Study strategy - help!

CFA Level I
#1

Hello everyone, I hope your studies are going well so far.

Unfortunately, I’m the king of procrastination and now find myself with 4 months to go until the December exam, having done no study whatsoever!

I’ve bought a study package with Fitch which consists of around 100 hours of online video tuition and a large question bank. I also have the Schweser 2018 textbooks.

Can anyone advise on the best way to study for the exam bearing in mind the limited time I have available? My work keeps me pretty busy but I should be able to reach the recommended 300 hours study time between now and December.

How important is it to do the CFAI end of reading questions and online topic tests? Could I get away with just doing the Fitch questions and the CFAI mocks in the weeks leading up to the exam? Or should I prioritise the CFAI questions over Fitch? I don’t think I’ll have time to do both.

Apologies in advance for all of the questions but any guidance you can provide would be gratefully received!

#2

That looks better.

#3

Hi,

Im think you should study from official CFAI books and you will easily be able to complete the course if you can spare 300 hours.

Regards

#4

Make sure you know how to use your calculator, especially the special functions.

#5

Procrastination does not mingle well with the CFA. Maybe you should consider reading about learning and working towards the June '19 session?

#6

I passed the level 1 exam with no 3rd party provider and about 4 months of study time. It’s possible to read it all, do all EOC’s and have a few weeks of mock time.

CFAI core material is the best resource.

EOC’s are super important (do all of them)

Topic Test are pretty important (do all of them)

CFAI Mock Exams - Super important (Yes also do all of them and review every single question you didn’t 100% know)

To go through CBOK now i would say you need 20+ hours a week of study time

#7

Thanks for the advice all.

In the end I decided just to watch the Fitch videos, then fill in any gaps through the Kaplan / CFAI textbooks and do all of the CFAI EOC problems and topic tests. I’m not going to bother with the Fitch / Kaplan questions as I think my time will be better spent learning that side of things directly from the CFAI.

I started on Sunday and have completed the first 3 quant readings so it’s going alright so far. It’s early days yet, though!

#8

You need to find out what strategy works for you. Curriculum End of Chapter questions, CFA Institute Topic tests and Mock exams are best way to prepare for December Exam. Focus on Heavy weight topics like FRA, Equity etc. However, don’t underestimate low weight topics. You can do it in 4 months time: Study every day consistently. Good Luck.