本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Tips for Taking the Levels II and III Item Set Exams
The Level II CFA exam consists of 20 item sets — 10 on the morning session of the exam and 10 on the afternoon session. The Level III exam uses the essay format in the morning, and the item set format, with 10 item sets, in the afternoon.
Item sets are sometimes called “mini-cases.” Each item set on the CFA exam consists of a vignette (or case statement) and six multiple choice items (questions).
The length of a vignette ranges from about 1 page to 2.5 pages. The longer vignettes are those that include several tables of information, such as for a financial statement analysis, statistics, or fixed-income item set. The average length of the vignettes on the exam is about 1.5 pages.
The six items in each item set can only be answered based on the information in the vignette. Hence, the items are not free-standing (as in Level I), but are drawn from the vignette. You will need to read the vignette before answering the items, and you will need to refer back to the vignette for information. The six items can be answered independent of each other, but they do require information in the vignette.
On the Level II exam, you will have a total of 120 items (20 vignettes with 6 items each) compared to 240 multiple choice items on the Level I exam. The exam formats (including the essays at Level III) adapt to the changing topic focus and learning focus at each level. The topic focus on Level I is on investment tools, the topic focus on Level II is on asset valuation, and the topic focus on Level III is on portfolio management. The learning focus also changes, from knowledge and comprehension (Level I), to application and analysis (Level II), and to synthesis and evaluation (Level III).
The Level II and III exams are graded for 360 points, corresponding to the number of minutes on the exam. The 120 Level II items are equally weighted, 3 points each, with no penalty for guessing. At Level III, the morning essay exam is 180 points and the afternoon item set exam is 180 points.
* Read the formatting conventions for writing multiple-choice questions at Level I. These same “best practices” are followed for item sets questions at Levels II and III.
* Expect to go slower on the Level II exam than on Level I. You are answering 50% fewer questions, but spending twice as much time thinking about each one (including time for reading and analyzing the vignettes).
* You may mark up your exam book. Circle or underline important information in the vignette and write down your equations or logic. However, only your final answers recorded on the answer sheets are graded.
* If you do not know the answer to a question:
o You might be able to eliminate one or more choices based on what you know about the topic. There is no penalty for guessing.
o Use reasoning and logic. The concepts that you know on one topic often apply to another topic.
* No individual has ever received a perfect score on any level of the CFA exam. Even though it is not by design, you should expect to encounter questions that you will not be able to answer correctly. There is a great deal of material to master and exam questions are challenging. Standard setters (at Levels I and II) and the Board of Governors (at all three levels) take account of exam difficulty in setting Minimum Passing Scores. For a full description of how the MPS is established, see Into our 5th decade (PDF).更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
The Level II CFA exam consists of 20 item sets — 10 on the morning session of the exam and 10 on the afternoon session. The Level III exam uses the essay format in the morning, and the item set format, with 10 item sets, in the afternoon.
Item sets are sometimes called “mini-cases.” Each item set on the CFA exam consists of a vignette (or case statement) and six multiple choice items (questions).
The length of a vignette ranges from about 1 page to 2.5 pages. The longer vignettes are those that include several tables of information, such as for a financial statement analysis, statistics, or fixed-income item set. The average length of the vignettes on the exam is about 1.5 pages.
The six items in each item set can only be answered based on the information in the vignette. Hence, the items are not free-standing (as in Level I), but are drawn from the vignette. You will need to read the vignette before answering the items, and you will need to refer back to the vignette for information. The six items can be answered independent of each other, but they do require information in the vignette.
On the Level II exam, you will have a total of 120 items (20 vignettes with 6 items each) compared to 240 multiple choice items on the Level I exam. The exam formats (including the essays at Level III) adapt to the changing topic focus and learning focus at each level. The topic focus on Level I is on investment tools, the topic focus on Level II is on asset valuation, and the topic focus on Level III is on portfolio management. The learning focus also changes, from knowledge and comprehension (Level I), to application and analysis (Level II), and to synthesis and evaluation (Level III).
The Level II and III exams are graded for 360 points, corresponding to the number of minutes on the exam. The 120 Level II items are equally weighted, 3 points each, with no penalty for guessing. At Level III, the morning essay exam is 180 points and the afternoon item set exam is 180 points.
* Read the formatting conventions for writing multiple-choice questions at Level I. These same “best practices” are followed for item sets questions at Levels II and III.
* Expect to go slower on the Level II exam than on Level I. You are answering 50% fewer questions, but spending twice as much time thinking about each one (including time for reading and analyzing the vignettes).
* You may mark up your exam book. Circle or underline important information in the vignette and write down your equations or logic. However, only your final answers recorded on the answer sheets are graded.
* If you do not know the answer to a question:
o You might be able to eliminate one or more choices based on what you know about the topic. There is no penalty for guessing.
o Use reasoning and logic. The concepts that you know on one topic often apply to another topic.
* No individual has ever received a perfect score on any level of the CFA exam. Even though it is not by design, you should expect to encounter questions that you will not be able to answer correctly. There is a great deal of material to master and exam questions are challenging. Standard setters (at Levels I and II) and the Board of Governors (at all three levels) take account of exam difficulty in setting Minimum Passing Scores. For a full description of how the MPS is established, see Into our 5th decade (PDF).更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net