Hi everyone, as the subject says, im retaking Level 1 in December 2011 for third time I was quite confident that i had passed it this time, but it turned out that i was borderline but didn’t pass. I had a score band 10 this time and i was very confident with the material as well as the time management. Although i have already registered to resit as i will not give up until i pass, still i would like peoples’ opinion whether i should reattempt or not My most important question though is regarding my studying technique. I have calculated how many hours i will be able to study in total and they sum up to 410 hours or so. So, what should be my studying technique? Should i go over the material again through the study guide or text books? Should i just practice with the qbank? Should i take lots of mock exams? Please advise people as i’m really confused in how to tackle the level this time. Thanks a lot.
It’d be helpful to know how you have studied in the past, in addition to how much time you spent.
Level 1 strategy is really do lots and lots of questions. Given that you have read the materials, I would do any questions you can find. You also asked if it’s worth re-sitting again. Remember, this is only the level 1 exam and there are more to go. So you better ask yourself it is worth going through this 3 times, if not 4-5 times more. Additionally, being in Band 10 you have a decent grasp of the materials, most candidate fail to realize there are many traps in the questions, unless you read it twice and know your material, you will always fall for the false answer that looks right.
410 hours gives you more-than-enough time both to review material and do a ton of questions. I would go through the material again, answering EoC questions as you go along, then hit the mocks, past papers and Qbank hard closer to the exam. As a motivating factor, I failed level 1 twice, passing on my 3rd attempt after two very half-hearted attempts and then one-shotted lvl 2. All is not lost!
Wow, thanks everyone for the prompt reply ! What i’ve done until now, i went through the schweser material and did everything (reading, questions, EOC problems etc) and then i did just the questions from the curriculum, i didnt go through the material from the text books… (i dont know if this is the right way, and if you have any other suggestions for study guides other than Schweser please tell me ! ) . After finishing all these, i used the Qbank for lots and lots of questions, practise exams etc. And i tried to review all my weak points through the questions. @whystudy:I agree with you and at the moment i am willing to spend lots of time to get the CFA, because the way i see it, the potentials and benefits that arise from being a CFA charterholder are much greater and longer lasting than the time it will take you to pass it. So…fingers crossed ill finish it in the coming 3 or 4 years! mpeskett, thanx! it is a motivating factor and i agree with you! Oh and, what’s your opinion on email study groups, and how do these study groups work exactly? I dont know if i should ask this question in another forum, if yes just dont answer it! thanks a lot people, joining the analystforum is the best thing i did !
Bro. All the best for your resit. Before you do anything wait and try to figure out the reason for your failure! Since you spent quite a great deal, 410 hours of study then what was the cause of the failure? If the cause isn’t related to your study or the technique then there might be a psychological factor! The exam isn’t hard but it’s tricky. Often times the option which you choose, you assumed to be correct proves to be the incorrect one and the one which you fizzle out immediately, is the right one!. I would recommend you to highlight your weak areas and go through them. Use the Curriculum where you find difficulty in other helping material. Don’t be afraid off the exam and read to learn and to attain excellence. Spend more time on Ethics, FRA, Fixed Income, & Equity. While you give your first reading try making bullet points, underlining the important lines and making pictorial representations to grasp the things. For instance I made a T chart for USGAAP & IFRS to compare their alternate accounting treatments. As far as economics is concerned go through the text, leave out the graphs they are very rarely tested and repeat the chapter end summaries. For Derivatives don’t spend too much time on understanding the complexities rather retain the statements especially the ones related to Covered Call and Protective Put. Their chapter end summaries would be perfect to retain. Do Ethics Standards part from Curriculum and differentiate the recommended and required procedures. For GIPS use the Schweser notes. For motivation factor; I had no background in finance and started off doing Level 1 in 2nd week of February 2011. I passed in the first attempt with above 70 in all exams following these tips and techniques. Last but not the least revise daily; obviously you can’t revise whatever you’ve learned in one day! But on daily basis do revise a part of what you’ve read. If you want to check that whether you are grasping or not; the simple way is to note your time of revision. If you give first reading in 2 hours and the next time you revise it and you are giving 1.5 hour then you are on the right direction. All the best for your quest!
