Im halfway through reading the schweser books for the second time and am noticing that my retention of info hasn’t been great (since i first read them). im using secret sauce and making notes on that which I plan to use as my memory guide during the revision phase. however, im a little concerned about how im going to remember all this info im reading & testing myself on in 3 mths from now! anyone else feel the same?
if you’re going through the schwesser books for the SECOND time, maybe you didnt read them correctly the first time (know that ignorant to when you started studying) slow down and make sure you can do ALL of the problems in the text before you do your re-read.
Just keep plowing through the information. I started studying in April, and felt the same way a couple months in. I just kept reading and re-reading the material, and every time you pick more up. I try to “visualize” all the concepts to really understand why things happen. Also, I broke my plan and started toying with the qbank already and that is a great tool to pick up random definitions. I’ve been running the tests with answer+explanation after I answer, so I can dig into every problem I miss or dont really get.
What I do after each reading is draw a mind map without referring back. Recall is the hardest test of comprehension. Answering the learning outcomes also helps my retention.
jrbbikerx Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > if you’re going through the schwesser books for > the SECOND time, maybe you didnt read them > correctly the first time (know that ignorant to > when you started studying) i dont necessarily agree with this. you retain some things obviously, but with exception of those lucky sods with a longc term photographic memory forgotten a bit of it since i first looked 2 mths ago.
jrbbikerx Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > if you’re going through the schwesser books for > the SECOND time, maybe you didnt read them > correctly the first time (know that ignorant to > when you started studying) i dont necessarily agree with this. you retain some things obviously, but with exception of those lucky sods with a longc term photographic memory forgotten a bit of it since i first looked 2 mths ago. thanks all
I have use this method for all sorts of study situations and it has worked for me. I read everything, trying to get a good feel, but not focusing on retention as much as just getting a birds eye view. In school, I would go through the homework problems, but in this case it would be the cfai text questions. It will expose major holes in your comprehension, but force you to find the answer. The stuff that you already understand will be exposed also, sort of leading to a mapping of your functional areas. Now you know A)where everything is in the reading material and B) your strengths and weakness, plus a thorough rereading of material you were weak on. Now start practice testing and refine what you know. This may be totally non functional for others, but has worked well for me successfully and repeatably in the past.