CMA Exam Grading System

CMA Exam Grading

System
Multiple Choice Section Essay section
100 Questions 75 % of Total Exam Score
Moved only if scores 50 % +
3 Hours Correct in MCQ
1.8 Minutes per Question
1 Hour + Left over time in
MCQs
Positively Graded
No Negative marks

Understand How Multiple Choice

Questions Work
The answer keys could be confusing, as you may be
required to pick the best answer out of a few possibly
correct answers.
Easily get distracted by factually correct but
irrelevant answers.
There are so many questions that your mind blanks
out towards the end of the exam section.
Manage Your Time
This is rule number 1. The multiple choice in the
CMA exam tends to be more lengthy and complex
than other professional accounting exams. This
makes time management critical. Generally speaking,
you can allocate 3 hours (180 minutes) evenly to the
100 questions, which means 1.8 minutes per question.
Read All Choices before Picking
the Answer
Many candidates pick the answer that looks correct
and rush to the next question. But sometimes, there
could be a better answer in B, C or D, or that you can
choose all of the above when all answers are correct.
Always read the 4 possibilities before selecting the
answer.
Anticipate the Correct Answer
before Reading the Choices
Sometimes, the available answer choices look
reasonable and they could do more harm then good
by throwing you off and distracting you. In fact, the 3
incorrect answer choices are technically known as
distractors.
You should always come up with the answer in your
head before looking at the choices. If your answer
matches with one of the responses, then you can be
certain that the particular response is correct.
Follow Your First Impression

Multiple choice is all about recognition of things you
have learned. If you are well prepared and you have
read the question and choice of answers carefully,
your first impression is often the best.
Ignore Superstitions
The CMA exam is fully computerized. The system
pulls a set of questions from a pool and present them
in random order. Therefore, dont waste time looking
for patterns in your answers. Dont worry if you find
you have checked four C answers in a row.
Avoid wastage of time.

Eg: need to calculate Value of A and B. if you are
quiet sure that the value of A calculated is correct,
and if in the choices, your calculated value of A
contains only in one option, No need to waste your
time in calculation of B.
Dont Leave Any Questions
Unanswered
There is no penalty for wrong answers. If you run
out of time, blind guessing is better than leaving
them blank.
Refine Your Skill in Educated
Guessing
Try your best to get the best answer by whatever
means it could be by elimination, by relating a
concept you learned from your other exam for
example this skill is going to be critical in the actual
exam.
Be Careful with Negatives

Watch for negatives and two part statements in the
stem
In general, the CMA exam is not trying to trick us,
because they do bold the not in this case. Having
said that, these words are key because they reverse
the meaning of a sentence, and therefore, should be
careful.
Look for Grammatical Clues

If the stem (body of the question) ends with
an instead of a, then the correct response most
likely begins with a vowel.
Be Careful with Absolute
Statements
When you see words such as always, every,
never and none in the response, they are likely to
be incorrect. The CMA exam cover topics in real
business situations, and there are very few absolutely
right or wrong situations in real life.
Elimination of wrong answers

In cases where you arent sure which answer is right,
you can still greatly improve your odds by eliminating
not seeming reasonable or probable answers. For
example, removing two of these improves your odds
of guessing the correct answer from 25% to 50%.
Other general tips

Know the Concepts (Not the Mnemonics) by
Heart
Relate the Concepts at Work
Managing time
Immerse in Real Testing Environment
Make Best Use of Idle Time
Prioritize Based on Long Term Goals of Your Life
Pay Attention to Key Definitions and Terms
Tips contd
Dont Run Away from the Mock Exam
Eliminate Partly True Answers
Eliminate the Choice that Doesnt Feel Right
CMA Exam Essay Grading System
CMA Exam Essay Grading System
Knowledge of the exam content
Ability to apply concepts in real business situations
Ability to express clearly and logically in business
writing
1. Knowledge of Exam Content