Hmm, given the way you studied the last time (Fully covered Schweser material and hit up Q-Bank) I think you studied correctly and just got a bad break (band 10 is pretty close). That being said a few general tips would be 1) manage your studying so you are accelerating in terms of pace and study hours as you approach the exam. By the final month you should be fully immersed the material so it’s all right there in your brain. Sometimes people either study hard then back off, or study at a constant pace, I think this is not as effective because you just can’t remember stuff from 4 months ago to the same level of detail as you would if you studied lightly for 2-3 months then immersed the last 1-2 months. For LI I studied 6 weeks, but I crammed like 400 hours into that time while working full time. I passed, because for me cramming is great. The way I did it was pretty stressful and I wouldn’t broadly recommend it, but I still think a ramp up at the end is pretty key. 2) Keep hitting the q-bank, that’s always really effective for L1. 3) Pay attention to details in questions, missing details is usually how people get on band 10. 4) You may want to consider covering the CFAi materials, they’re more in depth and you’re going to need that strong base for LII. However, reading them takes forever. If it’s not worth all the time to read them, I would still advise you to read the ethics portion of the CFAi texts and FOR SURE, DO ALL THE CFAi end of chapter (EOC) questions. The CFAi EOC questions are much, much better than the Schweser ones, unfortunately there are less of them. I usually do the CFAi questions once, highlight the hard ones and then later in my review redo all the highlighted ones. 5) Take the CFAi quizes early. They’re great proxies for the actual exam and will give you early feedback to work on. A major mistake people make is waiting too long to take the quizes cause they’re afraid of a bad score.
Thanks everyone, you’ve been a great help. Thanks for all the tips and advises and motivation you gave me, i’ll make sure i follow them. I’ve started my preparation, so we’ll see how it goes… ! Thanks again !
I agree about just hitting Qbank. To pass L1, you can do thousands of questions to get by. hit it hard. spank it.
Just to play devil’s advocate (rather than be a cheerleader)… why are you taking the CFA? Is it necessary for your current role? Level 1 is by far the easiest of the three levels, so you should take a moment to take a step back. Granted you are close to passing, but the concepts in Level 1 are building blocks to level 2 and 3 and if you can’t master them you’ll likely have similar (and probably greater) issues with those levels. If it takes you 2-3 times to pass each level, you really have to start asking yourself if there isn’t a more productive way to reach whatever your end goals are (the CFA Charter isn’t a magic key). Either way, best of luck…
texcfa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Just to play devil’s advocate (rather than be a > cheerleader)… why are you taking the CFA? Is it > necessary for your current role? Level 1 is by far > the easiest of the three levels, so you should > take a moment to take a step back. Granted you are > close to passing, but the concepts in Level 1 are > building blocks to level 2 and 3 and if you can’t > master them you’ll likely have similar (and > probably greater) issues with those levels. If it > takes you 2-3 times to pass each level, you really > have to start asking yourself if there isn’t a > more productive way to reach whatever your end > goals are (the CFA Charter isn’t a magic key). > Either way, best of luck… Horsesh*t. Yes level 1 provides the building blocks, but once mastered, it is poss to one-shot lvl 2. Me: Lvl 1: Fail, fail, pass Lvl 2: Pass
It is possible, but you should take the moment to determine what obtaining the CFA Charter will really do for you. I passed all three on my first try, but that doesn’t do anything for the OP. My sole basis for my post was to tell him to take a step back and think (something worth doing at this stage). Not sure why telling someone to think should be viewed with any hostility.
mpreskett Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Horsesh*t. Yes level 1 provides the building > blocks, but once mastered, it is poss to one-shot > lvl 2. > > Me: > > Lvl 1: Fail, fail, pass > Lvl 2: Pass I don’t know why you keep emphasizing the fact you failed L1 twice, and passed L2 on the first try. A blind squirrel stumbling across a nut. It happens, but on the vast majority of people, L2 is the killer
I have failed L1 once and will retake June 12, as it fits my work schedule better. To texcfa, this is what I am worried about (L2). I am confident I can tweak my study habits and handle L1, but L2 seems to be a wild card. I know folks who have “easily” handled one and stumbled hard on 2. I am guessing you attribute this to the building blocks deal or do you think format of the exam adds to the difficulty. Gotta love the time commitment and uncertainty associated with the Charter!
I have two suggestions for you. First, read the curriculum. Nobody ever does it and it is boring as hell, but it will help. Then, re-read the Schweser books and do all of the problems. Make sure you know the material inside-out. This will help with Level I and the other two as well since it is a cumulative exam series. Second, go slow. Make sure you read the questions and all of the choices before you choose and answer. The test is designed to trick you, and they are very good a it. I know it sounds simplistic, and it is, but it is the best way to pass. Read the material that the CFA gives you, read the study guide, do the questions, go slow. Think of it this way, you are at a huge advantage over everyone else taking the test with you. You will know the material better than anyone should, and that will set you up to kill Level II and Level III. Good luck!