Do anyone know a good 6 months study plan with Shweser Notes?
Thanks
5-6 mos should be plenty as long as you stick to your study plan.
That would be . . . sticking to the study plan that he doesn’t have (per the original post).
if i were you, this is the study plan i would stick to (i think that if you stuck to it, you should have a very good chance at passing):
1 - buy schweser (notes & qbank)
2 - spend approximately 2.5 weeks per book, answer EOC questions (but not challenge questions). save ethics for last and also incoroporate the CFAI material when studying ethics. if you stick to that plan, you should be through the material by the end of august/sept 1st.
3 - end of august/sept 1, take one of the 6 3-hour schweser practice tests to give you an idea of the exam and questions/timing and your score. don’t be expecting to pass - this test should just gauge your current performance.
4 - review questions that you got wrong AND those that you were unsure about/had trouble with (even if you got the right answer - make sure you know WHY the answer is right).
5 - for sections you had trouble with, make a practice quiz from the qbank (60 q’s). take that, and again, go over any answers you got wrong/were unsure about
6 - by the end of september, take another practice test. again, don’t be expecting to pass, but getting better.
7 - review schweser challenge q’s and CFAI EOC questions
8 - take another practice test, followed by more review and qbank q’s (early october)
9 - after all of this, you will have gone through 3 practice tests, numerous qbank quizzes, schweser notes and CFAI EOCs and it will be middle-ish october. i would spend the rest of my weeks continuing to review any sections that i was weak in, as well as practice exams every 1-2 weeks as the exam approaches. remember, once you run out of schweser practice exams, do the CFAI mock, and you can purhcase additional practice exams if you’d like - from schweser or other sources.
10 - continue to keep fresh on material through exam day. you should be fine.
You gotta start with somewhere! I would start with the Standards of Practice Handbook which you can download on the CFAI website. Good luck, see you on Dec 1st 
You can buy a Kindle version for 99¢.
Pretty bad deal for something that you can actually have for free 
By the way, I believe in the magic of making notes and highlighting. The Handbook should become a part of you. You should read several times. On the plane during takeoff, landing and taxying. I dont think your Kindle can perform there!
For the record: I don’t have a Kindle. I _ hate _ electronic books. I want to read something with real pages.
Make sure you understand the material in Shweser well. Go to the curriculum if you don’t get anything. It’s okay to exclude few bits that you find paticularly taxing but whatever you cover its better to know it inside out.
Take mocks as early as you can(1-2 months in advance) and repeat after that. This is the most important thing I would have done in hindsight.
Prepare a plan yourself that you think you can realistically stick to keeping in mind the above.
Can anybody guide me whether thoroughly studying the curriculum material provided by CFA Institute and taking mock test is sufficient to attempt CFA Level I exam in december, or going with notes of schweser or any other institute is must to attempt CFA Level I exam.
I started in the beginning of May (hope to finish econ this week) after tweaking the plan a bit my current study plan is as follows; 1. see the schweser videos 2. read the corresponding schweser notes 3. do the EOC questions of schweser and CFAI. Which I hope te finish by the mid of August afterwhich I will review the material (esp. the parts I had difficulty with) and from October hit the qbanks/EOC/blue examples and mocks hard. good plan?
I’ve just signed up for Level 1 in Dec. Just wondering best way fwd for me, or am I too late to the table? I was planning to read the curriculum but judging by what I am reading here that’s just too much to handle. So the plan is read the Schweser notes and attempt EoC questions.
People agree that curriculum is really only to be used if struggling to fully grasp a topic? It’s about ten years since I studied anything worthwhile, but have an economics backgroud so hoping I can grasp the stuff!
My plan is to do 15hrs per week between now and mid Nov (approx 300 hours). Then try to get one/two weeks off work before exam and ramp up the study? Overall about 350 hours…
Basically are the notes enough and only dip into curriculum for further understanding if needed…
Topsy Turvey: don’t worry, you’re absolutely not too late to the table, and it sounds like you are committed to putting some work into it so you should be in good shape.
Wrote Level 1 in Dec of last year and didn’t start until August. Used Schweser notes (averaged one book every 2 weeks; reading + EOC quizzes), a short review class and did 8 practice tests. That amounted to roughly 200-250 hours and it worked well enough to allow me to pass, but if I had more time or wanted to be less anxious while waiting for my results, I would also have done the EOC questions from the curriculum and I would have spent more time reviewing the answers to my practice tests.
You’re right, you don’t necessarily need to use the curriculum at all; I didn’t - but in retrospect I would have looked at the blue box examples and/or the EOC questions for the sections I was less comfortable with. Again, I ended up being fine without it so it would have been overkill, but it would have given me some peace of mind not to mention good habits for Level 2.
As some others pointed out, practice tests are key in your preparation. It is recommended to do one (or at least one half) as soon as you’re done skimming the Schweser material. Not only will this help you get a feel for the exam, but it will also help you indentify areas to focus on for the next stage of your review.
Don’t focus too much on hours spent: it doesn’t matter if you spend 300 hours or 150 or 400; what matters is that you don’t spend one hour less than you need, and that you study in a manner that works well for you.
Good luck!
Start at the first, and study until you get through.
However much you think you need to study FRA, double it. That _ might _ be enough to barely get by.
Do spend some time on Ethics. It is NOT intuitive and it carries over to Levels 2 and 3.
Be done by the first week of November, so you can spend the entire month doing practice questions.
+1
What do you guys think is better?
-
go through reading the 5 books and then do as many practice questions / mocks / practice exams as i can
-
go through reading the 5 books while making self-made notes on each book (each book condensed to about 20 pages of hand-made notes). Then, doing practice questions / mocks / practice exams (might not have as much time to do as many practice questions/exams etc… because time used to make notes).
How are you guys studying? I just finished Book 1 of Schweser… started boring economics today!
No matter what anybody says here, it all depends on how you learn.
Personally, I generally don’t like notes or flash cards. There were a few exceptions, but for the most part, I think people become somewhat dependent on them. If you use them to learn, then toss them before you start the “final push” for the exam, I think that’s okay. But by the last two weeks before test day, you should have all your old notes thrown out.
My recommendation - Study all 5 books, then study FRA again, then study all 5 books again (including FRA for a third time). You’ll be surprised by how much you pick up the second time around. Starting Nov. 10 or so, you need to put the books away and do nothing but bang away the practice questions.
Hi,
A lot of people have given their opinions, but if I understand correctly, you might be looking for an actual plan (sort of like a project plan). If that is the case, I’ve created one (using various other websites) - CFA Level-I Plan. If you find this useful, please feel free to download it, modify it and use it.
If anyone has any suggestions to edit the plan, please let me know and I will incorporate them in my future plans (if I do pass the L1 that is 
)
Good luck.
Thanks for the info…started with Quants and working through it…Financial Calc has taken a bit of getting used to. Anyway 2 weeks I will so how the plan is shaping up. Thanks for the info…good luck for Level 2