> You will miss things if you go only with Schweser. > Fact is that they condense the material to get you > far enough to pass, but will not cover everything. > If they didnt do that, there would be no need for > them so they just focus on what they think will be > the main topics covered. They may skim over some > of the smaller things, but it wont be as > comprehensive as using the CFAI materials. Highly agree. Not said often enough here, but I think those that rely only on 3rd party sources to get through Level I are shooting themselves in the foot for Level II; you might pass L1 but will be weak in foundation when it comes time to study L2 material.
defone Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’ve said before and will say it again: > > The material will be expectedly difficult for > anyone having no background in > finance/economics/accounting. That said, already > having good quantitative abilities from having > studied engineering will put you ahead. > > As for prep providers, my feeling is that one is > the same as the next, particularly with the > largely introductory Level I material. In my > opinion, you’re better off using them as > supplemental material rather than replacement for > the CFAI curriculum. I have two engineering degrees and a Ivy League business degree. The engineering background does very little to help one master the CFA material. Trust me, it’s apples and oranges. CFA will kick your butt. You’re in for a wild ride!!! Yeeee Hawwwww I agree with the comment above about Level 2…only use the prep company material as a supplement not as primary study material. I have never heard any of the Schweser or Stalla reps say…yeah, just use our material, no need to use the CFAI material. Never. They always reference their material as supplementry. W
soddy1979 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- I have a general business > undergrad. he does not - - i would say add at least 100 hours of studying to account for the general business and finance skills that he needs to pick up and master
WarrenB1 Wrote: > I have two engineering degrees and a Ivy League > business degree. The engineering background does > very little to help one master the CFA material. > Trust me, it’s apples and oranges. CFA will kick > your butt. You’re in for a wild ride!!! Yeeee > Hawwwww > You are right… The only time I felt my Math background helped me was last 4 pages of Probability Reading discussing Counting Principles which I just skimmed… Rest, almost every word is new (except for some formulas like a couple in time value of money which are high school level)… I feel I need to slog for 5-6 hrs every day if I am to understand the material fully and create a strong foundation for L2.
WarrenB1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have two engineering degrees and a Ivy League > business degree. The engineering background does > very little to help one master the CFA material. > Trust me, it’s apples and oranges. CFA will kick > your butt. Understood; I largelt meant that someone with an engineering background won’t be trying to learn stats for the first time, for example, as opposed to someone with no quantitative background whatsoever (i.e. pure arts major).
Hi Anish & Kiakaha and rest of the forum members. I have engineering background as well as I’m working in finance industry for past 5 yrs in technology role. I’m thinking of getting my CFA level 1, Is it too late to start for June 2011 exam? Regarding ELAN guides, is it elanguides.com site? I’m planning to register for exam tomorrow, please respond. I’ll keep in touch with June exam takers. -KK
It’s not too late man. Go for it and good luck.
i don’t think it’s too late as long as you have the time available to commit to studying (a couple hours a day, at least). In my opinion it’s important to: - make sure you draw up a study plan right from the start, so you don’t fall behind, and try to get through all the material a month before the exam so you have time to cram/do mock exams. - do the end-of-chapter questions in the CFA books as you go, especially for the calculation-heavy topics, to make sure you can apply the theories in practice. - don’t be tempted into skipping the smaller topics eg derivatives, if you look through the thread on pass/fail grades from Dec and the results breakdowns, lots of the people who failed bombed those smaller sections while almost everyone who passed (from what i saw) managed to scrape together at least a 50-70%. yep that’s the right website for elan. good luck and let us know how you’re going…
I feel the same - it is not too late. You are already working in the finance industry so you will be comfortable with the terms they talk about. My biggest problem is not the concepts which are easy, it is the terminology that is killing me. Make sure you study regularly though, since you will need to put in effort - a lot of it… Just say goodbye to your social life for the next 4 months and you should be golden. Make maximum use of your weekends… and as Kiakaha says - make a study plan and stick to it… (By the way, Kiakaha’s posts are generally very sensible and valuable and he sticks to the point, so follow him around… I do 
)
Thanks Kiakaha and princealley. That’s gives me some boost, I’m ready to jump in. With in next few days I’ll be regular on this forum.
Thanks Anish for valuable inputs.
