I have just completed my sophomore year in college and the earliest I can take the cfa is june 2014 (By next june I would have completed my junior year and would be a rising senior) When will the schweser 2014 books become available? I plan on starting by November at the latest because I have not started any of my finance classes and have little to no knowledge. Any helpful tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Good luck to everyone that are anticipating their cfa level 1 and 2 results in 18 days!
November start is way to early for level 1; I would start in January/February (March latest)
Schweser books become available towards the end of the year (November/December time frame); I would call Schweser for more info
Tips for studying - do EOC problems and blue boxes from the CFAI texts, take a look at past mocks, leave ethics for the end (you can search for a bunch of threads about studying strategies…)
Just make sure you are pursuing the CFA for the right reasons (search several posts on here)
Last year the schweser materials became available the last week of October.
When I studied for Level I I began my studies in December (while working full-time). I thought the time table worked out well. If you are a full-time student you can probably afford to start a little later. My best advice is to track the time you spend studying and keep a calender. Some ppl here will disagree with me on that point, but I think it’s a great way to hold yourself accountable. Good luck.
Greenman’s Jedi Wisdom - don’t take it just yet. Wait until you have some of your finance classes under your belt. Once you’ve taken Intermediate Accounting 1 & 2, Basic & Intermediate Finance, and a basic Investments class, you should be well on your way to learning the vast majority of the material that is in Level 1.
If you learn all the material in those classes, then you should be able to breeze through Level 1 without much of a problem. (This assumes that you’ve taken statistics and econ as part of your BBA.)
my advice is drink heavily and enjoy college. worry about the CFA and the real world when you get done. College is the best 4 years of your life so enjoy it. Worry about CFA crap when you get out.
You can even start studying with using an old Schewer study guide!
Honestly you wouldn’t know much of a difference in context (use the year or two before, not from a decade ago of course), and you don’t have to spend so much money (i am assuming you are not a rich college kid).
I also wouldn’t register for the course just yet until you have looked at some books, because you want to know exactly how much time you can devote to it on top of yuor studies. The last thing you want is to fail at BOTH!
Other than that, in terms of studying, it’s just going to be any other exam, just a bit more comprehensive.
I would suggest buying the Standards of Professional Conduct book so you can start studying Ethics right away. This is like the bible for Ethics. Good luck and enjoy college.