I’ll stick with just being smart, its working so far.
I think Joey has hit on something here with the idea of experimentation. You may not be studying with the right learning style and just spinning your wheels. For example, rote memorization may not work for you, some people just need to learn a single idea and are able just to focus on that question, others need to have a global view to understand the details. Some people remember better visually, some are more auditory. Some people remember best when they get a question wrong, others just get frustrated. You probably have not found the best way to approach studying in general and need to spend a bit of time reflecting on it. Perhaps it would be helpful if people posted how they study to get some ideas on how to approach it. What you focus on, what kind of questions you ask yourself, how or if you take notes etc…
Freemantle … no there isn’t a transcript, in fact once the results disapear from the CFAI website, they are no longer available at all…
Hey, it can become one’s personal hobby i.e. prepping and taking the L1 test.
I am sure it has taken people a ridiculous amount of attempts and years to pass this thing. Give it your all on the June exam. If you don’t pass, or at least improve in most categories I would revisit the idea several years later and try it again.
What’s your idea of “studying hard?” Someone mentioned Econ at UCI is a joke, but you must have learned the fundamentals of Econ. What really surprises me is that you failed Econ on all attempts. I was an accounting major at UCSB, until I got booted out of the major. Let’s just say my bachelors degree isn’t even worth mentioning. Anyway, I paid for Level 1 3 times. First time, I didn’t have time to study due to work reasons, so I didn’t even take it. Second time, I studied for a month thinking it would be a bit harder than a NASD Exam, failed. The first attempt with actual studying and taking it seriously, PASS, which was Dec 07. I don’t think the material is especially hard. It’s trying to relate all the material together and memorize it for that one day that makes it really hard. I don’t think L2 is similar though. L2 seems to be HARD, straight up! Anyway, study hard. I mean at least 250 hous as they say, if not more. Devote at least a couple hours a day and all day on weekends. CFAI practice exams help a ton. Good Luck!
null&nuller Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > point is…don’t give up. If at first you don’t > succeed…etc. Just improve your study habits and motivate yourself.
As some of the other posts stated, once you pass level 1 you still have 2 more levels to fail. Assume that level 2 is harder than level 1. It take 4 tries to pass level 1 means that it will take 4 tries to pass level 2. This puts you 5 years out from having the opportunity to fail level 3. Even at that point, you still wont get the letters because the back office experience does not count. Now your looking at needing 4 more years of work experience. But you wont get it bacause any employer will look at +5 years of back office unfavorabily. So think about 9 more years to be a CFA. Now 3 years of grad school doesnt look too bad. Go back to grad school for an MBA in finance.
BO experience counts.
2x2equals4 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My only advice is that you should think of CFA > exams like a game. 50% is strategy. Of course, if > you really want to do well, you should practically > know/study/understand EVERYTHING. This is the best > way to secure success at L2 and L3. > 1. Study EVERY day > 2. Do A LOT of Q > 3. Have confidence > 4. Spend most of your time on your weak areas > 5. Manage your time, and > 6. Manage your time again. > 7. And more specifically, focus on FSA. 2x2 (who did a really excellent job on LI) is going to be pleasantly surprised when s/he finds out that there is NO FSA on LIII. What will you do with your time?
i hope that you studied CFAI sample exam, because many questions from Dec L1 were straight from there.
Dapper425 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > BO experience counts. BO experience counts towards what? You mean the BO experience can used to count towards getting those 3 letters?!Even then…I don’t think it is worth it to remain in the BO with a CFA when you are probably qualified for stuff like ER…Seriously isnt it true that a number of us here are trying to get that darn pass so that we can get out of the BO?? As a matter of fact I am feeling that I am shortchanged when I know that I might potentially have to start off doing stuff like Nostro investigation even though I have cleared L1. Grossly shortchanged as a matter of fact… 
Thank you for all valuable comments and suggestion, negative or not. I read them all especially those comments abt my econ major and still failing econ, not taking it seriously, and not study enough. i really appreciate them because i take them now as a reminder of how much people who passed L1 put in and sacrifice compare to myself. but please… i am not here to fishing for sympathy because i can get them from my friends and family. Please note that I didn’t include any family and personal issue in the post as excuse. You can criticize me all you want and I welcome and accept them. Thanks!!!
