7 weeks to go - progress up until now & the plan from here?

Hi guys,

There’s exactly 7 weeks to go until the exam and I was wondering:

(a) what stage people are at, and

(b) what sort of study plans people are going to be adopting from here.

Personally, I’ve read all the Schweser chapters, done all the concept checkers and completed the EoC questions. I’ve also managed about 500 questions in the QBank so far.

Going forwards, I want to complete the QBank by mid-May & work on my weak areas. In the last 2 weeks, I’ll do the CFA mock, Schweser mocks and anything else I might be able to get my hands on (i.e. maybe another CFA mock).

p.s. Has anyone bought the Secret Sauce yet? Is it worth getting?

I’m a CFA 1 candidate myself but I think I’m reasonably on track.

Sounds like you’ve done the dirty work and you’re just wondering how to make the most efficient use of your time from here. I think you probably want to do the practice/mock/sample exams sooner than your plan… if you’ve got plenty of practice-type exams, you can use them from here on in, periodically, to check the level of the questions you’ll be asked. I find that checking in on the mock exam once a week (even if it’s just to read the questions) is always valuable, as it hones my focus on to the things I should be studying when reviewing. I’m going to be taking, retaking and checking practice material for a considerable chunk of time from here.

May also pay to go through the learning outcome statements and identify which formulae you need to learn (if it says “calculate”, lock it in) and create a consolidated formula sheet.

I have gone over the material, did eoc questions, now just simultaneously reviewing and working on schweser qbank questions section by section. I will start practice tests/mocks in the beginning of May.

I am finding that the repetitiveness of the qbank questions is helping me retain more information, I wish I would have started them sooner!

I’m done with the material and working on practice exams now. My basic schedule is to studying during the week and take a full practice exam each weekend, score it, and go over my mistakes. So far I’ve done this two weekends in a row and unfortunately both exams I’ve scored exactly the same - 169/240 or 70.4%. I was really hoping to improve at least a couple percent but it didn’t happen. I think I’ll be sticking to this plan for the next 7 weeks and I’ll take the CFAI mock in a few weeks.

this is identical to my schedule, i’ve taken the first two full practice tests the past two saturdays with the appropriate time constraints and at the same time we’ll be tested on june 2. last week i tightened up what appeared to be my weakest areas and i intend to do the same this week and every week til the real thing.

raleigh, dont get discouraged by “marginally passing” each of those two practice tests you’ve taken - we’re a month and a half out and you have a fighting chance at taking the real thing now and performing well. plenty of time, you have a solid starting point.

Thanks, but how do I improve? I took the first exam, was relatively pleased with a 70, studied my weakest section all week and then got a 70 again. There really isn’t much else for me to do aside from continuing along this schedule and doing more problems with the hopes of my score improving. btw, is it the consensus that a 70 on these mocks is considered marginally passing?

im by no means an authority on this, but i’ve read that scoring above a 70 on the exam is a pretty sure bet to pass. however, i’ve also read and heard that the schweser practice tests are, in fact, easier than the real test.

if it’s any consolation, my score actually dropped from test #1 to test #2

This is very similar to how I have attacked the studying, I have done Schwesser notes and all the EOC questions as well as some small Qbank quizzes on each chapter along the way. I recently read Schwesser’s Secret Sauce and its a fairly quick review, I found it helpful personally. I am reading CFAI Text for Ethics this week then going to gear go over the CFAI text EOC questions.

Also are the practice exams that people are doing the Qbank tests or from the practice exams texts?

Thanks,

Dan

I just finished all my readings on sunday. im going to review ethics this week ( atleast till thurs-fri) and then review quantitative methods ( which i despise). i want to start doing all my elan guides problems ( 2000 of them) starting the last week of april. on the weekends ill do the mock exams ( both elan guides and CFA).

it looks like you all are doing well… thats wonderful

im bit behind my schedule… still have to read last two chapters of econ and derivatives…hoping to finish it in few days and then will try mock exam and do revision…

good luck to all

I’ve finished every section but the alternative investments sections. I’ve been reading and doing all EOC quesitons and Elan practice questions as I go along. I usually finish a section and then go back a couple sections and do practice questions to make sure I’m retaining the information.

I’m hoping to finish Alternative Investments within the next 10 days and then reviewing until the test. I like the idea of studying during the week and taking mocks on weekends. Thanks for the tip, guys. Which mocks have you been doing and plan on doing? Are you taking the same mock more than one time?

I used Schweser all along, and I’ve read all of it and done every question in the book (finished last week). A friend of mine who passed L1 last year advised me to go straight into mock exams and do as many as possible (6 or 7) on weekends and to spend the week working on my weak areas. However, I really think that I need some time to go through it again, using Secret Sauce and my formula sheet, to retain all the info. I’ve just done that for Ethics and QM, and I found that I had forgotten most of the stuff in there. Had I gone straight for a mock, it would have been a massacre: what do you guys think? Is it really useful to go straight to mock exams, or shall I spend another 2 weeks reviewing all the stuff before trying the mocks? Thanks!

GoBigRed, im studying with schweser and they offer 6 full-length practice exams which is what im using, so no need to repeat tests, really. im saving the cfai mock for may 12, after what would be my fifth schweser practice test. however, i do intend to use the questions from the practice tests to drill in the final two weeks as ive already been through the q-bank in its entirety.

Museau, ive been told that jumping into mocks may be a good idea to see exactly where you stand and what you need to tighten up most. i jumped in the weekend after i finished my first read and i was petrified that i would perform terribly and get discouraged. after getting a 78 on my first practice test, i learned my weak areas were equity, fixed income and econ, so im working to fix that now. i was very nervous that it was, in fact, going to be a massacre, but i was surprised by what i retained (thanks in large part to q-bank drilling every week), and also by what i didn’t (as i thought equities was a strength)…i’d say give it a try, i see youre using schweser so you have 6 and the cfai mock.