how did you do it? did you just studied till your brain was fried or was it your strategic approach? any input is greatly appreciated.
brain fried.
i started studying Jan. 23 (day level 1 results came out). Studied about 1.5 hours Mon-Thurs, and then usually 4 hours on Saturday AND Sunday. Took 1.5 weeks off before the exam. Used Stalla only.
jeks Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > i started studying Jan. 23 (day level 1 results > came out). Studied about 1.5 hours Mon-Thurs, and > then usually 4 hours on Saturday AND Sunday. Took > 1.5 weeks off before the exam. Used Stalla only. Hey Jeks, just curious, what’s your professional/educational background?
It was my strategic approach. Stay away from the curriculum, use the Secret Sauce and other Schweser notes. Complete ALL of the QBANK. You’ll be fine if you do this.
I do administration (preparing client documents and such) at a small boutique firm (no related experience) and I have a BSc. in Chem (no finance background.)
I agree with TA05. I didn’t open the notes, except for a point that I didn’t understand. I ONLY used the Qbank: I read the theory in Qbank’s small summaries - was enough for me (anyway if I had to read more I would fall asleep) - and I did loads of exercises. It worked out for me, although my results weren’t great.
what a coincidence Jeks, my bachelors is in Chem too! Thanks all for your inputs…any other input would be greatly appreciated
Make sure to always take a day off would be my advice. I always took Friday night off.
you have enough time, like me. Study primarily from schweser, but study from curriculum those chapters that are a bit confusing (i used it extensively for fixed income). even doing 50% QBANK will be helpful. most Imp - REVISE REVISE REVISE
Started studying Feb 1 after L1 results were posted. Used 95% Schweser - books, CD Rom, Q bank. Only used CFIA books for additional reference and for Ethics. Studied 1-2 hrs/night on weekdays, and 8-12 hrs on weekends. Thought the Schweser practice exams were pretty good, also took an exam adminstered by the Boston Security Analyst Society which was very good. Not sure where you live or if there is a local society with a similar exam. Took three days off from work just before the exam. Can’t stress enough that the one area you should read the CFAI text word for word is Ethics. Good luck!
You definitely need at least a month for review and test taking. While it may be more crucial in level 3 (so I’m hearing) I think time management on the test is extrememly important. You will need to be able to practice over and over again how to make the most out of each item set, reading carefully but quickly. I started in December, but with a demanding job I didnt really get to finish the reading until April, but had 200+ pages of notes to show for it. Before the test I took a week off which was the best decision I made, despite the fact that I forfeited vacation time. This is a great way to focus on the exam by allotting yourself the necessary time to cover every corner and crevace before exam day and releasing you from the stress of your work and boss. Edit: Also, this may get bad response but I tried to avoid the forum until I knew about 80% of the material. Otherwise I would see posts about things I had no clue and it would stress me out of my element, to the point where I couldnt read at the pace I had intended.
you’re right, I plan to do a lot of test taking and review…it helped me for lvl 1 exam
I think there are all sorts of methods that can work, it is really hard to pin it down. I used the CFAI books mostly. Near the end, I got my hands on some '07 Schweser books. I had to watch for the LOSs that were different though, but I liked having the Schweser availabable for that final quick review. I started early (in the fall) and did feel like I was getting stale towards the end. I took the final week off before the exam, but I was very inefficient in my studying at that point. All the same, it worked out. I would echo Jscott above… I like this forum in the off-season but I rarely come here in the heavy study time. It is great for some people, but for me it is distracting and inefficient. However, we all have different learning styles.
I started 1.5 - 2 months before the exam. Intensive study (weekday 7pm-1am, Sat & Sun all day) Spent 98% of time on notes (I used Stella, but I will choose Schweser if I do it again). Made my own notes. I found it especially helpful for Accounting section. I summarized all accounting materials into 5 pages. Try some mock exam questions after finish reading each sections. This could help retaining and let you know you are on the track. Starting from the weekend before the exam, I did as many questions as I could. (I prefer Schweser’s questions > CFAI past exam > Stella ) I didn’t time. I believed that after finishing more than 6 or 7 exams, timing wouldn’t be a problem. If you have time, check what’s on the notes but not on the practice exam. These stuffs are likely to be tested.
I took a somewhat different approach. I started in September, and went at a slow pace. Even if I can, I would read just 30 minutes if I had to. And I used my weekends big time. I also stuck with CFAI text, although I ended up using the Q-Bank a bit towards the end. Reviewing is essential. You can’t expect to read all this material once and expect to remember everything and every single formula. I also found the following link very useful, and took bits and pieces of certain things that I thought I can squeeze in and help me better study: http://www.studygs.net/ Aside from that, do a lot of problems (especially at the end of the readings), and make sure you can perform all/most of the LOSs.
Past for the first time and definitely fried my brain. I am not sure how I am going to do it for Level 3
Passed Level II on the firts try. I started in March. I think if you study 4 days a week, 3-4 hours a day, 3 months should be plenty of time. I would recommend a lot the CFA sample exams, and the mock exam. I took them 3 days before the test. Good Luck to everybody.
do every qbank and curriculum question and you will pass.
Hi,I passed L1 and L2 from first attempt,purely on Schweser. Take one month of before the test and solve extra questions on Ethics.That’s it…