started study since 2 jan 08 putting 2-3 hours on weekdays and 5 hours sat and 5 hrs sun I can feel myself burning out now and I just covered 5 books I only use cfai books btw
Got my Schweser materials last week and have begun listening to the mp3 files. Ethics was very listenable, statistics much less so… I plan to listen to all of the audio files first to get a general idea of the scope and scale of the task at hand. Once that’s done I’ll start actually reading the materials, then will watch the video CDs. At some point I’ll probably listen to all the mp3s again so that it sinks in better. Have lots of commuting time to fill… Starting early on this exam feels good…as it appears this is going to be a monumental task. And it also feels good to have registered on this forum…as it appears your posts will prove an invaluable help along the way.
I just finished the first book, Yay!! I feel some soft of accomplishment but then I look on the floor and see a stack of 5 other books calling my name lol. Just have to hang in there, it’s a test of mental endurance. I think I just gave myself a pep talk lol Good luck!
Hello all, I am writing the exam in Dec 08 too, have just ordered the material - will expect to receive it by end of this month - Planning to put 6 hours everyday and 10 hours every weekend for two weeks and see how it goes? The reschedual my studying time table as I have alot to catch up with… I am planning to order Schweser also - anyone of you using Schweser it seems that its more useful than CFA as CFA contain lots of jargon that we wont need to pass the exam. I can see a lot of you guys have the MP3. dapoopa can you send me the audio files via email or advice me on how to get them or if anyone of you guys can send me the MP3 files, or advice me where can i find them? My email is ahmed.rahma@hotmail.co.uk Your help is much appreciated. Thanks… ahmed
i started my preperation late march and i’m also sitting the exam in december in Taipei. i’m using stalla for preperation and so far i’m up to statistics section. anyway good luck to everyone who’s sitting the exams in june/december. 
Thanks newkid for the great link above. I am also looking for audio lectures to lesson in the car. Anyone has a copy or tell me where I can download them ? I would really appreciated. My email is jinny@siamleathergoods.com
newkid: Cheers buddy for the good link - I downloaded all the material but its all 2007 - any more links please inform us, also if you have audio/MP3 study guide or lectures let me know - your help is much appreciated. my email is ahmed.rahma@hotmail.co.uk Good luck lads - positive attitude
im going to study when my finals are over.
Hey All, Anyone from India for Dec 08? Will be great if we can form a study group…i live in Mumbai… Srikanth
The mp3 files are about 1.2 gigs total, so can’t send them to you, even if I wanted to. I suggest you pay the $150 and buy them yourself. A good long term investment IMO.
hello, i found this thread using the search function…and i couldn’t really get an answer for what i was looking for…any advice would be great. i’m registered for december 2008. no finance bg, no acctg background…i have both cfai texts and schweser texts. so far, i like the CFAI texts as it explains stuff better, especially for someone with no background in accounting… i really want to read all the CFA textbooks so i can get a good grasp of the material. i want to read it all twice-- on the first time, getting a general feel for it and a good overview, and the second time around, really absorb all the formulas and get a solid understanding of the text. do you guys think this is something i will have time for at this point?
i think that’s something only u’ll be able to find out, come december.
I appeared this june… let me tell you i am a non finance background guy, started in sept - oct from only cfai books. went by slow. by jan-feb had completed ethics, quant, half of eco and had started fsa. jan-feb i realized that i was too slow on it and to fasten up the prep ordered schweser. studied the rest of the syllabi from scheweser. Points noticed - 1.) CFAI text is the best way if you can gather so much very fast. Schweser is a good it to the most important points. 2.) I had not been revising backwards bcos i wanted to complete the syllabi once. by the time i completed one round it was almost 20 days left for the exam. After completing the first round realized that i had forgotten 80% of the stuff. that was bad. What ever i did from schweswer i could go back and reread since it took me lesser time this time. but whatever i did from CFAI - it was very difficult to reread everything. 3.) Suggest if you use cfai make notes, since rereading cfai text twice would be a very difficult task no matter how much time you have. Now lets see how the results go…and hope i pass. all the best for your prep.
good luck mate
Too early to start… you’ll forget everything
For those of you starting to study now, a word of advice… make sure you go back and REVIEW earlier material at least once every two weeks. For example, if you have Q-Bank, do a 60 - 120 question quiz on EVERY Study Session you’ve covered up until that point at least once every two weeks. This will keep ideas and formulas fresh in your head and you won’t have to spend the last 3 weeks relearning the stuff you read first (like I just did!) If you start studying now and review consistently, you are going to kill the december test… if you finish early, spend the last 2 - 3 weeks doing nothing bust busting through practice questions and shoring up your weak areas. You may want to schedule a couple of weekends for yourself (plan something fun), so you have something to look forward to and keep you from burning out. GOOD LUCK
Thanks Florida_Gator, I was just thinking about asking the board if it was too early to be hitting some of the QBank questions. I was planning on holding off until at least August, but it might just be a good idea to get a head start on that as well as part of my initial study and review.
I finished the curriculum last week. However, my retention is very low on everything. I have a broad understanding and thats about it. I am working on the flashcards right now. I will try to beable to explain all of these and then move on to the schweser books + problems and refer to the flash cards at work.
My strategy regarding retention has been to hop around various subjects, books and LOS. It’s almost like random association, often using posts from AF to jog my memory and make me open the book on that section. I began my study by listening to all of the Schweser mp3s, some sections twice like FSA and quant. Only now have I begun to hit the key concepts and concept checkers, circling the correct answers and stuyding them. When I come across something confusing or unfamiliar, only then do I go back and read the Schweser text in detail. I realize this approach is rather unorthodox, but I have read too many posts from people who simply read either the CFAI texts or Schweser books cover to cover, A to Z, and then emerged with little to no retention. BTW I am not using CFAI texts, as my books got stuck in Russian customs and then were sent back to CFAI! It would be way too much hassle and expense to have them re-sent by DHL, so I am betting Schweser will be enough for me to pass.
you guys don’t need to study hard since u can find most of the questions here from June 08 candidates. See all the tricky qs.