Materials: Curriculum. Second choice is Schweser
Practice and practice again and again all EOC and Examples in Curriculum. That’s all!
Passed, and scored 70%+ on all topics.
-
Find study buddies. It is always better to share the pain (and sometimes the joys!) of studying for the CFA exam with your friends. Studying with other people, taking practice exams with them, and checking and discussing the answers afterwards proved really effective for us. My study group had a 100% passing rate for L2, and passed levels 1 and 2 on our first attempts.
-
Know the material. This is like the no-duh advice, but I (even S2000magician!) couldn’t emphasize this enough. There is no other way to pass than knowing the material. I personally used Schweser notes, while referencing to the curriculum whenever I felt like Schweser was inadequate. To each his/her own! Use whatever you find most effective for you.
-
Make your own notes while studying the material. This way, whenever you have to find something, you can just look over your notes. You will not have to go back to the voluminous books just to find a single definition or formula. I also find that making my own notes aids in memorizing.
-
Know your LOS. LOS-based studying is much more efficient than just reading the entire CFAI curriculum, not knowing which ones are going to be tested. This is why I like using Schweser more than CFAI texts. If a certain formula or factoid is not in the LOS, do not bother with it. If the LOS says explain and not calculate, that means you do not need to solve for anything. There is a very small chance that non-LOS-based facts will be tested, but it’s always better to allocate most of your time studying for things that will certainly be tested.
-
Answer EOCs and blue boxes. I personally did not do this. I did a few questions for corfin and ethics, and just one question for fixed income. And guess what, that single question for fixed income actually came out in the actual exam! Had I not seen that question, I would probably have gotten 50-70% in fixed income. I would probably do this in level 3.
-
Practice, practice, practice! I personally finished the Schweser Qbank, answered seven of their mocks (i.e., 14 AM and PM sessions combined), and answered all the exercises and two mocks in the CFAI website. While answering mocks, you will be familiarized with the chunks of topics that are usually tested on the actual exam. This will also help you with timing, which is very very important.
Really, really solid avice.
Solve questions. I didnt do that much, not end of the reading questions in Schweser or CFAI, neither did I do a single mock. I faced the heat during the exam and had to solve a lot of questions using fundamental concepts and ab-initio derivations which could have easily been done using a formula had i spent time memorizing them or practicing questions. I am lucky to have passed.
However, apparently “I learnt the material very well”
One more tip, possibly the most important one.
WORSHIP S2000MAGICIAN.
Whoa!
Maybe just ask me a question or two.
What about Rahul_Roy?
If he wants to ask me a question or two, he knows that he’s always welcome to do so.
I feel this is the key!!! On an average 40-50% will pass and key is to make sure you are in that group.
Btw, dont waste your time on Qbank. Most of the questions are short and easy. 3000 questions will easily cost you 50+ hrs that you couldve spent on CFAI EOC/BB or mocks instead. The oppotunity cost is much higher than the benefit.
I cant emphasize enough the accuracy of this post. I scored 50% on my first am morning mock, which was a month before the exam. I was freaking out. I wish I had started earlier. Do everything OP says, and you will pass.