I didn’t make any index cards for L1 or L2.
It just seems like I would end up with a stack of cards at least a foot high and thus inconvenient to bring anywhere.
Any experience with this on how thick your stack gets (if you make index cards)?
Index card were how I got through the program.
I would have stacks of them. Making them was more useful than using them for me.
I wrote out index cards for all three levels.
Then I threw them away.
Then I wrote them again.
Then I threw them away.
And so on.
I never carried them around to read. The reading wasn’t important; the writing was.
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What s2000 said. I did same thing all 3 levels. My favorite thing was throwing them out after the pass email even though I never looked at them even once after writing them. But helps with retention.
I can honestly say that making a tonne of flash cards got me through level 2. writing them out, tweaking them and re-writing them really helped me get my head round the curriculum. in the final month i read them multiple times and i found it to be the best way to learn to recall all the material. i even flicked through some during the lunch break and picked up a few additional points in the afternoon paper because of it.
Did you guys find them as useful for level 3? I had it in my head that level 3 is going to be more wordy and more about the big picture so i didn’t think I’d use them as much as I did for level 2.
Cool. Thanks guys. I guess I’ll go to Staples later on and stock up on some index cards.
Can’t wait to bring them to a bar sometime next spring, hit on a pretty girl and have a stack of formulas and fixed income immunization strategies fall out of my back pocket.
I also made them for L2 and clubbed them by topic for my rides to and back to work or the library. Very useful.
can’t u just write it on a notebook? That’s what i do. When i had time on one of the levels (l2) … wroite it down on onenote software … failed on 1st attempt 
… but used those on 2nd try - actually had time to read what i wrote down, and was helful.
Stick to only formulas and mabye 10-15 cards with major lists of concepts. I ended up with 100-150.
I DID use them frequently during the final 6 weeks of review. I would look at one side and see “Roys Safety First Forumula”. I would then try to write it down on scratch paper. I would then check my answer to the correct answer on the back of the card. Do this repeatedly from time to time and you become a machine.
The key is to tackle maybe 20-25 at a time, in a day. Get those down, then to more the next day. rinse, repeat.
I had every formula down cold before the exam. Did it during both passing attempts at levels 2 and 3.
I used them for both L1 and L2. I thought they’re great for the final few weeks, then you can create different bunches like “I need to review these a ton” and on down to the lower priorities.
L1 and L2 none. L3 a TON. L3 consists of mutliple lists which index cards helped immensely.
Anyone use the Schweser flashcards for L3? For L1, I made my own fc which took a lot of time & I didn’t really have the time in the end to use them for review. For L2, I bought the Schweser ones, which although quite costly, were good to leverage as they already had the main points written and one could add more, as needed. However, as I quickly realized, the fc were the same as the EOC concept checkers in the notes (and looking at samples for video PPT slides recently, looks like the FC are the same atleast for one SS).
Wondering if it makes sense to just invest the $ and have something to build upon and save time vs. create from scratch. Had the same dilemma at L2…older I get, more in circle my life goes…
Writing flashcards is one of the best ways to go through the curriculum and retain information. Physically writing the index card makes you learn the material, whereas just reading ones already written will not have as much impact. My opinion, don’t be lazy, write out flashcards, pass the exam and never look at them again. I personally have boxes of them in a drawer in my office.
I used the Schweser flash cards for all levels and liked them. They are essentially a copy and paste from the Schweser study books. I could see value in making your own flash cards, but I didn’t have the time to invest in making the flash cards and it was still fine.
Thanks guys…
So do you suggest, if you write out your own cards, to jam as much ‘sh—t’ on each card as possible, so as not to have say, 3 feet worth of cards? level 3 wise…
Actually not lazy at all - trying to balance cost and efficiency. For L2, I bought the Schweser cards, but I added ALOT of personal notes, but it just helped to have LOS on one side and the short answers along w/my details on the other…kinda gave me comfort that I didn’t have to start from scratch and could “build” on something and use time saved to re-review. Just not sure whether it’s worth another $150, but I know L3 is quite alot of detail/memorization so maybe it’s worth it…for the ppl that actually write them out, what’s your strategy? LOS based, formulas, high level summary?
i bought the schweser flash cards for level 2 but didn’t use them at all. personally i find the process of summarising a chapter myself and structuring it into cards to be the most useful exercise. it was important for me to read a topic, understand it and then write it out on cards in my own words not just copied verbatim
in any taught classes i’ve taken they have advised against spending time writing out summary notes or cards because the schweser notes are already a condensed summary but i found the time spent making cards to be the most productive of my level 2 prep. hopefully it will be as useful for level 3
I used the schweser texts and wrote notes on everything in my own words in a way I could understand and retain it. By the end I had one notebook of level 3 notes in one place. I can refer to this now or pass it on to someone who might need it. but as everyone has said, I think the most valuable part was writing the notes and trying to put everything into terms I could understand.
people still write out flashcards? If you have an iphone just download flashcards+ app. It let’s you make flashcards that will automatically sync to your computer. No worries about losing any and you won’t end up with a giant stack of cards that you have to drag around.