Folks who have passed - Taking notes is taking alot of time to complete a topic for me… I like the idea of writing notes so I can drill the info but it is surely taking alot of time, but again I feel that it will save time in the end for review but am wondering if this is efficient? Any ideas…
I was thinking the same thing. I have the Do-It-Yourself LOS cards. I can confidently say that I probably spend more time ripping them out of the book, folding them into little pieces than actually writing and using them. And what I write on them isn’t even that useful… Worth just buying the flashcards? Anyone?
Whether or not a learning method is efficient is dependent upon both the learning style of the individual and his or her existing knowledge of the subject matter. In my case, I have found that taking pretty detailed notes over SS8&9 has helped a lot with retention of the tedious standards and procedures involved with accounting. I haven’t taken the exam yet but my advice, for what its worth, is to pinpoint your areas of weakness and only take notes in those areas. Another thing that has helped me is to make a brief note of the end-of-reading questions that I miss. Hope this helps and good luck. Matt
I can see why taking notes would be useful for SS8&9. Ideally, I would love to take down notes for every chapter. But realistically speaking, to basically “copy&paste” info onto LOS cards is indeed very very time consuming, although worth it in the end I think when revising near the exam The time could probably be spent doing something like Qbank and the outcome of learning would probably be the same if not better - especially if you’re plowing through 150 questions, spending the same time you would have spent taking just notes. Does that make any sense? Anyone using LOS flashcards? I’m thinking of getting them but want some feedback before I dish out another $100
ive been taking copious notes. i have my very own 70 page outline going on (through book 3) which will end up being about 110 pages of solid notes. my notes, schwesser secret sauce and QBANk will be my ENTIRE November 6 - Dec 6.
Its really up to you…how do you best retain information? For me, flashcards were an absolute necessity. I wrote notes all over the Schweser books and that was good enough. Make sure you know EVERYTHING in Schweser. You will be surprised what kinds of random questions will pop up.
I read through the Schweser study notes 1 time and started reading through them for the 2nd time and realized I had forgotten WAY too much. At that point I decided I would take my own notes from Schweser on my 2nd read through and study exclusively from those. I have taken notes on every reading and rated how well I feel I know each reading after going through every question on QBank and adding to my notes. I feel as if I will be able to go through all my notes much, much quicker than a Schweser book and remember as much as I’m hoping I need to. For the 6 or so readings I feel I need to study a lot harder, I will probably turn to the CFA texts and add to my notes. With all that said, I think notes are crucial. After I review those weak parts in CFA texts, I hope to not open another book and focus on my notes and QBank (edit to add: I also plan to do 6 Scweser sample exams and CFA mocks).
Taking notes for many people can be very effective. Effciient? That’s a different question.
Dreary Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Taking notes for many people can be very > effective. Effciient? That’s a different > question. Agree. I enjoyed making my own notes/flash cards. It’s fun and I know where is what. However, as time goes by, I don’t think I have much luxury to do so. Just got to speed up.
im finding schweser secret sauce a great subsitute for writing notes (which i personally find a waste of time that could be a spent doing questions). for anything that the sauce misses, i just write notes on the pages. everyone is different though
Writing notes is the best way to retain information for most people. Copying line by line isn’t. There’s a difference. I try to write notes in my own words, not copy the Stalla material and I do it in a way that helps me understand it. That may mean I order it differently or draw lines when concepts relate to each other. Simply reading and highlighting gets way too monotonous after a while and you’re less likely to retain the information in the end. My 2c’s…
I started studying in January for the L1 June Exam with just the CFAI Text books, while trying to create my own notes. After a few months, it became apparent to me that I was wasting too much time. My problem was that I was going into too much detail with my notes. Basically, I couldn’t see the forest past the trees. I bought the Schweser notes and took the following steps: 1 - Read the Schweser LOS answers for the reading 2 - Read the CFAI Text for that reading 3 - Read over the notes from Schweser again, only this time adding little notes for areas that I didn’t think were well covered within the Schweser notes 4 - Studied the Schweser Notes 5 - Worked the problems in the CFAI Text 6 - Re-read the text and notes as needed Fortunately, I was successful. I’m going to do the same for L2, except I’m going to purchase the Schweser notes earlier. I was just getting too bogged down with trying to create my own notes. But too each his own. Good luck.
I commute to work daily. While in the train, I read my own notes (approx 10 pages per study session) amidst of being sandwiched in the forever ‘Rat Race’. These notes consist of the fundamentals and concepts of each readings. 
It’s great to do your own notes. I do not have much time on the weekdays. Work commitment has started to take its toll on me. I have to studied from 4.30am to 630am daily before commuting to work. I foresee I wont have time to revise the whole curriculum. Hence, study notes prove useful to me. On the weekends, I have some video editing to do for my company’s annual dinner apart from CFA. It’s a dull life…especially when I am from an engineering background with no finance knowledge. Anyone feel me?
I use a mindmap and the essential forumals/points (1 page per reading)
i’m making the flashcards right now. yes, a bit tedious - but written-by-pen concepts are just easier for me to remember. i guess that’s how my memory works.
I am just about complete taking all of my notes. I filled in most LOS cards from Schweser and have a ridiculous amount of notes on FSA. I have a feeling I will just end up rereading the chapters to be honest
my note taking strategy is to read schweser initially whilst highlighting key points. When i return to the section i take down the key points that i highlighted as more of a memory tool. Then i complete the questions from scwheser and cfai end of reading problems