Could anybody tell me… how much avg time it takes to finish topics other than ethics,quant,economics and fsa… I am feeling like I am slow… so have to adjust according to that… currently lost in FSA…reading it for 3rd time… Thanks in advance…
if you are reading FSA (qhich is like 700 pages) for 3rd time and still not getting it, that tells me you do not have a fin or acctg background. which is fine, but id suggest you take every free second you have to study, esp if you are studying for Dec, which i assume you are… FSA is 25% of exam (fact), so if you bomb this, you are done for sure.
daj224 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > if you are reading FSA (qhich is like 700 pages) > for 3rd time and still not getting it, that tells > me you do not have a fin or acctg background. > which is fine, but id suggest you take every free > second you have to study, esp if you are studying > for Dec, which i assume you are… > > FSA is 25% of exam (fact), so if you bomb this, > you are done for sure. Actually, it’s 20%, not 25%. Still a lot, though. http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/courseofstudy/topicareaweights.html
For FSA, the book is far more detailed info than you need to know for the exam. Know the LOS’es that say, compute, derive, calcutate etc… cuz those can be tested. For other parts of FSA, just know the concepts. you’ll be okay. Master your understanding of SS8. Cash flow, Income statement, Balance sheet. The better you know these, and the interaction between them, the easier SS9 will be. SS9 otherwise is a killer but you dont have to know everything, just the concepts and where it says compute etc. If you are able to do end of the chapters prob without referring to the book, you are set. Although end of the chapters prob are not the kind of problems you’ll see on actual exam, so do get very well versed with the type of FSA questions you’ll see, but first do the end of the chapters probs. Also as you read, keep notes of IASB vs FASB rules.
Thanks guys…for your reply… but my question was … how much avg time it takes to finish topics other than ethics,quant,economics and fsa… ??? thnx again
Also, Daj224, are more numericals asked on FSA or concepts, I am reading schweser notes, even though I understand most of them but still do we have to remember every LOS? each and every concept in the notes? For Econ, is it the same too?
Dec 08, You should have plenty of time, depending on whether you have already done those readings. I agree above - FSA in June didn’t go into as much depth as the text book, but the main thing is to have an understanding on how the mechanics of the ratios work eg what happens to CFO if you accelerate depreciation etc. That might be too simplistic of an approach, but it’s the understanding of how financial statements will respond to different inputs that is key. Definitely know IASB/FASB differences, as well as FCFE/FCFF. I memorised the latter on the morning of the exam and there was something in there for that. You’ve got a little less than 17 weeks to go, to cover less than half of the exam weightings, going by all topics outside of ethics, quant, economics and FSA. Those four topics are 9 study sessions, and you’ve got 18 in total. That leaves 9, SS 17 & 18 are short ones you should be able to get through quickly, and they are less weighted then the rest, so you could get away with not knowing all of it. I didn’t do much for Alternative Investments at all and I still got the marks. So that leaves you with 7 study sessions. Aim for a study session a week until you finish the curriculum, give or take, and then you should have 9 or 10 sessions to revise. To revise, invest in Schweser notes or something similar, and read it all over and over again until you could explain it to someone next to you on a bus. In the final two weeks, do plenty of practice questions and revise all questions and your answers - even the ones you get right (as they might be a lucky guess). You’ll start to spot a pattern of where you are strong or weak. I did a minimum of 1000 practice questions before my exam, so I was ready for anything. So, in summary, you should have plenty of time. But stick to a schedule. That’s the best way.
Thanx a tom timefindlay and all above who answered my questions…
December, Try reading Schweser, there is alot of information in the CFA books which you do not need to know. Schweser is an excellent summary of the material and there were no topics on the actual tests which were not covered in Schweser. Also you can try posting about topics you have difficulty with or using the search function for previous posts because I know before the test in June everyone was a huge help to me with any problems I had.
I am currently using schweser … Thanks for reply…
I just want to make one thing clear about calculations on the exam. I wasted alot of time knowing matrices and long calculations (heck some problems took 10 minutes to complete in the materials). Dont waste TOO much time on this, just know what the results mean. For example, I taught myself dupont analysis forwards and backwards. wasted ALOT of time just saying “well if they give me the ROA what can i turn that into?” When test time came. all the information was already given. Think about it this way. CFAI says you should spend 1.5 minutes per question. This hopefully will make your studying alot less stressful. Understand relationships among variables. This will be enough to even get the right answer on some of the calculation questions (at least, eliminate obvious answers)