I’m thinking about reading FSA last so that I can retain it better for the test. Do you all think this is a good idea? Will I need FSA for books 4-6? Thanks in advance.
I wouldn’t save FSA for last unless you’ve already got a strong grounding in the topic. It’s not the most intuitive of subjects and you’ll likely value having time to get oriented, practice, and review again later. If you decide to deliberately save anything for last, I think a 2nd pass at ethics is a strong way to finish because it’s the most obscure subject, most neglected by LI candidates, and is allocated the 2nd highest amount of points. Anyway, regardless of study order, try to retain all of the topics as well and equally as possible. All of these topics are in LII and they’re all harder, so you’ll pay later for any shortcuts you take now. Happy hunting.
Doing FSA last is a very poor idea unless you happen to have a CPA in your back pocket. That’s a big part of the test and the concepts are not entirely intuitive to some (read: me), so getting behind the curve could be fatal. If you’re worried about not retaining info then welcome to the club. There are going to be a lot of posts on here in May by people saying, “I just looked back at econ/quant/whatever and I don’t remember it!!! HELP!!!” You have to review what you learn as you go through. That’s the trick. Putting your head in the sand until the end and then cramming critical LOS is not the trick.
I’m about to start the FSA section, but based on what I’ve heard, it’s definitely not something to leave for the end. If anything, do Ethics last (i.e. it’s unique and distinct from all other material on the test). FSA is just so fundamental to so many other topics, earlier is better.
Thanks, guys. That could have been disastrous. Looks like FSA and I will be spending a lot of time together in a few weeks.
vbcfa, I remember this past October, when I completed my readings, I was excited it ended with Alternative Investments b/c it was a short session. I was completely worn out from the 4 months of reading and creating note cards. I don’t know what I would of done had I saved FSA to the end. I would of freaked out. Trust me, you will be going thru FSA probably 2 more times before the exam. Good luck.