Level 1 Study Strategy

Happy New Year!

I have just signed up for the Level 1 and was looking to get some guidance on some different strategies for attacking the exam efficiently and effectively.

What section did you start with first? Why?

Did you sign up for a prep course? If so, which one? How was it laid out? Was it worth it?

If not, why not? How did you go about preparing?

Any information is helpful here!

Thanks,

Ahmed

Hello Ahmed

Welcome to the program!

I would suggest beginning with quantitative methods first because it contains some pre-requisite concepts before u can tackle the equity/fixedincome/alternative/derivatives/portfolio parts. Leave ethics last (but do not neglect it!) as it is highly memory-intensive. You can also begin with financial reporting too.

It takes a VERY long time to read CFA 3000-page textbooks, and third-party textbooks will reduce that time by 50-75%. I hear Schweser and Wiley are good ones. Do make sure to do CFA Practice Problems at the end of each reading, as they are a basis for highly-likely examinable content. Also do not forget the online tests provided by CFAI. Note that most successful candidates suggest that textbook reading is secondary preparation. The primary (and most important) preparation is regularly doing practice problems (including mock exams), which led to the phrase “Mock till you drop”!

Good luck!

kevinsfl, thanks for a really good strategy advise :slight_smile:

Kevin

Thank you for the advice! CFA Practice Problems at the end of each reading – Are you referring to the problems at the end of each reading in the CFA curriculum textbooks or specific to the problems given by Schweser/Wiley? May be a stupid question as I haven’t chosen a prep course yet and have not seen their textbooks.

Thanks

Ahmed

I started with Schweser 2017 Notes… Then I go this way: Books 5 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1. So, I left the most simple concepts for me (ethics and quant) at the end. Not sure if it works, but that’s my way )))

Ahmed.

CFA Practice Problems are those at the end of each reading in the CFA textbook. As the CFA Institute say, “Many of these questions are adapted from past CFA examinations”

AndreevM’s method could also work for people having prior knowledge of “time value of money”. For those who dont, it is highly recommended to start with quantitative methods, where that concept is explained.

Has anyone done the 3 day review at the end of the Kaplan Schweser package? Is worth it? Can you explain how the 3 days are broken down?

Hi All, can someone suggest what is number of hours on average required for CFA Level 1 exam preparation. Am bit confused whether to give in June or Dec '17.

I have just just completed my FRM part 2, not sure whether content read in FRM will save some in CFA PREP.

pls advice.

regards

Sudheer

Level 1 is a mile wide but only three inches deep in terms of content. Most of the material should be review if your undergrad degree was in finance. However, if your undergrad degree was not in Finance (like myself), then the material might be rather challenging. I used Kaplan’s study notes as my main source of material. I supplemented Kaplan’s study notes with the CFA’s source material for topics that didn’t quite make sense to me. I also answered every question at the end of session (both CFA and Kaplan). For a starting point, I would recommend Quantitative methods followed by FRA. Quantitative methods will give you a lot of the core tools that you will be using in other parts of the exam. I put FRA second due to its heavy weight. Also, I would recommend saving Ethics for last. That doesn’t mean skip or half-ass the ethics section. By doing Ethics last (preferably finishing within a month of the exam date), it should be fresh in your head. Its also worth nothing that the exam is 60% qualitative and 40% quantitative (based on past experience), so don’t get to caught up reciting the formula for a three asset portfolio in your head every night.

Starting to get the ball rolling and def agree with Akeg. Lots of material but not too deep. Everyone has been telling me to just master the questions at the end of each section as they are basically exactly what’s on the test.

I have started with Qualitative first and then moving to FRA, leaving ethics for long drives/headphone material throughout the process for the most part.

Anyone interested in studying together in NYC, let me know!

Are schwrser mocks good enough? I’m getting nervous

I found the Kaplan mocks and practice problems to be much easier than the actual CFA problems.

that sounds scary I will focus on doing problems, problems and problems