I haven’t even opened my CFA book package as yet…Is it too late to start? Or can it still be done? I work full time and it’s quite impossible for me to study on weekdays… Any Suggestions/Advice/Curses?
I would say its possibly if You get Schweser and put in 20 hours on weekends and make index cards for whenever you get even a minute of free time.
Faaltu Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I haven’t even opened my CFA book package as > yet…Is it too late to start? Or can it still be > done? I work full time and it’s quite impossible > for me to study on weekdays… > > Any Suggestions/Advice/Curses? I hope so, because I am not very far ahead of you at the moment. I think I started about 9-10 days ago. I am away the next couple of weekends after this one too (incl. Easter, which would have been a great opp to work). I will absolutely kill the Schweser books this weekend. I get 10 days of study leave pre-exam, though. Anything similar for you?
When I studied L1 and L2, I didnt start until mid-March and passed okay just studying at the weekend. Admittedly my company sent me on training courses and I had five days study leave. It wasn’t a great pass and I felt poorly prepared for the exam but a pass is still achievable. Just take a weeks holiday if necessary. For level 3, I hadn’t even opened my books until April. However, I was in between jobs so had no problem in devoting time. I would read threads of “How Far Are You” in March and it felt like I was the only one on SS1. My advice is use the fear to drive you but don’t panic! I remained calm and focused and studied at my own pace. The secret is questions, questions and questions and just read the study guide.
Go on schweser… Then do the cfai texts end chapter questions… And pray… Cuz that’s what i’m doing
of course there is time. i’m only at SS6
by the way in Hindi (India’s National Language) Faaltu means “Useless”
I think Level 3 is probably the easiest of the 3 levels. So if you’ve passed L2 with 3 months work, you should be fine for L3. (I hope these words don’t come back and hunt me in August.)
I think L3 material can lead to the impression that it’s easy, and then you open the essay questions and it’s…waaahhh??? mo34 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think Level 3 is probably the easiest of the 3 > levels. So if you’ve passed L2 with 3 months work, > you should be fine for L3. > > (I hope these words don’t come back and hunt me in > August.)
Personally I dont feel Lvl 3 is the easiest exam. I am not from an English spoken country, so studying and writing essay requires to put more efforts. Lvl 3 materials are not easy for me too. I feel that I will need to memorize lots of things which i didnt do in lvl 1 and 2 (except for formulas). Anyone can share the methods to memorize such a huge amount of knowledge? thanks
OF COURSE its possible. I started studying on past sunday. I finished chapter 3 in 1 day (it was 18 pages lol), thats 1 down 17 to go. Now I am on chapter 4. Well I am still up. but we have 90 days. 2 chapters a week, will give you 3 weeks for review. if you put 3 hours a day thats 270 hours. anything over 250 should be enough. Besides, the reason I started so late is that I got my books in dec. stalla books. and they were half as thick as stalla level 2 books. That translates to half the time, or to be on the safe side 2/3 the time. 3 months 3 MONTHS. u can do anything in 3 months. my only problem is I cant quit playing poker online. and dude, dont forget, ppl who have been studying for 6 months wont have that big of an advantage over you, coz they probably already forgot what they read. lol. so 3 months of concentrated studying is even better than 8 months of loose studying. good luck.
turkish_dude, While I don’t want to discourage anyone I dunno if you’re in any postition to give studying advice. You mentioned in another thread that you took 4 tries to pass level 1 and 7 to pass level 2.
^^ touché
BugEyed when I said it took me 1 tries to pass 2 levels did you actually believe it??? I passed them on first attempts. I started studying for level 2 late january and I did pretty well on the exam, all was >70 except PM. That and shortness of L3 material gives me extra confidence, while I am also aware of the fact that ppl who thought as I do now failed L3 although they were 2 for 2. But in 3 months it is definately doable.
L3 was by far the hardest for me and most of my friends who took the test would agree. I passed back in 2006. I passed L1 in Dec 03, L2 in June 04 and was going for 3-3 in order to be the first to do it in 1.5 years. Now, I probably studied 300 hours for L1 and L2. I actually thought L2 wasn’t that bad and it had a pass rate of 32% when I took it. Prior to L3 in 2005, I knew this test would be a bitch. For one, everyone tells you that you are already there. That you have the designation and that L3 is easier than L2. Secondly, you are beat up from the first two exams, so motivation is another problem. It was bigger for me in that I finished the first two levels in less than a year…so I had the study routine down. Third, if you fail, then you have to make a decision to go on. At least, when you fail L1, you can give up. You can’t give up at L3. So, I put in 400 hours. I worked my ass off. I decided to just study Schweser. I would know the schweser backwards and forwards. I proceeded to take the test in 2005 and failed miserably. I have never felt so bad. I am an excellent test taker. I was fully prepared. I didn’t know how I could do anything differently, yet I felt like someone had hit my head with a 2x4. The eventual pass rate was 55%. In 2006, I had to shake things up. Do things differently. I would still study Schweser, yet I would also read the textbooks. I would do every problem at the end of the textbooks. I also paid $900 of my hard earned money for the CFA-SF class. If I am paying for it, I will be fully prepared. I designed my own flash cards. I worked out 4 times a week and read the cards on the stairmaster. I took every test multiple times. I passed and crushed the test. The pass rate was 76%. Last year, half the people taking the test failed. All of the people taking the test passed level 2. 90% assumed that they would pass L3 in 2007. 10% probably didn’t study. Yet, most went in optimistic. This year, many of these candidates will hunker down and crush it like I did. Some will also lollygag around and pick up the books in a month. Yet, can you afford to fail? Can you afford to burn another 300 hours of your time in 2009 without knowing if you will pass? Passing the test isn’t a given the second time you take it. I would rather spend an addition 100 hours and feel confident about passing, then putting in minimal effort and squeeking by. Who knows, perhaps you are a super risk taker. The thrill of putting in minimal effort for the pass just gets you going. Not me.
One minute in heaven is better than 2 minutes in heaven ha ha slacker!