When is everyone beginning to study? I was thinking of reviewing the materials over the next few weeks to stay fresh, then start again in January full time. Just wondering what others game plan was.
I failed (band 7) I took the test too lightly and made some really rookie mistakes. I am angry and my plan is ambitious but I plan on getting 100 on it next year. I ordered the books already from CFAI plan on finishing them between now and Jan. Schweser books and class Jan - May along with constant review of all questions on CFAI end of chapters stuff. Spend the last month making sure that I can write out an answer to every single LOS. I fear that if I wait until Jan to start I will forget a lot of whats still relatively fresh in my mind. If I put in 5-10 hours a week straight to jan I will be in great shape.
NJLVLIII Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am angry and > my plan is ambitious but I plan on getting 100 on > it next year. I like this plan.
I agree with NJLVLIII. I failed for the first time and I think it is a good idea to review the material now while it is still somewhat fresh. I used only CFAI and I think that was a mistake for me. I plan to order Schweser books this year and study both. My downfall was the Individual and Institutional IPS questions. I swear I should have gotten better than <50, but I guess I missed the boat.
I also finished in band 7. i started November 1 and thought i was prepared. Its going to be tough to find the balance between starting early enough and burning myself out. I simply must pass this time, as it took me two years to get through one, three years for two, and now two years for three.
Still feeling shellshocked. took me 3 attempts both at L1 and L2, this is my first attempt (and fail) at L3. Frustrated because I found the L3 material much more intuitive…usually at this time of year I start to make overly ambitious plans that are unrealistic, but I agree with the above that it’s probably worth it to keep it fresh, and lightly review throughout the fall without burning out. Especially since I was in Band 9 and could taste that passing grade. I might hit my '09 CFA books to review individual IPS, which is what crushed me this year even though I thought I nailed it. Good luck everyone. Looking forward to hearing everyone’s progress. Keep the faith.
Roth – I admire your dedication. It speaks volumes about you. I dont fear the burnout. I really am mad at myself. I felt that the test was very fair and very passable. I left off a question on the essay part (the SAMARUI one) because i wasnt 100% sure if thats what they were asking for and wanted to think about it then forgot to go back and do it. I thought q2 was unfair (the implied assets and liabilities) and I messed up the questions where the position was given in swedish krona and you had to convert it. I didnt catch the krona part and didnt convert.
Your right: I shouldnt fear the burnout. I should suck it up for one year and destroy the test next year. I’m ready to start studying tonight. Sorry fellows, I’m going to ruin next year’s curve!!!
Your right: I shouldnt fear the burnout. I should suck it up for one year and destroy the test next year. I’m ready to start studying tonight. Sorry fellows, I’m going to ruin next year’s curve!!!
Your right: I shouldnt fear the burnout. I should suck it up for one year and destroy the test next year. I’m ready to start studying tonight. Sorry fellows, I’m going to ruin next year’s curve!!!
Your right: I shouldnt fear the burnout. I should suck it up for one year and destroy the test next year. I’m ready to start studying tonight. Sorry fellows, I’m going to ruin next year’s curve!!!
Your right: I shouldnt fear the burnout. I should suck it up for one year and destroy the test next year. I’m ready to start studying tonight. Sorry fellows, I’m going to ruin next year’s curve!!!
Greetings gents (ladies?), this is my first post. I’m shell shocked too. I fell in the “9” bracket. This is the first time I failed. I dropped Ethics and Portfolio Managment- Institutional. I thought Ethics was my “ace up my sleave”. I can remember thinking I didn’t miss any of the ethics questions. I guess I was way wrong. I though the test was fair. Very passable. Matter of fact, I left thinking I was the most confident I had been vs. 1 and 2. Anyhow. Plans. I did Stalla for level 1, 2, and 3. I supplemented CFAI books along the way. I probably averaged 2-3 hours a day from January until test day. I’m not sure what else I could have done different but my gut tells me I should have focused more on the CFAI material much more. I’m currently debating if I should sign up for Stalla again or go with someone else. Perhaps only do CFAI books. I really don’t know. I don’t plan on touching any of this stuff again until late December, early January. I’d go nuts.
This was my first attempt at Level III, and I failed (Band 10). Needless to say, I am pissed, but will use it as motivation to absolutely crush it next year. I’ve heard people on the forum advise against starting too early at a risk of burning out, but I don’t see the harm in studying a couple hours a night starting in Sept or Oct at the latest. Like NJL said above, I’m going to try to finish CFAI texts by January, and go from there. I read through the Study Session outline last night to compare with last years, and I was surprised at how much I recalled when looking over the LOSs. I would hate to put off studying for another month or two or three and lose all that…it would almost feel like starting from scratch. I feel I’ve got a pretty good base already built up from studying for the 2009 exam, if I can just delve a little bit deeper this year, hit a little bit harder the topics that hurt me last year, and do the CFAI end-of-chapter problems, I think I should be fine. I think starting in Sept or Oct will allow me to do all this. I am going to rely on CFAI texts for the most part this year. I was pretty disappointed with Schweser last year…a point I made a couple times prior to the exam both on and off this forum. Starting early should allow me to thoroughly read all of the CFAI texts. I can supplement CFAI readings with last year’s Schweser materials, since I don’t see there being too many changes from last year to this year. The only thing I would be w/o is the QBank, but I don’t feel I got much use out of that last year. I was doing well in the QBank, but obviously it didn’t translate over into the exam. QBank is helpful at Level I, and Level II to a lesser extent, but I think its importance diminishes by Level III. That is just my opinion…others may feel differently. Another advantage to starting early is not feeling the crush closer to exam time. For Levels I and II and III I proscrastinated until 2 or 3 months until exam time, but then devoted every minute to studying. It didn’t hurt me at LI or LII, but finally caught up to me at LIII. I want to be able to spend time with my family in May for Memorial Day and my wife’s birthday. I don’t want to be stuck in the library while they are all at the beach. 2 years of doing that is enough. Just my $.02. Sorry for the long post, but I’m ready to absolutely destroy this thing next year. Just registered yesterday; when the curriculum arrives I’m going to sit down with a calendar and map out a good study strategy over the next 8 months or so…
My biggest problem with only CFAI books was that I felt there should have been more end of chapter questions for some of the topics. I think (for me) I need more practice on those IPS questions. Otherwise, I thought CFAI did a good job with the Economics, Ethics, Equity and Derivatives. I think I needed more practice on the immunization stuff in fixed as well. I paid for Schweser QBank, as I found this very helpful for Level II, but I didn’t think it was as worthwhile for Level III. I’m hoping that buying the Schweser books will give me the opportunity to practice more questions and shed some light on the topics that I struggle with. My main focus will still be CFAI, but Schweser as a supplement. I can’t wait to read those books all over again! At least LIII stuff is somewhat interesting though…
What would you review in the last month if you keep CFAI as main and schweser as supplement? Is not it hard to review the whole material around exam days? I am thinking of reviewing CFA book for the main material and do all ECO questions along with reading Schweser.
It is hard to review CFAI entirely before exam day; however, I usually take off 4 days of work prior to the test. By that point, I can usually skim through an entire book (or two) in a day or so to refresh myself of the concepts. Another downfall of mine this year was not budgeting my time properly - I only had time for one sample test about 5 days before the actual exam. Next year, I hope to take a couple practice tests the first few weeks in May.
One of my downfalls every year is the practice tests. I cant go through a practice test without looking to see if my answers are right.
I think I might order the CFAI books in a few weeks and then read them all the way through before the end of the year. Take a break for a month or so around the holidays and then work on problems and practice tests in 2010.
Just ordered the books. I cant believe I’m ready to do this all over again…