Dec 2011 CFA candidate level 1 - Most and least time consuming sections 2011, background, registered, already, average

suxiaoxiao

Hi Everybody,
- I have registered for CFA level1-December 2011 and have no financial background. I wanted to know from people who have already appeared level 1 the most and least time consuming sections for them.
- Reason - I want to track my progress.
- I read CFAI introduction which says keep an average of 15 hours per study section with some sessions consuming more time than the rest. I have already spent more than 20 hours and still not through the Study session 1 of Quantitative Methods.
- I am following both Elan and CFAI guides concurrently as I am not able to understand concepts fully if I just follow elan study notes may be it is because I don't have any financial background.
- So here I am requesting all of you who have appeared to share their experiences. I would appreciate if people can list the approx number of weeks/hours they invested. Based on what - I have notice when I glanced through the entire material once and based on my research on some threads of this forum I have arranged the sections in the descending order of their time consumption/complexity as below :

1) FRA - Most time consuming - Weeks/hours?
2) Quant
3) Economics
4) Fixed Income
5) Corporate finance
6) Derivatives
7) Ethics - Least


Please please do share your experiences . I really appreciate your help.

Thanks a lot.
AN



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 05:22PM by a.nayak.

kd26gioi

Thanks krazykanuck. That is the sole purpose of my thread I knew there is something missing in my approach or I am too slow. Can you please mention approximately how many weeks/hours you spent behind each of the section. I also agree that it will differ from person to person based on their background. I hope people posting on this thread will mention at least if they had any financial background or not.
Thanks,
AN

cyber21

I don't remember how much time I took on each section. I didn't keep detailed records of that.

Here is what I can tell you though: I didn't take anywhere near as much time as CFAI recommends, but I also just completed a graduate degree in finance, and my undergraduate degree was in finance and accounting with an economics minor. So basically there was very little on the exam that I hadn't seen in school.

sdada

AN,

This is a good thread you have started. Even I come from a background other than Finance .. and even I was wondering the order of importance of subjects. The responses to ur post will help me too.
So this Elan's material is much in details is it ? Coz I am followinf on CFAI material ..and have to take help of google so often to understand lot of financial concepts and terminologies ..
How are going about it ?

Question to KrazyKanuck : is CFAI material enough to clear level I exam ... or do i need to refer to something else also ?

scr879

CFAI material is good enough for all 3 levels.Some people work full time hence may not have time to study the voluminous CFAI material. Hence the need for prep providers like Schweser, Elan, Stalla etc. I have used elan and found them to be very useful for Level 1. Ethics studied exclusively from CFAI text.Used their Question bank, did CFAI EOC twice, 2 Elan mocks and CFAI mock.This was more than enough for me.

The key to passing Level 1 is practice practice and practice questions from whichever prep provider you choose. If you have the time and the inclination you may choose to study only from CFAI text.Start early. study everyday. Good luck.

dmar

The order of study of subjects is an individual choice. I studies Ethics off and on and revised in detail in the last 2 weeks. Any earlier and i wouldn't have remembered.For the rest i studied in decreasing order of topic weightage. where the weightage was the same i chose the subject i thought would be more difficult for me to study.

You choose your own method.

JRossSter

As someone without a finance degree, quant and FRA took the longest. Quant because of the process of getting my head re-engaged with math, and FRA because there is a truckload of crap to remember and a lot of small differences between IFRS/GAAP that really do just come down to rote memorization.  

You should make yourself a study schedule, you need to get through all the material with a month for review/mock exams.  

Good luck!

waldziuchna

@kiakaha may I ask how is the finance job market at new zealand right now? I graduated with a master in finance from massey around 2 years ago but never actually looked for work home, i immediately moved overseas, but i am planning to return home to look for work in anything related.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Monday, June 20, 2011 at 07:13AM by mr_moose.

dontknow1987

I am juicing every section until I have an understanding of it and then will come back to it on my final month for review.

I'm in the same boat - very little to none financial background.

I am reading the CFAI book, reviewing the same chapter on Kaplan which is shorter and then go on the video and slides to finish. Take 3 tests and have so far done 75%, 85 % and 73%. follow the percentage that the CFAI gives out on how much each section weighs on the exam.

You have a lot of time, be systematic, don't do drugs, alcohol with moderation, red bull or coffee in moderation, get a girlfriend / boyfriend and study continuously while doing test exams (short ones on each chapter)...

MythosHF

Elan, schweser etc are good enough for all subjects except Ethics IMO. Do the CFAI EOC. Its a must.Quant and FRA took most of my time.Keep at it till you understand the concepts.You have time. I suggest doing CFAI EOC immediately after completing a reading to consolidate your understanding.