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To earn a spot in Accelerated Corporate Finance you must take and pass the Introductory Finance Placement Exam (ACF qualifying exam). The exam is administered online (see the Canvas onboarding site) and is a 2 hour exam. The department does not provde any formal prepartion material, but you may use any outside resources you find useful. This material is ubiquitous on the web. You should study or review (depending upon your background) prior to starting the qualifying exam (see the list of what the exam covers below). You are not allowed to discuss the exam contents with others before, during or after the exam. The applies. In particular, the exam must be solely your own work.

To pass the Accelerated Corporate Finance waiver exam you should:

  1. Understand and know how to calculate present values. This includes both calculating the present value of a set of cash flows when the discount rate is given and calculating loan payments when the loan amount, maturity, and loan rate are given.
  2. Understand and know how to calculate the expected return and risk (variance or standard deviation) of the return on a portfolio given details of the portfolios components (e.g., how much is invested in different assets).
  3. Calculate returns on an investment (e.g., a bond) given prices and cash flows (e.g., interest payments).
  4. Understand the basic components of a balance sheet and be able to classify accounts as assets or liabilities and current or long term.
  5. Understand the interaction between the income statement and the balance sheet
Among students that have learned this material from prior work experience, from taking an undergraduate finance class, or from self-study, the pass rate has been high if they reviewed (or studied if the material is new). However, among students who did not review the material prior to beginning the exam, the pass rate has been low. In my experience, if after reading these bullet points you can tell us what questions will be asked (what you will be told and what number you will be asked for), you are ready. If not, go study some more. 

If you have any questions about this web page, please e-mail Professor Petersen