This is a critical step to pass both the multiple-
choice questions and the essay part of the exam.
Besides reading and study materials, you should
spend sufficient time in the practice questions so
the concepts sink in, and learn how to apply the
concepts in answering the questions.
2. Ability to Apply Concepts in
Real Business Situations
Knowing the CMA content-specific facts does not
mean you know when and how to apply them. When
you face with an essay question, you should:
Read each word in the question carefully to understand
what the examiner is asking
Identify the major concepts being tested
Identify keywords that can be used in the piece of
writing
Use a mind map to brainstorm as many relevant
keywords as possible, because inclusion of the
correct keywords can easily help you score points.
3. Ability To Express Clearly and
Logically in Business Writing
The CMA exam does not test your technical writing
skills. Therefore, you should focus on simple and
clear writing and leave out the flowery, complicated
words. You can find the three general principles on
effective business writing below.
How to Excel in Business Writing
Use of Standard English
(i) Correct Spelling
(ii) Proper Punctuations
Organization
(i) Beginning Paragraph
(ii) Middle (Main) Paragraph
(iii) Ending Paragraph
Clarity
Use of Standard English
(i) Correct Spelling
All words should be properly checked to avoid spelling errors
and typos. Colloquial, slang and text-message words should
not be used.
For acronyms, they should be fully spelled out when they
are first introduced in the essay. For example, ABC should
be spelled out as Activity Based Costing (ABC) first and
then the term ABC can be used in the rest of the writing.
(ii) Proper Punctuations
Avoid writing words in capital letters and exclamation marks
because exaggeration is rarely used in business writing.
Organization
The piece of writing should have a clear beginning, middle
and end.
(i) Beginning Paragraph
The beginning should be an introductory paragraph which directly
addresses the question. You can simply rewrite the question and
this will be the best introduction you can get. Dont copy directly
from the question though
(ii) Middle (Main) Paragraph
The middle paragraph is where you present CMA content-specific
facts and ideas. You can choose to add a couple more paragraphs if
you need to expand the ideas, such as adding examples to support
your rationale.
Please note that the essays are graded positively and that partial
credits are given: you get a point if the idea matches (or partially
matches) with the one on the scoring heading. This means that you
should include as many points as possible as long as they are
relevant.
(iii) Ending Paragraph
The last paragraph should be short conclusion, typically with a couple
of sentences summarizing the ideas presented in the middle
paragraph.
Clarity
While you should spend time writing all the related
points you can possibly think of, present it in a clear
and logical manner. It is very important to:
Read the question carefully to make sure you
understand what is being asked
Double check that your ideas do not contradict
themselves
Get Familiar with Formatting

In the actual exam, the writing is done on a simple
word processor that is similar to Notepad. For essays
that require a computational answer, you should
create simple tables and show calculations within the
word processor space provided (spreadsheet function
is no longer available in the CMA exam).
To avoid wasting time fixing the formatting on exam
day, you should practice in a prometric tutorial that
allows practice in a simulated testing environment.
https://www.prometric.com/demos/mcat/
Steer Clear of Cyberslang

This hasnt been an issue a few years ago, but have
seen more and more readers writing using seriously
broken English full of text message jargon,
abbreviations, initialisms and cyberslang. I cant
imagine how many points they lose if they write
essays in this style!
Please start writing everything in proper grammar

from now on, so that your brain is (re)accustomed to
business writing.
Drop the Emotional Baggage
Tell yourself that its not the end of the world if you
fail. Dont overload your anxiety with the what if
scenarios, such as how the failure could impact the
promotion, the salary raise and job search.
Focus on things in your control, i.e. what you can do
at the present, instead of things out of your control,
i.e. possibilities in the future.
CMA Exam Grading System

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NwICKvs
7hw
Essay Exam Grading
https://youtu.be/sidpautVmm8

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CMA Exam Grading

Understand How Multiple Choice

Follow Your First Impression

Avoid wastage of time.

Be Careful with Negatives

Look for Grammatical Clues

Elimination of wrong answers

Other general tips

1. Knowledge of Exam Content

Get Familiar with Formatting

Steer Clear of Cyberslang

Please start writing everything in proper grammar

CMA Exam Grading System

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