The problem of retaining the material material, studying, problem, reading, decided

Gypsy

During May I was studying Economics with Curriculum, made all EOC and was sure that Eco would be my strong point. However, it did not prove to be the case. Not long time ago I decided to test myself with Elan Practice Questions and found that I was nowhere. Average score was from 50 to 70% depending on topic. I really spent so much time on Economics from Curriculum and did not expect such results.
Is it worth reading iy for the second time for example? However, it is impossible to go through Curriculum twice I suppose. So how to fight with this “material retention” problem?

jmh530

And another thing that concerns me, guys, is Fixed Income. How long will it take to learn it from scretch? In the university I did not have classes on fixed income at all.

yodacaia

I’m probably not the best person to ask about economics (even though I’m pretty sure I passed in June I still struggled with that area).
Fixed Income, however, is something I do feel I can advise you on. A lot of Fixed Income overlaps with Quantitative methods (discounting cashflows in particular). If you can get a strong grasp of Quant first then Fixed Income shouldn’t be too difficult.
On top of this you will only have to learn a few more equations and theory. It’s worth 12% of the exam and is easily one of the best sections to gain easy marks in considering how little material you need to learn for that 12% (same goes for Quant actually!).
How long will it take to learn from scratch? This ultimately depends on the individual. Read through the material and the examples in your study guide and you’ll get a rough idea on how long you will need to spend practicing questions to learn it.
FIxed Income is one of the easier sections of CFA Level 1. Don’t worry yourself too much about it and just get on with it.

bleach

Thanks for your advice!
I appreciate it a lot.
I have almost finished FRA with Curriculum and then start Quant with Elan. Is it okay if I do not use Curriculum for Quant?
And then since mid August till the end of September I will study Fixed Income&Derivatives.

Walex

You pulled all the information in your subconscious mind, this big dark area.
And it’s not on the surface now.
However the material will click when you do the following 2 things:
1. Briefly revise the study session
2. Do tests/mocks relating to this study session immediately after revising it.
That’t how it works.

defour44

You cannot possibly expect to score perfectly just after finishing your first read. There is an insane amont of material to go through so you tend to forget what you studied as you move on to next subject. Retention only comes when you put in more time and effort to revise the material and to practice the questions.
I agree reading the curriculum for the second time would really be a pain in ass, and that’s where these study guides come in handy. Their content is more exam-focused and I believe they do an efficient job in preparing you for the big day!

John10

nzhukov

Sorry, I’m not that rich to buy 3rd party providers’ stuff.

Muddahudda

If you can’t afford 3rd party study materials, per the attached link you’ll find a great study program using on the CFA material.
http://www.qc4blog.com/?p=905
Warren

Swanand

I have just adjusted a little bit my “studying strategy” ( well, for me it’s called strategy). My finance background is not sufficient so I am advised to put much more time and efforts than on average. Recently instead of going directly to new reading sessions as usual, I spend about an hour listening to online lectures which are easily found on youtube or the likes. I find it really useful because those help me to retain readings contents much better.
Like many people here, I only have about 2.5 hours to study in evenings during weekdays. Sometimes I feel extrememly exhausted after long work hours, so video lectures seem to be more effective prior jumping in texts. In weekdays, I try to cover 3 readings in the CFAI curriculum and in weekends, I revise those 3 readings with Schweser notes and do EOC , Concept checkers, and sometimes even Q-bank if I have enough time or if I am in a good mood ). By the way, I have a small study group that meet up every Sunday evening. Each of us is assigned to present one reading to other members of the group. When you have the obligation of explaining something to people, you will be pushed to understand it  better , I think. We rent a classroom with a white board so that we can draw graphs, write equations, etc…. to explain stuffs and help one others understand materials better. That’s how our group works and personally, I find it quite effective for material retaintion. This way of studying might sound a little crazy for some …but regarding my background and my fear of failing the exam, I think I need to follow it

hw0799

Do practice problems and mock exams and whatever you can find until you can’t breathe!!!!!!!!!!! And do some more!!!!!!!! It’s funny only because it’s true =D
Good luck!