hi all may be its a little silly but yes, i target for june 2010…i do not think i can pass this year…i have no background of finance or buiness what-so-ever…however, i AM appearing for dec 2009… advice needed on: 1. what do i begin with? 2. is it ok to buy study notes this year even though i do not think i will pass or is is wiser to purchase it for the specific exam? 3. also, if u could tip on how… i COULD pass this year?
What’s with the low self-confidence? There is no perfect studying structure to abide by. You’ve to choose what’s suitable for you, and you’re comfortable with it after taking into accounts of your constraints and commitments. 1. Always best to search for opinions on the studying materials as there are mutiple prep providers. Personally, I think Schweser would be a big help along with the Qbank. CFAI textbooks are too verbose and may get you fumbling through w/o knowing you’re in your dreams. Yeah, wet dreams. 2. Until we know the reason why you would think you’re gonna fail, no one can answer this. 3. Discipline, appropriate study method, and how bad you want this thing. If you treat it like you mother’s life is depending on the outcome of the results, no matter what’s the obstacles, you CAN pass.
I was a history major in college, and I’m in the Navy. I have absolutely zero finance background, have never studied anything even remotely related. I started studying in January 2009 and just took the L1 test this past weekend and I think I did well enough to pass (cross your fingers). I got a 70 on the Mock and an 80 on the Sample, and was getting anywhere from 70-76% on the Schweser exams. If you’re an intelligent person, and follow these steps, you cannot fail. Seriously. 1) Order Schweser Essential Solution (with online QBank). 2) Spend 2 hours per night reading through the material. You should be able to do at least 2 readings every night. 3) Take one day a week completely off, usually Saturdays or Sundays work best. 4) The weekend day you do not take off, spend 4 hours doing QBank tests. 5) For QBank tests, start by testing yourself over the stuff you read that week. Then expand to more of a cumulative test. So each weekend, you will review that week’s reading, as well as making sure you’re retaining the stuff that you already read as well. If you forgot a formula or concept, go back and look it up. Use the whole 4 hours. This is the most important part, so don’t skimp on it. 6) Starting 6 weeks before the test, you should have read through all the material. Start doing 1 Schweser Mock Exam per week (there are 6 total). You can separate the mocks to take a morning session on Tuesday night and the corresponding afternoon session on Wednesday night. Spend the rest of your time that week going through the questions you miss and the concepts you were unsure about. When taking the Mocks, put a small circle next to each question you’re not absolutely sure about, so you can go back and review the concept when you’re finished. 7) With 2 weeks remaining, take the CFAI Mock Exam. Use the same method of going back and reviewing the concepts/questions you were unsure of while taking the exam. 8) The week of, take the online free Sample Exam, and just brush up on concepts and formulas that you haven’t yet memorized/mastered. If you do all that, you will pass. No doubt. (For the record, I did not follow those steps. I tried, but I’m lazy and have a tendency to procrastinate. Despite this, I still think I did well enough to pass. So my mediocre results on the Mocks and such should not indicate that the method might not work. It will if you use it as written. I promise.)
Very well written billy