posted similiar message about month ago, but has become more clear over past wkend. in regards to note taking while studying i don’t think there is very much utility in doing this on the first read through of text. there is so much new material that you become inundated with writing way too much. further to that point, when begining to study you really don’t know how the questions are worded or what material is emphasized more. best approach for most part is to read through text, highlight, answer post chapter questions. then in your final preparation when you begin reviewing highlighted material, secret sauce, taking a few test…then take some notes/flash cards on your weak areas. i filled about two thee subject notebooks full of notes, and referred very little to it during final three weeks when taking practice tets. your time will be better spent answering more questions, learning from mistakes, and redoing. not sure how i did or what plans are for level 2, but not going to use the same approach next time. you becomome too overwhelmed trying to decipher your notes and secret sauce is consolidated so you can read that if you need refresh on certain topics. get the q-bank early and start banging out questions. you will be beaten up by some topis but in terms of retention it will be much more beneficial. i purchased q-bank about 15 days prior to exam, completed about 40% of quesitons, but would have felt better had i done 90% of it.
^ good advice. Your test center story is a total nightmare - I’m glad you made it. I completely agree with jgrandits. Looking back, I wasted A LOT of time at the beginning taking notes on ethics and quant. Nice and pretty notes, with highlights and standard numbers, etc. What a waste. I can think of nothing LESS useful that taking notes on the first-pass ethics readings. I could have used that time reviewing eco at the end. big time. CFAI end of chapter questions are a MUST. Pay close attention to the text examples as well.
My advice is not to take any notes. Rather, read through all the Schweser books combined with QBank questions. Starting 1 month before the exam, every day pick ONE concept/formula that you’re not comfortable with, and use that day to commit that formula or concept to memory. Compile each one of these concepts in a word document, and use this as your lunchtime and pre-game review sheet (Mine was 5 pages).