Monday, May 03, 2004
Modules
I had the day off work today and so I decided to knock out the Quantitative Analysis module on the HBS prematric website. The deadline isn't until July 1, but I wanted to get everything out of the way so I can have a carefree summer. The quant module was very slick and entertaining... Well, it was very slick. They did a pretty good job of keeping it lighthearted, the whole thing was done in Macromedia Flash and the animation was pretty good. Highlights include an example based upon local grocer H-E-B and an animation where a character was stabbed with a sword. Although the character was covered, the slowly spreading blood stain was not... Like I said, somewhat entertaining...
After completing the Quant module I decided to take a look at the Finance module. I decided to take a shot at the pre-test since I took the CFA a year ago, and finance was pretty easy for me. The finance pre-test was half silly questions on minutiae (which of these markets is an auction market?), and half of it on the analysis of financial statements. It was easy, but it did take me a while to match together what the spreadsheet was trying to do, since they used nomenclature different than what the CFA used.
My recommendation to anyone is to go for the pre-test if you are at least moderately experienced with the material. It is an open book test, meaning that you can look through spots in the narrative if a question has you stumped. Besides, even if you learn the material now (or by the 7/15 deadline), you will forget it again by the time the semester starts. So, I went through the whole quant module and passed that test, and then I did the finance pre-test and passed that as well. Aside from some paperwork, there is nothing I can do now until I get the second mailing.
After completing the Quant module I decided to take a look at the Finance module. I decided to take a shot at the pre-test since I took the CFA a year ago, and finance was pretty easy for me. The finance pre-test was half silly questions on minutiae (which of these markets is an auction market?), and half of it on the analysis of financial statements. It was easy, but it did take me a while to match together what the spreadsheet was trying to do, since they used nomenclature different than what the CFA used.
My recommendation to anyone is to go for the pre-test if you are at least moderately experienced with the material. It is an open book test, meaning that you can look through spots in the narrative if a question has you stumped. Besides, even if you learn the material now (or by the 7/15 deadline), you will forget it again by the time the semester starts. So, I went through the whole quant module and passed that test, and then I did the finance pre-test and passed that as well. Aside from some paperwork, there is nothing I can do now until I get the second mailing.
