I recently registered to sit in on the Level 1 exam in June up here in Chicago. I’m happy I found this forum (a while back and have been a ninja reading posts etc…) and equally happy to be a part of it now. So of course I will have to ask the age old question which has probably been asked countless times. Is the CFAI material enough or is it recommended (by seasoned vets such as yourselves) to also use the Schweser material?
Use Schwayze as your main material…its quicker and enough. Use CFAI when there is something you dont understand as it is likely to have a good explanation somewhere, also use the questions in the back of the CFAI books.
I used Schweser as a suppliment, and the Schweser 3 day seminars as my call to arms, and the start of the sprint at the end of the marathon. The amount of time I spent studying comes out to $20,000-$30,000 in wages, so I felt no need to cheap out on the material.
Schweser dropped the ball again with Taylor Rule (Econ) and Pensions (FRA) in 2013 Level II. Having recently passed Level II, I’d suggest you study from Elan notes as your primary material and supplement it with summary and EOC questions of CFA curriculum.
Use Evernote and create a notecard for each LOS and take notes on the respective card. After your 1st pass thru using Schweser or another provider, you’ll notice some of your cards are blank - go and cover them using the CFAI books.
Also, do the end of chapter questions in CFAI texts and their mocks.