1. What material did you use? What was particularly useful? (or what would you do in your second take?)
-I used the schweser book. It worked out well, but there were many times where I got stuck and I had to use google to understand the concept. I wish I knew (in the beginning of my prep) that whenever you get stuck on a concept, you can quickly skim through the CFAI book for more information.
2. When did you start studying? (or what would you change in your second take?)
-I started studying in the beginning of September, I wish I would have studied alot sooner; 3 months isn’t enough. Also, in the beginning, if I was lucky, I studied about 12 hours a week so for the last month and a half I ended up studying 7 hours a day/ 6 days a week. During my final two weeks I did like 9+ hours everyday. Brutual.
-300 hours is bogus, if you are going to strive for a set hour, then strive for 400 hours. I personally clocked every single studying session and it came up to 394 hour.
-I like to take a bunch of notes- make sure you get a couple of those thick notebooks with plenty of pages so you can keep things organized and cluttered free
-I didn’t memorize formulas the conventional way. I tried to understand the theory, and the formulas came along with it so I didn’t spend much time memorizing each formula. With that said, I wish I would have made a formula sheet, organized by topic then chapter.
-take clearer notes, read your notes after each chapter. make sure it makes sense
3. Some tips about your study plan. (How much reading per day, order of topics, etc) (or what would you improve?)
-35 minutes with 7 min break then 35 mins with 7 min break, then 35 mins with 10 min break. Take an hour long break after 3 hours. Take longer breaks when needed.
-During your first reading, try to understand everything, but if you are taking a long time to grasp a specific LOS, dont be afriad to skip it and come back later on.
4. Some general tips. (like how you mentally managed, etc)
-if you are underprepared and running out of time, remember that you don’t need 100%. You just need to get 70%, so drop a couple topics.
-I have never passed a mock
-focus on the work, make sure you are putting in the hours. Remember, I studied for close to 400 hours and still got <51 on Quant and Economic.
- it is very rewarding to get a “pass”–It was rewarding because it meant alot, and it meant alot because I spent alot of time on it. So spend more time and you will get a bigger reward.
-you’ll have days where you just aren’t focused; days where you are stress because this test means alot; days where you will doubt yourself-- you just gotta continue to put in the hours and focus on the work
YOURE GONNA MAKE IT!