CFA Readings - Getting Ridiculous

Hey guys, Just wondering if anyone is using the CFA material exclusively. I was originally planning on doing this for level II, instead of relying on the Schweser study notes. Right now I have finsihed Quants and will finish Econ today. However this has been over a month of study time with 2hr per day of study. At this rate, I will be done in Nov having one month of review to write the Dec test. Oh wait… the friken test is in June??? It is only Feb and I am already freaking out! CFA states that you will need a min of 250 hrs of study. Well I put in 60 already and have only covered 0-20% of the material. I looked at the Corporate Finance book and it is over 250 pgs. They can’t be serious?

Im using CFAI texts and Qbank. Ive read 12 sessions of the 18. Im also going to harris workshop in March. Other than that…I just read read read…been through 3 highlighters and have done a fair amount of questions on Qbank. I wouldnt say that I am in the “learning” phase. Right now…I am just going through as much material as I can and familiarizing myself with it. Much is review from L1 (or expansion). I’ll drill down on everything toward the end of March. Practice tests will consume me for a good portion of April and all of May. CFAI texts arent really that bad…just take it one reading at a time. Im sure I could get it done with Schweser…but I got through L1 using CFAI so im not going to deviate. In addition, after the shenanigans CFAI pulled with Treynor Black last year…I prefer to use the bible(s)

CFA texts are very time consuming, no doubt about it. I’m up to session 17 and i started on sep. 1. I think the time spent reading them will make up for it in the long run in studying. It will make reviewing and practice tests easier at the end plus you’ll have the peace of mind knowing that you went over everything the CFA said might be on the test.

I am beginning to shy away from the CFA text because it really is too time consuming. However, I do plan to use it for the big parts of the exam that count the most. Aside from that, I think if you at least complete the CFA questions at the end of the chapters (if applicable), that should give you a pretty good grasp on what’s in the text itself, or what CFAI is looking for. I also like the examples they use throughout the chapters. For level I I read all the CFA text but I don’ think thats going to happen this year…oh well.

i tried using the cfa texts and almost tried to shove a pencil up my nose. i ordered schweser. so much easier to read

I totally hear you guys…I just started studying last week and still on ethics…way too much reading… switching gameplans and using schweser and CFAi texts for Ethics/FSA/Equity…

Get the Schwesser books and only use the CFA books for extra questions or to find more amplitude on issues you can’t understand directly from the Schwesser guides. I passed the Level 1 course going to the questions first and then finding out what I needed to know to solve the ones I couldn’t. i have a background in Economics that gave me a headstart on most of the Level 1, but I am finding much of that advantage is gone for level 2, since there is a lot of material I haven’t ever heard about. This time I am going to do the same, do the questions at the end of the chapters of the Schwesser guide, then go and read what I need to be able to answer the questions, and only then, If I can’t understand something go back to the CFA books.

Ugh, tell me about it. I’m just starting quant with Stalla, but it’s confusing so I went to the CFA books and…yeah. This sucks. I passed Level 1 in December and I’m finding it hard to get motivated — burn out, maybe?

3_letters, Any specific reason for using the CFAI texts only for FSA and Equity?? (I get the Ethics part)

I think the 2 hours a day thing is your problem. Most of us plan on doing or are currently doing more.

My thoughts on CFAI books: Much easier to read but much much more material. Some times you need the in depth explanation, some times you don’t. CFAI got nuts, Schweser you don’t. Sometimes I’ll just sit there for hours staring at the same page with Schweser- hardly ever happens with CFAI material. x I think its 250 e actually- the variable needs to be tranformed…

I failed level 2 on schweser but then I didn’t take it as seriously because I passed level 1 with it! I’m using the CFAI texts. Skimming through each section and then doing the questions. It’s like in college, the prof’s give you assigned readings but who reads them? Always go to the questions and go back to the readings when you don’t know the answer.

I am going w/ both. I started using CFAI text exclusively but was taking much longer than anticipated. Now I am doing a mix. Used CFAI for ethics, quant, and corp fnan and using schweser for econ and FSA. I am also doing John Harris to cover all bases on FSA. Will most likely focus on CFA texts for the rest. Keep at it. Focus and get through your readings.

i am going to study only with the schweser’s books i am planning to read them two times and then keep the last month for doing only exercices i think it will be ok i already read ethics, quant, eco , and almost all FSA for the moment i think the material is not difficult at all as for the level 1, the most important part is doing exercices as much as you can

LII separates men from boys, either deal with it, or forget about it

the CFA readings are too long. Tried to read it and Schweser but might not have time so just switching with Schwser but trying to skim and do problems in the CFA readings…

CFAI books doesn’t do a good job in explaining DW statistics, VIEs and Options in FSA. Also, the calculations in CFAI for FSA aren’t that simplied for held to maturity, available for sale, Tradeable securities and the equity method. I think that the videos do a much better job in explaining it. The options part was written for people who already have a handle on the material. For example, it doesn’t even explain the term “true up”.

i am only up to CF but so far the cfa reading and swecher reading are not that much diferent in lenght page wise… so i still like cfa…

You don’t need to do more than 14 hours a week if you started early enough. If…

dennis2085 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ugh, tell me about it. I’m just starting quant > with Stalla, but it’s confusing so I went to the > CFA books and…yeah. This sucks. I passed > Level 1 in December and I’m finding it hard to get > motivated — burn out, maybe? I’m on the same boat and feel the same way. Can’t seem to concentrate. Started out with Quant and only finished 1 reading…I think I’m going to skip Quant for now…:-/