Strategies for Last-Minute Review and Retention

The Importance of High-Yield Concepts

You know how it goes: the final few weeks before the CFA® exam can feel like juggling fire—except the flames are made of regression formulas and intangible time-series definitions. If you’re down to the wire, focusing on the high-yield concepts is your secret weapon. By “high-yield,” I mean those topics that are very likely to pop up on your item sets because they intersect so many aspects of the curriculum.

Some of these high-impact areas include: • Regression assumptions and diagnostics (discussed in Chapters 2, 3, and 4).
• Discrete vs. continuous compounding (see Chapter 17 refresher).
• Log-linear vs. linear modeling (Chapters 2 and 6 address these in detail).
• AR processes, especially identifying unit roots or nonstationarity (Chapter 6).
• Seasonality corrections and mean reversion concepts (Chapter 6).
• Basic machine learning metrics—accuracy, precision, recall (Chapter 7).

Seriously, if you’re crunched for time, you’ll want to ensure these topics get extra love. Go back to your class notes or highlight sections in the text and spend an hour or two drilling them. Many folks I know—myself included—realized too late that skipping thorough revisions of these fundamentals led to confusion on test day.

Summaries and Checklists

When time is short, nothing beats a solid, succinct checklist. Plus, creating them can be kind of fun—you get to see your entire knowledge domain at a glance. Here’s how you might build yours:

• Condensed Formula Sheets: Gather critical equations in one place. For instance, keep the F-test and t-test formulas close by, along with critical values or p-value relationships. Maybe even slip in key ML performance metrics (like R², adjusted R², or the confusion matrix parameters you learned back in Chapter 7).

• Bullet-Point Summaries: Let’s say you’re reviewing time-series (Chapter 6). Write quick bullet points:
– Check stationarity by examining the autocorrelation function (ACF).
– Use the Durbin–Watson test for autocorrelation.
– Identify presence of unit roots (if |φ| < 1, the series is stationary in AR(1) processes).
– Difference the series if it’s not stationary.
– Remember that if the series has seasonality, you may need seasonal differencing or dummy variables.

• “Cheat Sheets” for Distinctions: In your bullet summaries, it can help to separate log-linear from linear models. Log-linear is used when you expect exponential growth patterns, while linear is used for more straightforward relationships. A quick two-column table in your notes could do wonders on test day.

• Key Terms in One List: If you can’t recall the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 errors under exam pressure, keep them right at the top of your references. It’s easy to get them mixed up in the heat of the moment.

Practical Memorization Aids

Alright, let’s talk about memory hacks. One approach that’s helped me in the past is the “mnemonic chain.” For instance, for the core assumptions of multiple regression (see Chapter 2 and 4), you might create a silly sentence where each word starts with the same letter as each assumption: The best example is a phrase that helps you recall homoskedasticity, no autocorrelation, linearity, independence of errors, normality, and so forth.

Additionally, spaced repetition software can be a game changer. Programs like Anki or Quizlet let you create digital flashcards. They show you each concept just as you’re about to forget it, reinforcing your memory. Even if you have only a week left, setting up a micro-level spaced review schedule (maybe daily, then every other day) can sharpen your recall.

Mental Simulation Drills

Let me be direct: quick, timed practice is better than rewriting notes passively for the umpteenth time. Try 30-minute “mock time-limited item set” drills on your trouble areas. So look at, say, a practice item set from Chapter 4 about model misspecification or from Chapter 6 on time-series. Give yourself half an hour to read the vignette and answer the questions. Then review your mistakes carefully.

As you do these drills: • Explain aloud how you’d test for heteroskedasticity (Breusch–Pagan or White test), or how you’d correct for it (robust standard errors, or generalized least squares).
• Identify the steps for diagnosing serial correlation (Durbin–Watson).
• Practice writing out, in your own words, what it means when an AR(1) term’s coefficient is greater than 1 in absolute value (hint: that’s a sign of nonstationarity, so watch out!).

Below is a quick diagram that highlights a suggested last-minute study flow. It helps to visualize the process from identifying topics to practicing short drills:

    flowchart LR
	    A["Identify Key Topics"] --> B["Refine Summaries"]
	    B --> C["Practice with Vignettes <br/> (Short Drills)"]
	    C --> D["Review & Correct Mistakes"]
	    D --> E["Exam Readiness"]

Stress and Time Management

It’s no secret that the CFA exam can be stressful—like, “dreams about forgetting your calculator” stressful. Managing that pressure is half the battle. One technique I like is the Pomodoro Technique (and yep, there’s a resource for that in the References). In short, you set a timer for 25 minutes, work like crazy, then take a brief break. Repeat a few times, and you’ll be shocked at how much you get done.

On exam day itself, trust your instincts on time allocation: • Skim all vignettes at the start and identify which ones match your strengths. Start there to build confidence.
• If a question leads to major confusion, skip it for now. Don’t stare at it for 10 minutes—come back once you’ve tackled the more manageable ones.
• Keep an eye on your clock. By earmarking a couple of minutes to quickly triage each item set, you give yourself the best chance of dividing your time effectively.

Additional Glossary for Quick Review

Spaced Repetition:
A study method involving repeated review of learned material at increasing intervals. Helps transfer knowledge from short-term memory into long-term retention.

Time-Weighted Return vs. Money-Weighted Return:
Though more relevant in the portfolio management context (and often tested in other chapters), it’s still worth recalling as you do cross-topic reviews. Time-weighted return measures the compound growth rate of a single unit of currency invested over a stated measurement period, while the money-weighted (or internal rate of return) incorporates the actual cash inflows and outflows.

Model Diagnostics:
A group of statistical tests—like the Breusch–Pagan test for heteroskedasticity, the Durbin–Watson test for autocorrelation, and the VIF (Variance Inflation Factor) for multicollinearity—to verify that your regression model assumptions hold true.

Bringing It All Together

Maybe the biggest takeaway is that you shouldn’t try to memorize each line of the entire curriculum in your last few days. Instead, leverage the 80/20 rule: 80% of exam points often come from 20% of the content that is repeatedly emphasized across practice exams and the official Learning Outcome Statements (LOS). Focus your mental energy on those high-yield areas—like regression assumptions, time-series stationarity, ML fundamentals, or logistic regression output interpretation (Chapter 5)—and practice them in quick bursts. Summaries, checklists, mnemonics, mental drills, and healthy time management will help settle your nerves and improve your final score.

Allow me to share a tiny personal note: before my last exam, I spent two weeks buried in formula sheets and short vignettes. In the end, what saved me was that I stayed consistent and calm, and I practiced (and re-practiced) the core methods. When I finally sat for the test, I saw a question about identifying an AR(1) parameter with potential nonstationarity and recognized it instantly from my drills. It felt like meeting an old friend.

References

• Baumeister, R. (2019). “Memory Aids and Note Organization for Complex Exams.”
• Pomodoro Technique Resource: https://francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique
• CFA Institute. (Year). “Exam Day Tips,” Level II Candidate Guide.

Test Your Knowledge: Last-Minute Review and Retention Quiz