former

I failed Band 5 last year using only Schweser and only end of reading questions.

This year I read through the CFAI text once and right after read the Schweser to re-enforce concepts.

The last month of studying I just reviewed using the Schweser and did all the examples in the CFAI text (I think this is crucial) and all of the end of reading questions again. I also went over all of the old tests... I believe the old IPS's are the most helpfull as all the other stuff changes around.

Essay Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70%
1 Portfolio Management - Individual 35 - - *
2 Portfolio Management - Institutional 25 - - *
3 Portfolio Management - Institutional 24 - * -
4 Economics 14 * - -
5 Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 15 - - *
6 Fixed Income Investments 18 - * -
7 Portfolio Management - Risk Management 20 - * -
8 Portfolio Management - Monitor&Rebalance 17 - - *
9 Portfolio Management – Performance Eval. 12 - - *


Item Set Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70%
- Alternative Investments 18 - - *
- Equity Investments 36 - - *
- Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - - *
- Fixed Income Investments 36 - - *
- Portfolio Management 18 - - *
- Portfolio Management - Individual 18 - * -
- Portfolio Management - Risk Management 18 - * -

former

I didn't use anything else but CFA Curriculum.I just did all the EOC questions.I started my review from April and completed by June 4th. I feel excited that I was able to pass.I didn't do any practice exams or sample exams.I just make sure I understand every knowledge points in the curriculum - not just calculation but knowledge points,i.e. adding security to the portfolio and how to judge whether it should be added or not and actually there was a question on that this time.

The key I think is to understand the knowledge points fully without any questio marks. I think the benefit of doing practice exams is to help you control time and pace,but overall I don't think it helps on your knowledge points. You don't want to waste your precious time in doing questions that would appear on real exams at a almost slight chance,so why bother?

But you gotta do all the EOC questions and make sure you understand them and understand why the question is asked.There is some similar pattern between the real question and EOC question at least the logic.