Kapie

I will add my experience as well!
I passed CFA Level 1 exam in my first attempt. I got over 70 in QM, FI and PM. Rest all are in 51-70% range. It's not an awesome score; so I will like to provide some tips (incl. how I could have performed better).

My background: Math major - never took finance or accounting classes.

QM was easy for me since I knew most of the stuff. But all other material was completely new. I studied from Schweser solely - and did just 0.5 CFAI mock, 0.5 Free Elan mock and 2.5 Schweser mocks. I never did any EOC questions from CFAI books - I never touched them! I started studying in March, but May was when I studied regularly.

Some mistakes I did and how I could have improved/Tips for re-takers and first-timers:
1. Notes are good - I doubt the provided matters much for Level 1. But don't skip CFAI EOC questions. Many people swear by EOC problems. I never used the CFAI books, so can't comment on them.
2. Do the CFAI mock seriously - I feel they were closest to the real exam in terms of difficulty level. I should have taken it seriously.
3. Start early - everyone says that, but it really helps!
4. Don't skip any topics - I skipped huge chunks either because I thought I will never get it, or because I found it not so important. I was surprised that a lot of not-so-important stuff does show up on the exam.
5. Don't try to be 'smart' when studying - focus on all topics. Although you don't need to pass in every section to pass the actual test, don't neglect any topics.
6. Practice some other problems as well - besides just EOC. You may not need to finish all problems from the various questionbanks out there, but try to solve a good number until you feel confident.
7. Start taking mocks/practice exams at least 3 weeks prior to the actual exam. I took mocks only in the last week - bad idea.
8. Take mocks under exam conditions i.e. do a 3-hour session, take a 2-hour break and continue with the next 3-hour session. Most of the candidates I spoke to after the exam found the exam way too stressful, and were tired. I was really exhausted during the afternoon session of the real exam and just wanted to get done with it!
9. Prepare a schedule, provide some flexibility for unforeseen events, and stick to the schedule. Don't have an over-ambitious schedule, because if you fail to stick to it, you may lose hope.
10. Don't lose hope. People ask if the exam is 'do'able. Of course it is! So many people have the charter, an even greater number have passed level 1. And there is a high possibility that whatever educational/work background you have, someone earlier must have been in a similar situation and passed. So, it is definitely possible. I had no background in finance, but still managed to pass.
11. Ethics is important. People focus on the standards, but don't neglect GIPS!

Good luck!