hi all, i can’t afford all the fancy expensive study notes/books from third party vendors, so what are the important concepts to concentrate in areas of economics, statistics, accounting and other key financial formulas/calculations for the level 1. thanks.
cloud, your question as phrased basically cannot be answered. Only the LOS dictate what you’re expected to be able to accomplish to pass the exam. Go here to review the LOS: http://cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/resources/studysessions.html Here’s the answer to the question you should have asked, which is how does one effectively prepare for a CFA exam with limited resources? You’ll receive the CFAI curriculum by registering for the exam and its two biggest deficiencies are: 1) It takes substantially longer to read than third-party notes, and 2) It may not provide enough practice problems at the end of readings and only comes with one practice exam from CFAI So the biggest barriers for you are time and practice. You can plan ahead on the time issue (you may need more than four months total). For practice, do all the end-of-chapter questions more than once and see whether you can scrap together enough money for either a question bank from Schweser/Stalla or at the very least more of the CFAI practice exams (of which I think there are 5 total (including the one you get w/ registration), $50/ea., but you’ll have to verify this). Investigate scholarships through CFAI and/or local chapters. Maybe even some of last year’s notes/practice exam books can help (check this forum and eBay for a good buy). Be resourceful, you can pass this exam just fine. Good luck.
cloud also another fact is that the CFA Program is much less about ACCOUNTING in that sense of the term, more about Analysis of Financial Statements. Yes, a little bit of accounting comes in, but it is more of rigor in analysis that is required. How interactions happen, what happens due to the interactions, which is definitely not something taught in accounting classes. So even though you might know the accounting part cold, and it makes perfect sense, the other aspect is what is tested on the exam. CP