I’m in a bind…I’m behind on my Stalla work and I’ll need to cram way more than I would like to in order to pass…but I’ve just been hired by a firm that needs me to pass. Is there an intensive program that anyone is aware of? They’ll pay anything. Regards
It’s October. What level are you sitting?
Level 1…and I work in the market so it’s not like any of this is new to me.
Take a deep breath. let the panic subside first. Then let this permeate through: Level 1. is. easy.
Yea, you’re right; I’m kind of being a bitch about it.
Be careful going in with the assumption that Level I is easy. A lot of people get tripped up, particularly under exam-like pressure. So, take a timed practice exam (no peeking) to get a sense of how far you need to go. You do have 6 weeks between now and the exam, so there is time to get ready if you actually take it seriously. If your firm needs you to pass, then they should be willing to structure your work-load to allow for sufficient study time. CFA is hard. It should be. Put in the time. There are no shortcuts.
Get the schweser books. Buzz through those, take a couple of practice tests the week before and you should be good to go. No need to read anything else for L1.
What circumstances could possibly motivate a firm to be willing to “pay anything” for exam preparation because they “need” someone they just hired to pass the CFA Level I exam in December of 2010 rather than June of 2011?
What kind of a firm that needs you to pass level 1 and will pay anything for it? I’m a level 3 candidate, so can I also get a job there as well for them to pay my schweser book? Anyway, around 50 days left and if you can put 150-175 hours, you should be fine. Don’t even bother opening the cfa books. Good luck.
Level one is extremely straightforward. There is undoubtedly a lot of material, but you can get through it if you focus and apply your time well. I recommend getting up before work an hour or so to watch Schweser video CDs and do practice problems. I did that for levels 1 and 2 and it helped immensely. An hour each morning, 3-4 days a week, and you’ll make up for a lot of lost time and dramatically increase what you can plow through in a week (in addition to after work/weekend). Best of luck!
What region are you located in?
But honestly, reading and doing practice questions are probably a much better bet than classes.
Qbank by Schweser helped me in the last two weeks. Of course I studied before, did some tests and watched video, but no reading. Qbank was essential in my preparation for level 1
50 days to go: I always used to figure on doing at least 5 hours per day each weeknight after work for the last 2 months. Plus 8 hours each on Saturday and Sunday (used to have Sat night off). So you could still get in 35 workdays x 5 hours = 175 hours and 14 weekend days x 8 hours = 112 hours for a grand total of 287 hours possible study time. Which should be enough to pass withough worrying about classes etc.
Everyone is giving you very good advice. I would also like to add that you should focus much more time on doing practice questions in all the various sections. Do at least one 15 exam level questions per day, go back through them and understand why you got them wrong. Use the old exams and mocks for this.
Level I isn’t easy. Being “in the market” isn’t much of a help. It’s not the 7. You’re not “in” Ethics, FSA, Quant, etc. That said, relax. Do a lot of practice problems. Find out where your weaknesses are and act accordingly. The test is difficult, not rocket science.