Hi guys - the title says it all. I am reading the Schweser notes, writing my notes (usually 10 pages per reading), and then finishing w CFAI EOC. Once I am done w the reading, I can say what the reading was about (very high level), but cannot remember all of the detail. Am I the only one going through this? I assume that much of the learning will occur once the mock exams begin? Appreciate anyone’s thoughts in advance!
Cheers- Lostone
Everyone goes through this.
Start working questions, and refer back to the study guide when you get a wrong answer; you’ll be amazed how quickly you’ll start remembering what you’d previously forgotten.
I’m with you Lostone. Had the same experience with L1. It’s just a lot of material. Agree w/ S2000magician that it comes together when you start testing. Don’t forget to work practice problems as you read through the material too. That should help commit the concepts to memory.
Yes, I have the same problem with L2. Was much less prevalent in L1, perhaps because the material was much less challenging.
I am 40% through the material after 6 weeks. However, I plan to spend 1 week in February going over many questions on the materials already done.
Thanks everyone!
Batman1 - that is actually a great idea! Perhaps after doing 50% of reading, doing eoc again will help remember the much detailed info we have already covered.
I’m glad I’m not the only one. I took part of yesterday to work practice questions and that helped tremendously.
Another thing you might try is making flashcards as you read. I used them extensively in L1 and because they are portable, I got a lot of mileage out of them. They really helped cement formulas and other basic concepts so that I could spend more time on the more detailed and tricky topics.
Yeah, this is normal. As Mr. Magician said, working practice questions and reviewing the answers during your review phase is when things will start to stick. What works for me is to go through the readings, do the end of reading practice questions and move on. Once completed, I work the practice questions on the CFA website, which helps identify areas that you’ll want to make notes on. I use this to start writting up notes sheets on important concepts and how to work through a problem. Having a step-by-step calculation notes sheet for valuing a FRA would be a good example, or a sheet that sumarizes which costs to use for a foreign subsidiary statement translation. Then you can pound through your notes and cement everything in before the exam. Also, as you review the ciriculum to create your notes (and look up answers you got wrong on practice questions), this is a good time to create flash cards on all the formulas you’ll need to commit to memory.
Once all your notes and flash cards are created and you’ve spent some time on them, it’s time to start working mocks, which will identify areas where you may want to create more notes and flash cards for further review. I strongly feel that part of the reason I missed passing last year with a Band 9 was not doing enough practice questions. Not enough mocks, specifically. I won’t be making that mistake this year. Practice is key.
Good luck!
Writing flashcards is an excellent way to help your memorization. The more often you write them, the better you’ll remember the material.
When I was studying I wrote flashcards for everything, threw them away, and rewrote them. After the third or fourth time of writing them, I had everything down pat.
I feel like overcoming this IS the crux of the challenge. Just about anybody can learn a reading. But how to keep all things in your head at once.
Something that works for me is to do the EOC practice problems twice, then take a few weeks away from them, and then hit them again twice. By the fourth time, you start to make the information your own.
I have a similar issue but different, there are times when I read a whole section of a book, like in the portfolio section, but understand nothing, should I also get to the practice at that moment? And I, frequently, dont understand the queastion and go to the answer part to make sense of the questions, would you recommend me going back to solve the question right after or should I do it after the first round of reviewing?
Thanks