Question for those that have taken the exam already

CFA Level I
#1

A friend of mine who took the exam stated that its very important to read the CFA books, as opposed to just doing Stall or Schweser. He claims they love put questions on the exam that are not covered by the study courses and are only in their books. Any opinions or truth to this?

#2

Just use Schweser. And run a search function.

#3

ive not yet taken the exam so apologies for not being an expert on this, but the structure of the study guides contain responses to ALL of the LOSs listed on the CFA Level 1 curriculum (at least for schweser). there may be the odd term that is on the exam which is not covered by the schweser but in general they ask questions based upon the LOSs and your understanding/comprehension of those LOSs. that’s my two cents worth anyway. someone who has sat it might have a different opinion.

#4

i “sat it.” so heed my advice. use schweser.

#5

I have a friend who wrote Level 1 & 2 and passed using only Schweser. I’m writing L1 in Dec & only using Schweser.

#6

Passed level 1 2008 just using the only the schweser 2007 books.

#7

There are a few preconditions that need to be understood before totaly relying on Scheweser. 1.)You have some finance background totally or at least to some extent either in bachelors or masters 2.)You are working in finance domain 3.)Your concentration and understanding doesn’t detoriate rapidly under pressure 4.)You are good at remembering things and not the type who remember the basic formula and derive everything else(this is not tested but it relfects your learning style. 5.)You are studying for 5 6 months 6.)You are topper of your class. If any of the above criteria is true you can rely on Scheweser but if you aren’t anything of the above the CFA Books is the way to go. This is because if you are a totally new to finance and try to crack CFA L1 in 2/3 months using Scheweser and not the 730 GMAT type.Then you may have a difficult time passing L1.Passing rate of L1 in June 35% My 2 cents.

#8

i passed with CFAI materials, but I have some bckground from grad school. if you are new to the field, go with CFAI books. you have time, just shut the rest of your life for 2 months and make it happen

#9

studying cfai books is a waste of time. Read schweser and do all 4000 Qbank questions and you will pass

#10

I would also say schweser is the way to go, just make sure you know the material well