Band 10: Do I still need to buy Schweser notes? difficulty, background, accounting, starting

Elliotbay

Hi Everyone

I'm an Econ major and work in Finance so I thought, no biggie. I made the stupid mistake of starting studying for LI two months before June, and with no accounting background I had great difficulty with this section and its probably why I failed:

Multiple Choice
Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70%
- Alternative Investments 8 - * -
- Corporate Finance 20 - - *
- Derivatives 12 * - -
- Economics 24 - - *
- Equity Investments 24 - * -
- Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - - *
- Financial Reporting & Analysis 48 * - -
- Fixed Income Investments 28 - * -
- Portfolio Management 12 - - *
- Quantitative Methods 28 - - *

I made the mistake of not buying Schweser notes to study the first time round (I only bought the Schweser exam papers), but I think I managed to grasp most of the material with just the CFA texts and am now wondering if I should still spend $$ on Scweser guides this late in the game?

Here's what I think of my grasp of the topics: Ethics and Econ were a breeze. Quant was OK once I spent some time refreshing my undergrad studies. I messed up Derivatives and AI by spending a grand total of 2 days on both topics. I deal with Fixed Income at work and probably got overconfident. That and Equity Investments I believe I can handle with a bit more revision and practice. I found Corp Finance and Portfolio Management easy once I spent some time trying to understand it.

FRA was a mess and I didn't understand the main concepts e.g. DTA, fixed assets, capitalising leases properly when I took the test. This is probably the one subject that I would really benefit from having Schweser notes right now. I'm trying to make amends by going for an accounting class at work this week, and just spend a whole lot more time going through.

Is it worth buying Schweser notes at this stage? Or just Q Bank? Appreciate all advice. Thanks!!!

Jolyn

With 2 months preparation, failed in Band 10! wow that's great.

Strongly suggest buying Schweser notes, Q Bank and practice exams. Do as many mock exams as possible before the actual exam.

You should be in a good shape for Dec 09, if you start now. FRA being the highest weight age topic, drill down the topic in and out.

homie

Thanks Auro. I have also earned the dubious distinction of being the first person on my floor not to clear Level I on the first try. (

Do you think buying Schweser notes is still worth it at this stage? It looks like an awful lot to get through whereas at least I've already gone over the main CFA texts once.

As for Q Bank, can I check if you found it more helpful to use it as you finish each reading, or only at the end after you've covered everything? Wondering whether to purchase it now when I've only just started re-reviewing my weak topics, or at the end of my revision.

leadcfa

If I were in your position (with your explanation), I won't buy Schweser notes. I will rather use the CFAI textbook and study the FRA section...since that's obviously your main weakness.

I will suggest you get Schweser Q Bank though, so you can use it to test your knowledge of the material. DTA, fixed assets, capitalising leases...etc are not that difficult if you really double down on those areas.

I'll also suggest you finish the whole FRA section, then answer 100 Q Bank questions on it. Review your result, go back and focus on your weakness, then take another 100 Q Bank questions. You'll be teaching FRA by the time you repeat that process for several days!

With your June results, December L1 exam should be a breeze for you. See you around L2 forum in January.

Good Luck, buddy!

MonkeyBusiness

go on ebay or amazon and see if anyone is offering a used FRA book for shweser or stalla

trogulj

I used the Schweser practice exams but only used CFA book materials and passed easily. I think Schweser notes can be good but the CFA is trying to design the test to cater to their own materials.

kmf229

I would definitely buy them....you should be able to get a good deal from someone that passed in June....the same notes are used for December.

ftwcfa

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I've decided to review and update my own June notes, and work with Q Bank as I go along. I'll pass on the Schweser notes for now.

Can someone tell me if there is any difference between using online Q Bank and the CD-Rom version? I don't have a PC so can't use the CDR version.

On a side note I was quite astonished to discover the volume of illegal CFA Schweser downloads online. I know not everyone can afford the $$, but doesn't everyone remember the Code & Standards?

koba

I used & prefer the online Q Bank (Pro) because it enabled me to access the questions anywhere & anytime as long as I had internet access. With the CD-Rom version, you can only download the CD twice & access the questions ONLY on the two computers where you downloaded these questions. This equals limited accessibility. Not Good!

Micholien

^ +10

I would highly recommend Schweser Pro QBank for level 1, do at least 3,000 questions and refer back to the texts. If you don't want to purchase the study notes, you can still purchase the QB by itself. Make sure it's the online version as Damil4real mentioned. Another reason - the online version will automatically download any updates and errata everytime you log in. whereas the CD version will not.
I could swear I saw at least 50 questions on the real exam that were SIMILAR (not same) to the ones on the QB.