TamiYokey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thank you for all valuable comments and > suggestion, negative or not. I read them all > especially those comments abt my econ major and > still failing econ, not taking it seriously, and > not study enough. i really appreciate them because > i take them now as a reminder of how much people > who passed L1 put in and sacrifice compare to > myself. but please… i am not here to fishing for > sympathy because i can get them from my friends > and family. Please note that I didn’t include any > family and personal issue in the post as excuse. > You can criticize me all you want and I welcome > and accept them. Thanks!!! Hey…I am an econ major and I bombed my econ section too! So don’t feel too bad! I really hope you pass the next time round 
uhhhh I have to disagree. Having level 1 isnt worth anything. And in this economy you will probably be Back Office even if you go to an excellent school if you didnt get a top GPA, people have to put in the work and get experience. HydrogenRainbow Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dapper425 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > BO experience counts. > > > BO experience counts towards what? You mean the BO > experience can used to count towards getting those > 3 letters?!Even then…I don’t think it is worth > it to remain in the BO with a CFA when you are > probably qualified for stuff like ER…Seriously > isnt it true that a number of us here are trying > to get that darn pass so that we can get out of > the BO?? As a matter of fact I am feeling that I > am shortchanged when I know that I might > potentially have to start off doing stuff like > Nostro investigation even though I have cleared > L1. Grossly shortchanged as a matter of fact…
JoeyDVivre Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 2x2equals4 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > My only advice is that you should think of CFA > > exams like a game. 50% is strategy. Of course, > if > > you really want to do well, you should > practically > > know/study/understand EVERYTHING. This is the > best > > way to secure success at L2 and L3. > > 1. Study EVERY day > > 2. Do A LOT of Q > > 3. Have confidence > > 4. Spend most of your time on your weak areas > > 5. Manage your time, and > > 6. Manage your time again. > > 7. And more specifically, focus on FSA. > > 2x2 (who did a really excellent job on LI) is > going to be pleasantly surprised when s/he finds > out that there is NO FSA on LIII. What will you > do with your time? Thanks for the constructive feedback. I did very good on L1. The guy is asking for advice on L1. Good FSA prep is indispensable for passing L1 and L2. Portfolio Mgt is relatively easy esp. for finance grads. You first have to pass L1/L2 to progress to L3. Am I right ? If you know a way to reach L3 without taking L2, pls share it with us.
Yep. You have to pass LI and LII first and you are right - FSA IMHO is the toughest part of LI and LII.
Get the schweser secret sauce and live by it. Read it every day, multiple times a day, during breakfast, at lunch, dinner out of the shower etc. Use this as a supplement to actually studying. it will help you retain everything!
I found qbank to be the most important aspect of my studying and I ended up with a very high level 1 score last week. Before I started using qbank my studying wasn’t very effective. Qbank really helps out with narrowing down with LOS’s you are stuggling with. Additionally, I found qbank very useful for studying how to apply the ethical guidelines of CFAI.
ca-cbv-cfa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > uhhhh I have to disagree. Having level 1 isnt > worth anything. And in this economy you will > probably be Back Office even if you go to an > excellent school if you didnt get a top GPA, > people have to put in the work and get experience. > > > > HydrogenRainbow Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Dapper425 Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > BO experience counts. > > > > > > BO experience counts towards what? You mean the > BO > > experience can used to count towards getting > those > > 3 letters?!Even then…I don’t think it is > worth > > it to remain in the BO with a CFA when you are > > probably qualified for stuff like > ER…Seriously > > isnt it true that a number of us here are > trying > > to get that darn pass so that we can get out of > > the BO?? As a matter of fact I am feeling that > I > > am shortchanged when I know that I might > > potentially have to start off doing stuff like > > Nostro investigation even though I have cleared > > L1. Grossly shortchanged as a matter of fact… > Hmm but as compared to my peers who made it to the FO, e.g. S&T, have 0 experience, no CFA, am I more “marketable”?? I am actually mulling over the option of working in the BO for about half a year, gain the product knowledge, the process knowledge, plus the client mgmt skills (apparetnly for that job, although it is a BO job requires client servicing to some extent because you’d need to deal with the counterparty), and then applying for management trainee positions at the end of this year, since most banks open the trainee programs to people with little or no experience, e.g. not more than 12months of experience for Deutshce Bank. Hopefully I’d be more “marketable” as compared to my peers who are in their 2nd last term of studies (who have zilch of everything). I dont wanna remain in the BO for too long, since like what most of you all here say, the longer you remain there, the worse it gets. By the way, do work on your FSA. I do regret not workign that hard on my FSA and I did make the msitake of focusing too much on the calculations instead of understanding more thoroughly the concepts. If you can bump up your ethics, FSA and corporate finance scores you should be able to clear the exam