Question about Study Materials

Hello everyone, I will be entering my final year of Undergraduate Finance in the upcoming Fall. I plan on taking the Level 1 CFA exam in December and I had a couple questions about the exam prep material. First, I’ve read on the forums that a lot of people are happy with the CFAI study materials. Do these come with the cost of registering for the exam or do you have to purchase them separately? Will these notes be enough to pass the test or do you recommend buying some other notes (Schweser)? Is it worth to cost to take a class with Kaplan or Stella, or should self-study be enough to pass? Thanks for your answers.

I think you can find a lot of answers doing a search through the forum… CFAI books go into depth on the subjects, but can be hard to narrow down the learning objectives from. My experience with Schweser has been very good as it is very directed to what you need to know. Also, I just finished my undergraduate in Finance and I recieved a very generous discount from both Schweser and the CFAI for the study materials and the actual exam. Make sure you check that out…Schweser material costs only $100 instead of $600.

I think you will get the best responses after June 7th, atleast a detailed one from me!

Haha. Yeah, I just realized that you guys will be taking the test in a couple of days. Any answers could be helpful, though. Good luck on the exam.

Just my opinion, but you obviously can’t go wrong with having too much different material to study. It would all come down to what your financial situation is and if you have the extra money to purchase extra study material. I have found going through the Schweser workbooks, then referencing the CFAI study material for more in depth explinations really helped me to pick up most of the material quicker. Then I used Schweser’s Q-bank to pinpoint my weak areas so I am focusing on the most important topics that will allocate my time most efficiently. I have heard good things about Stalla too, but I haven’t used myself so I can’t say for sure. I have studied while finishing my undergraduate degree just like you are planning on doing so I know your situation. Just make sure to put enough time aside each week on top of your studying for school…

Thanks for your response. I’m willing to spend enough on the test to comfortably pass, but I also want to be cost efficient. Does anyone else have experience with undergraduate discounts? I had never heard of them before and I can’t find any information for a discount from my school (University of Texas). Thanks.

If any of your professors have their CFA charter, they can sponsor you. I think they can sponsor either 4 or 5 students. It helped that I went to a smaller undergrad school so there wasn’t 50 people trying to get sponsored for the CFA exam. If your finance department doesn’t have any professors that have their CFA charter, I don’t think you can still get the discount, but it would be worth checking into. CFA Institute waives the initial $400 fee for people registering for the first time and the exam is $200 if I remember right. Schweser sold their essential pack for $99.

DAMN I wish I knew about that discount! Where the hell was I?