My version of varundarji’s advice is really more aimed at the latter stages of prep. Some will disagree though, but I have no background in finance and I got a 50% on the CFAI mock the weekend before the exam. I was pretty upset and depressed but then I decided to do was: Break up the Schweser Practice tests into “strips” of 10-15 questions each and did them. I sat down and did the 10 questions from the CorpFin from Exam 1 then Exam 2 then Exam 3 etc. Then repeated with 10-15 questions from the FRA, and then the Fixed income. It saves time by allowing you to work on the weakness instead of spending 3 hours on an exam. The exams only test what’s on them and where you are right now - they don’t predict your score and the practice test score is irrelevant!!! Past performance is not a guarantor of future success. I think the above strategy is helpful in the later stages of prep. - Know GIPS, easy way to pick up points. - You have to know everything in the portfolio management CFAI text. It’s very easy to pick up those points, and it is not that long of a section to read. - Know your ratios and also think about how each ratio is changed by changing different things. - Know the DuPont decomposition. ROE = ROA*FinLev in addition to the expanded form. - Drill the quant section until you feel like a robot. And then keep going. Quant questions are not hard, but that doesnt matter if you don’t know what the question is asking. - Know put-call parity. - CorpFin - know how to price the stocks preferred and normal. Corpfin isn’t hard but you just have to drill the different problems over and over again. - In the last week read the Secret Sauce. If you don’t have it, try to make friends with someone online who does. 
- Sleep well before the exam. Seriously.
I am about 2/3 through SS5. I just received my Schweser Notes Package so up until Tuesday I was studying using the CFAI text. I find the Schweser notes are much more brief and lack the detail the curriculum does, but when going back to the questions I seem to do fine. If I had more time I would definitely say use the CFAI text, but there is no time to argue about time. This post has been very helpful for me. Could someone please break down what they think would be of more help in using CFAI text vs Schweser. I have a Finance and Accounting background so I have seen 90% of these concepts before. My plan is to go through the Schweser, answering all EOC questions in the CFA text, and then go through Schweser a second time. Then finally hit the QBank and practice exams hard.
varundarji Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dont rely much on the Schweser CD, I felt the > questions in it were way too simple… > If possible get last year schweser and other > materials and solve the ethics questions… > If you cannot do the Practice Exams…make it a > point you go through the questions from Ethics and > FRA… Thanks for the advice varundarji. Just to clarify, by Schweser CD do you mean the Qbank questions? If Qbank questions are not representative, apart from schweser Practice Exams, EOC questions & CFA sample/mock would you suggest using any other question material for practice?
AlphaBoy Wrote: > Hey praj , stop hitting on Horse Girl…jks > > I am done ethics,equity,AI and derivatives; I am > thinking of leaving econ.,quant and corp.fin. for > the month of May. In the meantime(feb,mar,apr) I > will finish off FRA and FI. I am having serious > trouble retaining ‘all’ that I have learnt so far. > Its been all schweser notes and qbank so far. > > Question for the guys who passed dec 2009 : How > were the exam questions in comparison to the EOC > CFAI questions? Similar ? more difficult? > easier(cant be!) Haha…I am too old and married to be hitting on girls. You seemed to have made good progress as well. when did you start?
I was just wondering if someone could tell me how many pages are in each Schweser, I downloaded them from bittorrent and just want to make sure they are all good. So far seem to be keep in line with the text. I am finishing Econ this weekend, have been reading each chapter in CFA text and then also going over the Schweser notes. Plan on using the whole month of May to do practice questions. But could someone please tell me those page numbers.
very helpful posts. Thanks guys. I have a question regarding Yields. Should we just memorize the formulas ? I mean some of them (in Quants) are confusing. for e.g there are 2 formulas for Bond Equivalent Yield. 1) HPY *(365/days to maturity) Cop. Finance 2) 2*effective semi-annual yield where EAY = HPY (360/t) Not to mention Money Market Yeld, Bank Discount yield…:S do we need to know hoe to get from one Yield to another ? I am not even in Fixed Income section yet, so I believe plenty more to come.
YES know all of them.
