i can feel myself burning out. i think it’s writing out the flashcards that is driving me insane. i’m not a flashcard person, but i’ve been writing out formulas/concepts on the diy los cards. i think i have to go back to doing questions everyday to keep my sanity. i enjoy doing questions in a strange masochistic way. for those of you who have already finished the reading, what are you doing now? freaking flash cards? i hate flashcards. sorry for the useless rant. i’m stressd about the test and now is NOT the time to be burning out.
I finished reading a week ago. I started doing started re-reading through the Schweser notes for a refresher, but had to stop in order to maintain my sanity. At this point I need to stop reading and start doing some questions. After going through a few sets of Qbank questions I will probably go through my formulas again and decide which ones need to be memorized. Then I will take that list of formulas and re-write them about 100 times until I know them 110%. I will decide which areas need more attention based upon test scores and then I will re-read those sections and do more practice ??'s. I plan on spending the last month doing nothing but pounding through the CFAI and Schweser practice tests.
CFASF1, I know what you mean about burning out, I’m about 1.5 weeks from wrapping up my first read through of the CFAI texts (started in Mid Feb) and I am definitely really feeling the burn. If I were in your shoes as far as schedule, I would take 5 days completly off (resist the urge to feel guilty and start studying) then plunge back into it. I think you’ll find that it’ll pay off with dividends in the long run. I plan on taking 3 days off for a weekend with the girlfriend after the first read through myself. I’m leaving the books behind because I know otherwise I won’t be able to resist the urge to study.
mcleod, that is a solid plan. it’s just so painful rewriting formulas (even if it is beneficial). you’re spot on about that last month. tests tests and more tests. i’ll probably have to review derivatives one more time too.
black swan. that’s a good idea too. but i’m such a paranoid freak, i get super guilty if i’m not either stuyding, working or spending time with my family. i gotta work on that. i should stop complaining. i’m assuming you took L1 in december and went straight into L2? that is hardcore. and you are doing the cfai text. it’ll all payoff come june. this makes me feel better knowing i’m not the only going through the mindf*ck called level 2.
funnily, even though i made lots of flash cards for level 1, I’m not doing it for level 2, because there is just too many things to write down. So…I’m just focusing on quickly re-reading the concepts and drilling questions from the Qbank. It’s a real pain in the a$$ to make those flashcards this time around. I’m just noting down some points from the software (copy paste) in another soft copy online.
i finished the readings (schweser) about a week ago…and have been going hard at the q bank since then…i’m considering just doing questions between the qbank and the end of CFAI chapters…for the next month…including reviewing areas which i find out i’m weak at… hopefully last month wil be devoted to purely practice exams and practice exams and more practice exams…
quick! tell me the difference between the two ways we can calculate TV in DCF
i found reviewing more difficult than reading the materials the first time because of lack of structure. I’m thinking about doing 2-3 120 question Q-bank exams a week while reviewing Secret Sauce supplemented with CFAI materials if necessary.
bmwhype Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > quick! tell me the difference between the two ways > we can calculate TV in DCF hahaha…are you serious?! this one i can actually answer… you can either use a price multiple or the dividend growth model
yeah, i’m feeling the burnout too… and i’ve written so much out. i think now i’m just going to go thru schweser again and do every single blue section and every question at the end. the endless writing of formulae only gets you so far. i was a top finance student years ago in university, and i remember i used to be a glutton for practice questions even though it’s a very frustrating process. i’m also going back to cfa text from schweser, which got me to the point where i feel like i know everything to a certain minimum level (i.e. no treynor-black surprise for me)
the lack of structure is exactly what it is for me too. and i have to admit, as much as i hate doing the flashcards, i think they are helpful, if not in memorizing, for review. i’ve run into some stuff that i’ve completely forgotten about doing flashcards. i like the idea of cfa text end of chap questions and qbank. this month and as many tests as possible for may. regarding the end of chap questions, i don’t think i will finish all of the open ended questions, but will definitely get through the vignettes and other multiple choice. are some of you actually writing out answers to the open ended questions?
bmwhype, when i saw tv. i thought television. not time value. that’s where my head is.
CFAS1- exact same boat. Feeling soooo tired of this stuff. Consider yourself ahead of a lot of people though. Take a little time off like BSwan mentioned and enjoy yourself and your family. Once you get a couple of days off, enjoy your fam, you’ll be ready to focus again. You’re ahead of the game. Have you had time to exercise much? I’m finding that taking the little one out for a jog or any sort of physical exercise helps a bit with the burnout factor. I figure if I make it through the burnout stage, continue to crank it out, I can look forward to being able to post something like this one… http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?13,667508,673323#msg-673323
funny you mention that GM. i have gained about 35 pound since i began the cfa program. i lost 15 of it between the time i took the level 1 exam and december, when i picked up the level 2 stuff. then gained it all back since. it’s ridiculous. lol. just yesterday i went for a run because i was feeling the burnout kick in hard and it really did help clear my head a little. that’s actually really good advice.
Hahahhaahah. I’m in the same boat too. My wife gave birth in January and all through Nov. and December and January I didn’t say no to ice cream or a cookie once. hahahahah. I probably put on 10-15lbs. Got to get back to fighting weight. Yeah the run felt good but kicked my butt. Of course my kid in the jogger slept the whole time and when I came back to study he was awake wanting attention. Had to say no to the books for awhile… You’ll be fine getting passed the burnout.
13 lbs for me since last June-07 to present.
Well, TV did translate into Terminal Value for me 
and I started muttering the answer in my head.
cfasf1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > bmwhype, when i saw tv. i thought television. not > time value. that’s where my head is. lol its not time value. its terminal value.
aahh. you know what i meant. : ) flashcards are clearly effective.