Un(not under)prepared and seeking advice... something, practical, philosophy, background

RealEstate_CFA

Two days ago I remembered that I'm signed up to take the exam on the 6th. How did this happen? Well, I'm a philosophy major with essentially 0 background in anything business, and I thought it might be wise to expose myself to something a little more practical in case I didn't want to go straight to graduate school. I figured I'd spend the semester studying for it, and I started to but immediately found it impossible to simultaneously take seriously Kantean metaphysics and balance sheets. So I shelved the books and then forgot about them altogether.

Fast-forward to two days ago, I saw the books and had an "oh @#$%&" moment. I did a little research and saw that the Schweser books were shorter, so I picked those up. I figured I'd do best to study based on the topic weights, so I started with FR&A and I should be done reading it by midnight. The material wasn't too rough but I figure it's probably considered the easiest section of the lot. Regardless, I'm not going to be able to read the other 9 weights in their entirety before the exam. Do you suggest I:

A. Read all weights >= 10 cover to cover and burn CF, PMWP, Derivatives and AI
B. Focus on reading LOS's and doing the concept check questions, and then drilling on mock exams
C. Skip some particular (?) 10+ weight section due to difficulty
D. Something else (?)

I'm also curious what studying the ethics section is like. Do people recommend doing that last because it's pure memorization?

I'd appreciate any advice you guys care to throw my way. I hope no one is insulted that I'd still like to pass even though I haven't put in the work. I wish I had! At the very least I'll be lowering the curve for you guys.

Yours,

F***ed

thisisbrianly

Are you pulling our leg buddy? Sure sounds like it.

Anyway, my advise is to just do questions, any type you can find, do not even bother reading the material.

Let us know how it went.

koba

Dude at this point. Just take the mock exam and see what you get. Then you can see where you stand. But if I were you I would either not go (dont know if that counts as failing) or just go in and get a feel for the exams so when you take it next time you will have some knowledge of the process and question formating.

There is just to much matterial for you to do put a dent in the test on the 6th

Benjiko

Take mock exams and then review your answers. Forget formulas, concentrate on ethics and FRA and don't sleep......ever.

soddy1979

Thought I'd give an update of where I'm at now. Just finished a Schweser mock exam and got a 72.5% "adjusted". I say adjusted because I haven't studied ethics yet so I skipped those questions and just re-weighted the rest proportionally.

Obviously my score isn't that meaningful because I removed the second biggest weight, but it gives me hope because it's not completely inconceivable that I could pass on Saturday. Also, by removing ethics I've actually putting higher weight on my weakest areas (Derivatives, PM). I've just really got to nail Ethics.

As for my method, it has been simply to read, read, read. I tried to follow peoples advice and just start drilling on questions but it was absolutely ridiculous, I was either going to be reading answer keys (completely meaningless to me) or the curriculum and I just decided to go with the curriculum. I try to answer a few of the questions after each chapter to make sure I'm absorbing and then I just move on.

New question: for ethics do people recommend Schweser or the CFIA book? I'd like to learn it thoroughly but time is an issue obviously because I want to actually do questions tomorrow because the mock probably represents 80% of the question volume I've done thus far. I've also heard people say the Standards of Practice Handbook was well worth reading. Opinions on that? I probably haven't got the time...

dcfox83

Read the CFAI text for ethics. Run through Schweser after you do that. 80% in Ethics is not a difficult task. Just be objective in your thought process.

RobertA

Are you serious? you studied for one week, and have no finance background, and you score 72.5%?

Makes me feel like giving up!

marsilni

Professional and educational backgrounds certainly do aid in the retention process. My undergrad degree is in finance and I currently work as an equity analyst. Not only doing I routinely encounter stocks on a day to day basis but I occasionally do some fixed income research for clients. Asset valuation is certainly a strength for me. I see where you're going though, someone who has an econ degree isn't really at much of an advantage due to the wide scope of the subject material.

Good luck

sdada

Unf@!#%ing believeable. Dude are you sure you don't have a brain tumor like that John Travolta movie Phenomenon.

If you are telling the truth may I suggest something. Don't waste your time with finance go work for NASA or something where you can do some real good.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at Friday, June 5, 2009 at 09:01AM by Jaffels.

Ionutzakis

Yah, join the Obama Administration. Dude, this is my 3rd time taking after frying my brains out for the past 2 times.

You make me feel dumb...