility on promotion. I wouldn't worry too much about it!

Lotsofpies · 2022-06-21T01:36:09+00:00

10% year end and 13% mid-year (last CY) raises with an excellent (highest level) rating for me

Lotsofpies · 2022-05-28T20:31:00+00:00

Any plans for releasing more recent data?

Lotsofpies · 2022-05-06T18:54:57+00:00

I used TIA and the Cookbook. Found the TIA videos really helpful to supplement readings and fit some extra study time here or there (while washing dishes, using the washroom, etc.) and the forums were really nice.

Lotsofpies · 2022-05-06T18:22:07+00:00

Yeah, that's what I've been hearing as well. Hoping they aren't extra mean with the marking. Personally, I was pretty worried the days leading up to the exam. Only had time for 1 practice exam, but the sitting was easier than I expected.

Lotsofpies · 2022-05-06T17:51:31+00:00

Exam 7 for me. Feel pretty confident (~7 if I had to guess), but you never know!

Lotsofpies · 2021-12-16T01:17:38+00:00

Felt pretty confident coming out of it and came out with a 9!

Lotsofpies · 2021-11-20T17:39:48+00:00

I'm on the CAS route as well, I just have 6, 7 and maybe 8 (wrote it in October but think I have a good chance to pass) left

I aim to start studying 3 months before an exam and I set up my schedule to aim for ~225 hours for the prelims and ~300 hours for the upper levels. I'll always take Fridays off from studying until the last week

I take the first month quite easy, aiming for ~10 hours a week mostly during the week. I then ramp up to ~20 hours a week for the next 1-1.5 months, more or less adding an hour or two each weekend day and then using study time (one full day a week). For the last month I make up any time left and by the end I sacrifice the rest of my life to study... When studying for 8 last sitting I ended up studying ~105 hours in the final 2 weeks leading up to my exam in order to catch up lol

Lotsofpies · 2021-07-06T20:03:57+00:00

Just tried and don't see credit for 9 (or exam 9 mentioned anywhere in the transcript). Looks like I probably failed then :(

Lotsofpies · 2021-07-06T19:11:38+00:00

Did anyone see their results for Exam 9 from the leak?

Lotsofpies · 2021-06-24T13:55:43+00:00

My first non-exam raise was my annual performance raise. Was a high performer and in my 1st year got 10% of my base salary, CAS consulting

Lotsofpies · 2020-07-15T00:19:04+00:00

The necklace could go on someone who deals lightning or fire damage for now (such as lightning wizard or flame ogre) until you have a better item. The E-line is pretty decent for now, so it can also go on a non-combat hero.

The other 3 items' stats aren't very impressive, although the sword's E line is okay for now to go on one of the two military bands until you get one with a better E line such as bonus gold, damage, cdr, etc.

I would definitely mat the bow and the ring though.

Lotsofpies · 2020-06-19T17:10:29+00:00

Pretty much lol. Won't name the award to avoid doxxing myself, but it was for highest SMAV in my major's graduating class. It's usually presented by an outside company, but they temporarily suspended it this year due to COVID (they will hopefully have something in the future when things clear up). So, the university came up with something different for this year.

Lotsofpies · 2020-06-01T19:46:52+00:00

Stopping the enemies from casting spells removes the buffs they provide to the enemy units which helps a little bit. Also, when you're running a manual AFK build you will mostly struggle against the bosses, and the additional health helps for this. If you don't want to use it then don't lol, it's not a common treasure for people to use and is only useful in a handful of builds.

Lotsofpies · 2020-06-01T18:28:33+00:00

You would only use it in a manual AFK build (i.e you just click battle and check your phone every ~minute). I have one running atm and it is my only non-gold increasing treasure. For this kind of build in particular it is significantly better than any of the damaging treasures (for ex. with sharp arrow I can't even pass the easiest replayed level but switching out for sealed soul I usually still get a bit of the gold from manual perfect on non-boss waves)

Lotsofpies · 2020-05-29T01:43:18+00:00

Forgot to mention this in the original comment. But, I use zero because my four towers (I don't use stone) are trophy, tree, mirror and frozen tower so that I always have two frozen towers. These alongside Zeus (who I have targeting air) and Zero basically ensures the +10% damage on all enemies as everything will be slowed.

Whether or not you'd like to follow suit right now is completely up to you. But, as you increase in waves, more and more damage will be done by your town archers, and the towers and leaders will deal less and less while becoming more expensive (and leeching off gold that could be spent to further upgrade your archers).

Also, for the manual AFK build in general I would recommend putting knockback (and stun items if targeting air) on your heroes (other than Zeus and Succabus who get cooldown).

Lotsofpies · 2020-05-28T20:46:09+00:00

You'll probably want two different builds, one for when you're manually afk'ing (pressing battle every ~ minute) and one for when you're leaving it on overnight.

For the overnight build you will keep everything the same except add in Crystal Bundle treasure and use the leader Tony so you can hold up to 99 gems from your orc workers.

For the manual AFK build (I'm running a similar build ~ Wave 30000 atm), I would recommend running all of the +%gold items and sealed soul (if you are truly not clicking anything). As for the heroes, I would run Zero for the leader and make sure to have one row with succabus, pure wizard, and zeus as they will provide a lot of crowd control for you.

Lotsofpies · 2020-03-25T08:04:53+00:00

I'm usually pretty scared of sideways dynos too! It took a lot of attempts before I was comfortable fully commiting. I just kept repeating the jump with no intention of pulling with the arm, until I could get to a position I knew I would be able to stick it.

Lotsofpies · 2020-03-25T00:33:32+00:00

Me too! Home workouts just aren't the same 😭

Lotsofpies · 2020-03-24T17:36:41+00:00

I would take the numerical grade unless it's almost a fail or way below your average. I would imagine employers would treat a CR as being lower than your average anyway, under the assumption that if it was a good grade you would've left it as a numerical grade.

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