Thanks anish will do my best to keep 'em coming for the terminology, maybe flash cards would help you? What kind of terms are you finding tricky? Good luck kkn006. study smart and make the best use of your time, you should be fine.
Kiakaha Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks anish will do my best to keep 'em coming > for the terminology, maybe flash cards would help > you? What kind of terms are you finding tricky? > > Good luck kkn006. study smart and make the best > use of your time, you should be fine. Actually, since I don’t have a background in finance, most terms are new… Marketable securities, trading securities, available for sale securities… tons of distinctions … so I need to go on the web, find out exactly what they mean and then get back to my reading… though I hope with time, things will prove and L2 should definitely be better in this respect!!!
Yeah I agree, there is a ton of terms to learn. I would definitely recommend flash cards if you’re having trouble getting them to stick. And writing them out (not just reading them)… Not so sure it’s wise to be doing a bunch of extra reading on the web. We have so much material to get through anyway and not all terms in finance have cast-iron definitions, you might get tripped up if the CFA definition differs slightly from the ones you’re finding on the web. stick to Cfa books/prep providers, I reckon…
That’s true. I already have more than I want on my plate… But since all terms are not explained in the material there and then, I am sometimes lost and hence check out Investopedia… One question - I am doing FRA right now - Readings 38 & 39… Is it the worst that the curriculum has to offer or is there even more ahead that will be murkier? Just trying to prepare myself mentally… On the bright side, now B/S and CF look beautifully clean and I cant believe I was hyperventilating in Quant Readings 8 and 9!!!
haha! hmmm yeah i really struggled with the tax bases stuff, for me that’s been among the toughest so far. was ok with leases once I got my head around it. if you come up with a good way of figuring out/remembering tax bases, let me know as far as the rest of the material goes – really depends on your background/whether you’re better at learning theories or doing calculations. i found most of corp finance pretty straightforward – lots of it repeats stuff done in other chapters eg time value of money etc, and it’s mostly practical rather than remembering random formula/annoying differences between ifrs and gaap, etc. Equity – again, quite straightforward, but quite a few formulae to remember. fixed income – i’m glad i had some prior knowledge of this topic because i think for people coming to it totally new, it would be pretty confusing. i’m actually enjoying derivatives and not thinking it’s that complicated, not sure why so many people freak out about it. maybe because the CFA books explain it really badly (in my opinion) – elan has been a lifesaver for this topic.
Having sat for the exam two months ago, I can tell you that taxes is the most difficult topic at Level I. Fortunately, the questions on the Dec exam were not difficult at all but I am not sure if that’s always the case.
Thanks Kiakaha and princealley… I feel much better about the rest of the material now… and ya, bonds and leases reading isn’t tough if you just give it a chance… on taxes, I still reserve my opinion…
Hi Guys, This is indeed a great place to be when thinking to embark for CFA charter. Alike many I also have no prior finance background actually I am from engineering background and just thinking to go for CFA for educational purpose mainly as I am not sure at this point what other benefit I would have. Driving factor behind this is basically financial awareness. I hardly understand financial markets and hence when it comes to investing I simply don’t know where to start and what to do. So here I am trying to improve my financial knowledge in form of CFA. Anish,Kiakaha - I have followed your comments and they are very valuable in terms of setting up the stage so far. Just a small request if you guys can share your motivation/intention behind pursuing CFA I would really appreciate it. From what I have concluded by reading few threads on this forum is that entire journey to CFA charter is about 800 - 1000 hours so just want to make sure that I am on right track to improve my financial awareness and investment sense if nothing else. I am planning to appear for level 1 in coming December by all means. Please let me know if this is one of the ideal ways to achieve what I mentioned above. Thanks a lot. Amar
Hey Amar, I am an engineer too… Though I haven’t been working in the engineering field for quite a few yrs now… I am doing CFA because I would like to switch careers to finance… I am sure it is a tough struggle ahead but we will see… as of now, I am focusing on getting my CFA done… I am sure everyone will have a different perspective in my opinion, doing CFA just to learn about the field might be too much effort… it is a lot of hard work… I would suggest to go ahead with it if you want to make it a career choice… otherwise, you can use financial experts to invest or work your way through sites like investopedia, do some online courses etc etc… but thats just my opinion… best of luck…