I am currently enrolled for the December 2011 CFA Level 1 exam. I am sorry if this has been covered but I did a search and couldn’t find any good advice on this topic. I am new to this site so I may have to define my search better. I am finding that in the text books there is a ton of material to cover and I intend to at least read and make some study notes on it all. But how much, if any, did anyone out there who passed the first level rely (heavily) on secondary study material such as Elan or Schweser. As well were the I appreciate any responses.
You are out of your mind to take on the test just on CFAI provided material. Schweser, et. al. provide excellent study aids that can halve the amount of time you spend preparing for the exam. For me, I did: Exam 1: CFAI (AIMR, actually) materials = 60%; others = 40% Exam 2: CFAI (AIMR, actually) materials = 40%; others = 60% Exam 3: CFAI (AIMR, actually) materials = 20%; others = 80% The study materials are better now. You can do really well on these exams using only third-party study materials.
good advice JDV. I would add that doing the CFAI end of chapter problems are a must. And attend a John Harris accounting workshop for levels 1&2.
I got some extra study material from Elan and found it helpful. I appreciate you putting down what you allocated to both CFAI and other study material. Thanks