Hey I started in late august, I am through with CFAI reading except fixed income,derivatives & AI.Used CFAI as the main source and stalla as the supplementary source for reading.Plan on completing the reading part by 15-20th of Feb.After this, a deep review and then stalla passmaster and Q-bank.
praj Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > AlphaBoy Wrote: > > > Hey praj , stop hitting on Horse Girl…jks > > > > I am done ethics,equity,AI and derivatives; I > am > > thinking of leaving econ.,quant and corp.fin. > for > > the month of May. In the meantime(feb,mar,apr) > I > > will finish off FRA and FI. I am having serious > > trouble retaining ‘all’ that I have learnt so > far. > > Its been all schweser notes and qbank so far. > > > > Question for the guys who passed dec 2009 : How > > were the exam questions in comparison to the > EOC > > CFAI questions? Similar ? more difficult? > > easier(cant be!) > > Haha…I am too old and married to be hitting on > girls. You seemed to have made good progress as > well. when did you start? lol…I started mid october…I am kind of burnt out right now coz im also finishing up my final yr in undergrad…hopefully i’ll have enuf time this semester to squeeze in some FRA and FI. goodluck all.
@thegame The formulas you mentioned have got high testability. This pertains to Fixed Income and it is very important to practice these and remember the formulas for this exam. If you are failing to remember, that means, you need more problem solving… Once you practice 5 problems applying this formula, it isn’t that tough to remember. More so, understand the meaning of the formula. Let me know if you find any issues! @Guys & @Members of this thread. Why don’t we follow a study plan and have an online conference in regular intervals? Let me know if the idea is good enough…
I have got hands on to qualitative questions pertaining to Level 1. But, I intend to discuss them only upon some conference if possible. It isn’t wise to circulate them around to the whole world. Also, praj, Schwesers Pro QBank is a junkbox. Seriously it never helps for any exams. Don’t waste your precious time on it. But yes, the standard of Sample QBook is definitely of high quality.
I haven’t started at all, Schweser book should be arriving tomorrow though. Am I too late??
Hi Guys, I am new to this forum and found it very helpful. I am presently aiming for June 2010. I am done with Quant (schweser) for now and moving on to Econ this week. Please let me know if am going at a steady pace. If i finish the all notes buy april ending, do you guys think the rest of the time will be sufficient for practice books, workbooks ,qbank and secret sauce? Thanks for helping me out, I appreciate it. P.S - Any aspirants from Charlotte,NC aiming for June 2010? We can conference during weekends.
I just got through Ethics. Seems like I’m behind everyone. I’m thinking I might skip over much of FRA though since I just finished up the CPA two months ago.
Bigspydee - I am in Raleigh - testing in Richmond tho.
Hi all, I am also new to this forum, June 2010 is my first stab at the CFA exams… So far I have covered Ethics, Quant and Econ… and am part of the way through FRA now. I am studying from Schweser/CFAI and finding the schweser lectures a real help… I would recommend them to anyone who is thinking about buying study guides/notes. So far I’m finding CFA to be very similar in material to undergrad degree (finance/accounting) but with the whole degree rolled into one exam… How many hours is everyone studying each day/week at the moment?
Most of you are well ahead of the curve at this point. I hope however, that you have been thorough as well. Don’t let this post give you an excuse to slacken though!
I am trying to do two hours a night and four or five sat and sun. Some days less though. I am done ethics econ and half of quant. I just hope I can retain all this info!
Hello All I just got an account last night but I’ve been reading the forum for about a month. I’ve graduated from university last June with a HBSc (Bio/Psych) and I am going to study accounting starting in May. I wrote the GMAT in January to apply to study accounting. I’ve been studying the CFA since January 11. My plan is to read each CFA book first, followed by the corresponding Schweser book. So far I’ve done Ethics, Quant and half of FRS. I study everyday for about 5-7 hours and work partime twice a week. I find it is taking me a long time as alot of this stuff is novel to me, especailly definitional things from finance. Luckly I took introductory courses in ECO and Accounting but there is more to CFA material. I think its taking me a long time because I am making notes as I go because I dont want to reading the books over. Anyone have suggestions on whether I should speed it up or go at this pase. I am retaining alot of the information as I go because Ill spend 1 day on review once I finish half the book and making good notes. Side note - anyone know about Work Books from Schweser? or should I get the QBank?