Every year I start off strong and am determined to read all of the CFAI textbooks and every year I get frustrated with the lengthy CFAI books I think I am going to go back to Schweser…sigh…BUT I will do every single CFAI EOC question!! Who else is planning to study this way? For the L3 repeaters, do the level 3 CFAI books provide more value add than it did for level 2? For level 2 I read the CFAI books for the major sections (like financial statements, equity, fixed income, but did Schweser for the rest) Thanks all!
kelly, i do it your way. schweser read, EOC CFAI q’s. I have ignored the books so far. Start date = my flight to Palm Springs, CA tomorrow…bringing a schwes’ book. Something tells me after 3 nights of Phish, I’m not going to study much on the flight home. it’s time. let the games begin.
Go, bannisja!
Kelly: A bit different for me. Every year I vow to not read the CFAI books and I think I have paid for it. In the past I have been a Schweser guy with CFAI supplement. Well, it took me 4 times to pass level 2 using this method, so this year I am going to use mainly CFAI texts with Schweser as a supplement. I figure it will take a bit longer, but in the long run, hopefully it will save time. Of course I say this now. Talk to me again in March.
I tried using the CFAI texts, but they are just too verbose for my liking. I stuck with Schweser+Previous 5 years’ Morning Session questions and answers…practiced them over and over, and that did the trick leading to a pass. Schweser is more than enough for the afternoon session, and for the morning session, practice using past Q&A (actual tests from CFAI website) to see the STYLE required for the responses. The essay section is not purely about knowledge…it is mostly about knowing the type of language/style that CFAI requires in it’s model responses. You have to attack it from the right angle to get as most points as possible. Also, do the practice essays timed, to get a feel for the time pressure required.
It’s so easy to read Schweser and you focus on important stuff all the way. But remember to read it multiple times! For each level, I read iSchweser 3-4 times and then did some practice questions + EOC CFAI—> 3*pass… Forget the official textbooks. Most people lose focus when they read it bacause there is too much blah blah blah…
The CFAI texts are short this year!! Plus we have like a million months to cover them. There’s plenty of time to read them AND Schweser. The trick for me was to just make a rule. Figure out when you want to be finished with them by, and then figure out how many pages you have to do in a night. Then every “study-night” cover that many no matter how long it takes. Sometimes it will be 20 mins, sometime it will be 4 hours. Sounds dumb, but it keeps you honest and plugging through the material. Worked for me with I & II. And now that i have even more time to study, I’ll probably throw in some Schweser as well.
From a recent level 3 pass-er… I think it is absurd to even consider NOT reading the CFAI material for level 3, especially since it’s only October!! What are you possibly thinking? Why risk failing? I don’t get it at all. This test is very different from previous levels. Trust me. Don’t risk it. Read the material and do the EOC questions as you read (please don’t skip them all the first time – this will squander a wonderful opportunity to re-inforce what you just read). At this point, I think an ideal study plan would be to schedule reading the CFAI material (including the EOC questions!) and complete them by sometime in Feb. Then you should read Schweser all the way through and do their questions too, leaving time for review. O.G. Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I tried using the CFAI texts, but they are just > too verbose for my liking. I stuck with > Schweser+Previous 5 years’ Morning Session > questions and answers…practiced them over and > over, and that did the trick leading to a pass. > Let me be the one to say it – this material is probably also too dense for your liking, but I wouldn’t suggest letting that get in the way of an effective study strategy. Bacaladitos Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It’s so easy to read Schweser and you focus on > important stuff all the way. But remember to read > it multiple times! > No. You want to read Schweser three times instead of reading the original material once? How exactly are you going to know the important stuff? Let me know how this works out for you in August. My money would always be on the candidate who reads the CFAI material once rather than 3x pass-through of Schweser for this level. You guys do all want to pass, right???
