CFAI beginer tips studying, during, initial, planning, guidelines

water2012

Hi,
Iam planning to answer CFA this June. Can anyone ple help me as to how to start studying , the books i should start with or the basic guidelines to proceed during the initial phase.

Thanks

homie

needhelp1700 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi,
> Iam planning to answer CFA this June. Can anyone
> ple help me as to how to start studying , the
> books i should start with or the basic guidelines
> to proceed during the initial phase.
>
> Thanks


Hi, I believe there are many prev threads on this topic. Take time to search and am sure u will find some tips!! I ve started my initial reading 5 wkd ago. Using schweser notes and completed SS 1,2,4,5 and doing the end of chapter tests from cfai books! Would continue fra and other topics. And since I find stats and prob'ity bit difficult, I decided to study at the end of my prep before mocks! Hope this helps. Good luck !

bluejazzy

Academic background ?

kmf229

Start with ethics. Page 1. Then read the rest.



Just read the curriculum (I'd start now), and then follow up with Schweser notes. Skip the text if you absolutely don't have time.

pacmandefense

Considering the short time-frame to the June exam, I would read Schweser notes only, solve EOC problems, practice exams, & mock exams.

What I did while preparing for CFA L1 was to:
A) Read through all Schweser notes 1 times
B) Made a Microsoft word file of all the formulas. I just copy pasted from the formulas sheet at the end of each Schweser PDF book, put it in a word file and printed it.
C) Reviewed the material 4-5 times with Schweser Secret Sauce.
D) While going about my review I took my own notes and then even added more notes as I read the secret sauce and went through practice and mock exams.

I've been currently studying for L2 and this time around I made the same word file, but I've started taking notes as I read through the Schweser notes instead of post reading.

My advise is to take notes while reading for the 1st time and leave space for adding additional notes when doing questions and reviewing. The material is very extensive and you are likely to forget a lot of what you read (i.e. forget minor but testable material in book 2 while you are currently reading book 5).

Plan on finishing your 1st review by end of March at the latest! you will require additional reviews. I cant comment on other course providers except for Schweser, so I would recommend:
A) Getting Schweser or Elan notes (which I have heard are good).
B) Get the Schweser practice exam Volume 1. I did not utilize Volume 2 because everyone told me that it was too caluclation heavy and not reflective of actual exam layout or difficulty.
C) Get the Mock exam which will be provided to you for free by CFAI as the date of the exam approaches.
D) Buy either the Schweser Secret Sauce or Elan 11th hour guide (which I have heard is good). Both these books are essentially the CFA material condensed into 200-250 pages; amazing for revising but not sufficient as a sole source of studying!

Just a heads up before you go on my advise, I am currently waiting for my L1 results which should come out today. Although I am very confident I passed, I think you can never be too sure with the CFA exam!

LokiDog2

To add to Kamisyeds post....
After FRA and Eco..I hit Quant as the formulae and concepts in Quant run thru PM, Corp Fin, FI and Equity...
solved EOC from CFAI and Schwesers...
Kept Ethics for last...

Wasteoftime

Elan's 11th hour guide and Elan's mocks are quite good. I would recommend them...