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Cma part 2 exam difficult

  • 1.  Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 09-26-2023 02:32 AM

    Just appeared in the part 2 exam.  Compared with the mock exam and practice exam.  This real one was way harder and trickier.  Also it was the hardest one of all my prior attempts.  I have heard that CMA exam could have different versions.  But it could have such a large variation in terms of difficulty level?! How they graded the exam?  Also each exam seems testing heavily on certain subjects.  Each exam varies.   Topics are not distributed as the same percentage as our study outline.

    Level of exam is harder than mock test and study material that I used to prepare that is Becker and gleim.



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    Nirmal Singh
    None
    ROHINI SECTOR 28
    India
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  • 2.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 09-27-2023 03:13 AM
    I had the same experience with my CMA Part 2 exam, though I cleared it, the questions were not evenly distributed and one aspect (Ratios in my case) was heavily tested and few sections were not even discussed. I used gleim only.
    Good Luck with your result.




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 09-27-2023 05:22 PM

    Candidate who had taken the CMA prep class at CMAschool.com said Part 2 corresponded closely to what he had studied.



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    John Coughlan CMA, CPA
    Academic
    CPA School of Washington
    Fairfax VA
    United States
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 09-28-2023 02:47 AM

    Dear All, 

    Part 2 is definately more challenging. A lot of the questions seem open ended, and you will need to synthesize the data to come to the right answer. 

    It took me 2 tries, and from my personal experience, you really need to understand the content, you can't really stumble your way through it. Really try to understand how all the parts fit together. Do a million practice questions and you will get it.

    BTW, the CMA helped me big time with grad school accounting courses.

    Regards,

    Uriah



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    Uriah Tryon CMA, CSCA
    Accountant
    Aurora CO
    United States
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 09-28-2023 08:36 AM

    I agree - although I passed the exam, I had the same feeling that Part 2 was way harder than Part 1 and all the Part 2 practice questions I have done using both Gleim and Hock prep materials (where I was consistently getting 70-85% correct). Time management is of the essence - most questions are long and twisted in such a way that you may have re-read at least a couple of times to understand what is being asked and ensure you are not missing the small details. My advice to candidates sitting for Part 2 soon (credit goes to Hock CMA) - read the question, if you don't know the answer or if it seems too difficult, skip to the next question and come back at the end and give another try. Do not leave any question unanswered (25% chance at a correct answer is still a good chance). By the time I reached Question 100, I could see I had about 10 questions unanswered and about 15 minutes to go - which really put me at ease as I made another attempt at solving those difficult questions.   



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    Fazil Eshankulov, CMA
    Financial Management Professional
    Copenhagen, Denmark
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 09-30-2023 11:56 PM

    I agree! I took Part 2 on September 4 and it was much more difficult than my prep with Becker. Part 1 was the opposite; my sample exam scores were low but I passed easily. I haven't gotten back my score for Part 2, but I am sure I did not pass it. I can't hope to have gotten lucky because I left many questions blank (not the fault of the exam I was just unwell on the day). The topics were the same as the practice exam, but the practice exam was heavy on weighted-average cost of capital and some other calculations, but the exam seemed mostly to want memorization.



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    Sarah Cate
    Academic
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 11-15-2023 09:36 AM

    I agree with everyone. I was very disappointed because I studied like crazy and did well on the MCQ on Gleim. I do not regret my effort. I was shocked on how little I needed to do any calculation. Most questions were about the content and not questions to solve. Of course, I spent 70% of my study trying to solve problems. I am going to take the exam again in February and change my study to 50/50 with solving problems and remembering the content. I wish everyone good luck in your second attempt and congrats to all who passed. Happy Holidays!!



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    Denny Chow
    Analyst
    LaGrange GA
    United States
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 11-16-2023 12:19 AM

    Hi Denny Chow, 

    I regret to tell you that it took me 3 trys to pass the second exam. On one of them, I had an experience like the one you described. But on another one, it seemed like it had all of the very difficult calculations. You will pass soon, and you will be proud that you stuck through it. 

    Good luck on your next attemp.

    Regards,

    Uriah Tryon



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    Uriah Tryon CMA, CSCA
    Accountant
    Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 11-17-2023 12:37 AM

    This is very similar to my experience in part 2. Wiley isn't enough for clearing part 2 , one needs to supplement with an additional otb. I did a combo of Wiley and gleim and I was able to clear in on my second attempt scoring 420. My advise for anyone attempting part 2 would be to start the test with solving theory first , once you are done with theory move on the calculation based question. In calc based question divide the questions as per the length. Start with few lines qs and then move to lengthy ones. Usually 60-70% is theory and rest is practical. In practical 10 % would be lengthy rest are 2 or 3 lines questions. When doing the practical start with the last line , reason behind is that the questions have lot of information which isn't needed to solve the question. Hope these tips help !!



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    Kirti Sheth
    None
    Bangalore
    India
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 11-16-2023 01:33 AM

    In my view and experience, Wiley is sufficient for Part 1; however for Part 2 alongwith Wiley, practicing on Surgent, Gleim and Hock can be useful as Part 2 demands comparatively more indepth understanding of concepts.

    I tried all these which helped me in clearing my exam in first sitting.



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    Manish Pawar
    CMA, CFA, MS, MBA, MCOM, MA, BCOM, BEd, GDC&A
    Sr. Manager
    Pune MH
    India
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 11-16-2023 01:59 AM

    Hey Denny,

    Sad to hear that you were unable to clear the exam in this window. I will be taking the Part 2 exam in the February window as well and even i wasn't able to clear it in my previous attempt. Let me know if we could prepare together.

    Thanks,

    Ananth



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    R. Ananth Narasiman
    Student
    Kodigehalli, Bengaluru
    India
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    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 11-16-2023 06:08 AM

    I found Part 2 to be easiest for me because it was related directly to things I have done in my career. However, having said that, I do work for a manufacturing business and worked in Cost Accounting. 

    Here is my advice to all. 1) Don't just study in Wiley or whatever platform you choose. Also do the questions the IMA has on their site as I've noticed they may be different. 2) If there is a topic that makes no sense, there are often You Tube videos on the subject that help clarify it. I used this many times and it helped a lot. 3) When it comes time to take the test, don't stop on one that makes no sense. Mark it to review later. Get through all the questions first then go back to them.  4) Elaborate as much as you can on the essay questions. Don't just answer but give a good explanation.  Do out the math in the essay - show your work. You may get partial credit even if you make a simple math error. 5) Get a good nights sleep the night before a most of all, remember to breathe and relax.  If you are stressed, your brain turns off and you won't remember a darn thing you learned. 

    I did pass both exams on the first try using these strategies. I also gave myself 6 months on each so it was fully ingrained in my head. 
    'Then, after the tests were done, I treated myself to an evening out. 



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    Claudia Morgan CMA
    Other
    Leicester MA
    United States
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    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: Cma part 2 exam difficult

    Posted 11-16-2023 07:30 AM

    What about the dopey "integrated reporting" stuff?

    My prep material had a whole section on it and I had all kinds of trouble with it so I spent alot of time practicing it and there wasn't a single question about it on the exam.



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    Thomas Wehr CMA
    Accountant
    Naples FL
    United States
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    Original Message


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