IT is not that i am lazy and don’t think I can get through the CFAI books if i start studying now…it is that I lose my focus and get bogged down by the details and then ultimately get confused as to what the real important stuff are. The 2nd time I took level 2 i read alot (50%+)of CFAI materials, but by then it was easy for me to know which portion of the CFAI text was just “nice to knows” vs. “core concepts”. I am completely new to level 3 this year and thus it is hard to differentiate between the nice to knows vs. core concepts…and then i end up taking notes on everything. Is this really effective? I am not quite sure…
kellyc319 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > IT is not that i am lazy and don’t think I can get > through the CFAI books if i start studying > now…it is that I lose my focus and get bogged > down by the details and then ultimately get > confused as to what the real important stuff are. > > > The 2nd time I took level 2 i read alot (50%+)of > CFAI materials, but by then it was easy for me to > know which portion of the CFAI text was just “nice > to knows” vs. “core concepts”. I am completely > new to level 3 this year and thus it is hard to > differentiate between the nice to knows vs. core > concepts…and then i end up taking notes on > everything. Is this really effective? I am not > quite sure… In my opinion yes, it is effective. I think the best way to look at these up coming months is to cypher through all the material and put it in your own words. For me, thats color-coded highlights and note cards. Some people might prefer outlining and note taking. Whatever works. But its all about preparing for that one last push in the last couple of months. Trust me, you wont’ remember 90% of what you read in the next couple months (at least I won’t). But I will have taken that time to translate the CFAI’s BS into a digestible format for me. Then thats what I use in my final push. Why leave any stone unturned?
Agree, LIII is a lot of reading … Key for me was to go through all the material, then stop 1 month before the exam and practice only questions from this point and learn from my mistakes. Couple of dozen questions every day, and then a lot during weekends…
Ahh fine, you guys convinced me (or scared me) back to the CFAI books. I think I have to use Schweser for the Behavioral finance stuff because I just wasn’t getting it with the CFAI books. Maybe the other sections are better with CFAI? Here is another thing I notice, in L2 it was easy to tell which sections were giogn to be the core concepts because they were broken down (FSA, EQuity, Fixed Income, etc). But here…it feels like just a big hodgepodge of stuff from one subject (i.e. portfolio). I am not sure which sections make up the bulk of the points, most testable, etc…
kellyc319 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > For the L3 repeaters, do the level 3 CFAI books > provide more value add than it did for level 2? > For level 2 I read the CFAI books for the major > sections (like financial statements, equity, fixed > income, but did Schweser for the rest) > Dont you think they would not be repeaters if they did the CFAI books? Pretty sure they are repeaters for a reason. No offense.
I have no reason to believe that the pass rate for people who use CFAI books is higher than the pass rate for people who use Schweser books.
Hello Mister Walrus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have no reason to believe that the pass rate for > people who use CFAI books is higher than the pass > rate for people who use Schweser books. The people that fail that I have talked to used schweser. The people that fail using schweser to the people that fail using only CFAI is with out a doubt going to favor people that use CFAI. Get real if you do not think that is true.
Yeah… I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.
Hello Mister Walrus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yeah… I don’t think you know what you’re talking > about. Your right…I guess going 3 for 3 does not give me room to talk. I used CFAI exclusively.
I think the only consensus seems to be to do CFAI EOC questions…hahaha…so I guess bottom line…if you can get these questions right, it doesn’t matter how you acquired the knowledge (either through CFAI or Schweser).
The sample questions in the readings are VERY simliar to what you see on the test. EOC quesitons help as well. But I am not sure why you would not want to study every question the CFAI gives you?
I did not do the CFAI EOC questions. Sure, they help some people…but when I started doing them, they were taking way TOO LONG, and at that rate, I would not have finished going through the material in time…and I would have failed. I pushed them away and just focused on Schweser for multiple choice, and CFAI past years’ Q&A for the essay section. Let me caution you that I used this method because I started studying late (mid March), plus I have a short attention span. If you are starting now, then yea, go for it with CFAI material…but most of the people I know (they all passed) used just schweser…and maybe read just the IPS part from CFAI. I am not advocating that this is the best method. I am just saying that it worked for me and my friends. To each his own.