I feel like I am forgetting the materials as I move on to the next sections. Any advice on how to retain this material that I went over? Also, I’m worried I won’t be able to memorize all of these formulas! There are so many, and professors in school always allowed formula sheets. Please help with any tips…
- Do problems (qbank or whatever you have) after each chapter. I did this after every LOS to make sure i understood what was going on 2) For LI i finished the schweser notes for the first time prob mid sept. I ended up going through it all again, and then once again for sections i was socring poorly on. each time through is easier to elarn the stuff. When i say go though it again, i dont mean just read. Gotta do problems, quiz yourself etc 3) Last month did tons of mocks, then reviewed every single one. This helps retention and see what you are doing poorly on. Also focused on ethics the last month. 4) lastly, flash cards, audio MP3s, or whatever you have - use it whenever you can. I had some stuff at work, and would randomly look something up that came through my head that i didnt remember. Im not saying study at work, but if for some reason the duration formula comes up to you and you dont remember it, look it up. Again, all helps refresh. As far as formulas, LII is more intense in that regard, so this will be good practice for LII. Lastly, dont cut corners. They way i thoguht about it, if im gonna suffer now, im gonna make sure that I suffer as much as possible and pass the exam than suffer a bit and then have to do it all over again.
I agree with Spanishesk. Questions, questions, questions. Problems, problems, problems. They will not only help you remember material, but they will also integrate your knowledge, help you think critically and problem solve, which will be very important on the exam. Also, if you know the method of how you best learn/remember, then choose that way. However, if you don’t, the more methods that you teach yourself (audio, hands on, rote memory, visual) the more and easier it will be to remember.
Im taking notes while reading on important material. Do the practice problems in CFAI and/or Schweser. When I finish a book, before moving onto the next topic, I redo all the EOC questions and score myself to know which sections need work.
To retain information organize your information in the form of flow charts, underlining the important concepts, highlighting the bullet points etc. Do this in your first reading and on your second reading the organized information will help you. To retain information well the sole thing is to read the material again and make sure when you do that the highlighted things will help you out in quickly skimming through the material.
I have encountered similar panic attacks during my preparation for Level 1 & 2. IMO everybody feels this way when stopping at some point and going back to the material you learned a few weeks ago. The key is not to panic as it is quite normal. The last two weeks before the exam are crucial. Finish your first revision before that and spend these two weeks going through the study sessions one final time(should be your second revision), EOCs and CFAI mock exam.
Level 2 candidate here, just passed Level 1 on my first attempt in June with no financial background or experience although I do have a Maths degree. I wouldn’t fret too much about learning all the formulas. I know that there are alot of them if you count each and every formula that is quoted in the text, but if you just focus on the important ones then it is much more manageable. How do you know which ones are important? I classify important as being the ones that are more likely to appear on the exam. After you work your way through Qbank or a few mock exams you’ll get a feel for which ones keep popping up. Spend the bulk of your time learning those ones so you know them inside out and don’t worry if you only know the rest in passing. For example, there are a TON of ratios in the FRA section, and yes any one of them could appear on the exam. However, is it worth spending all that time learning them for at most 1 or 2 marks? I think your time is best spent elsewhere and as you get closer to the actual exam you’ll probably start to think this way too as you run out of revision time.