Everyone is different, I think this is one thing you can’t take advice on from others who passed the exam or are attempting this year.
Personally, I like to take things slow and spend my time, so it is a huge mistake to start later, and by late I mean Jan. I’ve already started, I am taking my time though and not rushing through books. The other thing, you don’t need to study something and then completely dump it till June. Why not keep on practicing item sets for what you have finished, while you are studying other topics in order to keep it fresh in your mind? Why don’t you revisit them later? Plenty of options if you start early.
Now I can ride bicycle without using hands. Can drink Starbucks coffee and eat sausage&cheddar sandwich simultaneously while riding a bike FUCK YEAh. Can your big 4, 35 or whatever do this? Highly doubt it.
From my perspective, I wanted to go into the exam as confident as I could be that regardless of the result I couldn’t have studied anymore, and in the end that’s what happened as I came out knowing another week of studying wouldn’t have changed anything. I started slowly this time last year reading the CFAI books (no more than 1hr a day) and gradually built it up over the following 9 months. There were people who passed and studied less but I wanted to give myself the best chance of making 2019 my last year of CFA.
This is ridiculous. I don’t know the details of this spat, but from a cursory glance it sounds very childish. Time to be adults and move on. This is insulting to the forum.
Wow. My thread really took on a life of its own. I’m touched.
Still torn between going with what I know has worked for me with the first 2 levels (1 - starting in Jan.; 2 - using Kaplan; 3 - making flashcards for the whole curriculum and then memorizing them all, because I’m insane) – versus changing my strategy because Level III is “different.”
So far sticking with what I’ve done in past is winning – mainly because I am not yet panicked about the exam, and I need at least a tiny bit of panic to focus
Audit experience doesn’t count as required exp. And you became CA 4 years ago, not within, so had time to study for CFA lvl 2. And what accounting firm run are you talking about?
My two cents - start now. Map out a plan. Get video tutorials and the CFA III materials from CFA. Can’t start early enough to make sure that you can absorb all of the materials.
To the OP, I started in October. I don’t think it was too early. I felt more worried about losing my study habits, or having my work commitments ramp up unexpectedly (as had happened right as I took Level 2).
I used about half Schweser at Level 3. The materials are shorter than for other levels, so the time penalty of reading the CFA Institute’s materials isn’t as bad. I got the Schweser videos, which were useful on my commute and dog walks. If you get the videos, look at some of the solved written questions from prior exams. Don’t look at all of them, it would take too much time. Maybe look at some where you were confused, or a few where the format seemed odd.
The package I got used the live class, but I only listened in on one. It didn’t match my schedule.
FYI, I went 3 for 3 in 18 months. I was at the last Level 3 exam that used the old scoring summary (June 2017). I estimate I passed with 10% to spare.
