Advice for Level 1 June test takers background, question, business, fresh

JustasS

Some people were asking in the results thread if we have any advice to give for those writing in June. I thought it would be good to start a fresh thread for those that want to leave any tips/suggestions on what worked, or didn't work, for them.

Busterbluth, to answer your question

I have no background in business or finance (my degree is in psychology). I studied for roughly 3 months, and 2 of those months were very serious- probably an average of 4-5 hours a day six to seven days a week. I took a couple days leading up to the exam off..and by off I mean maybe only studied an hour.

I soley used Schweser's study guides (except for Ethics). These helped me a lot because imo the CFAI texts are very wordy, and Schweser really helped me focus on the critical pieces of information. I liked the way they broke down each learning outcome statement at a time. For Ethics, I read the CFAI text as well as Schweser.

First I read all of Schweser's notes once, and of course did all of the end of chapter questions from Schweser-which are quite easy and really just test your reading comprehension. After finishing up with the Schweser notes, I used Schweser's question bank for more practice questions. I did these by section and didn't move on to a new section until I was scoring at least above 65-70% on each test for that section. I used Qbank whenever I really did not feel like studying but wanted to get into it.. Since it's on the computer and I get to click buttons, somehow this helped keep me focused/entertained when I needed help getting into it.

After that, I read the chapter summaries from the CFAI texts, one at a time and followed by doing the end of chapter questions in the CFAI texts. I skipped the questions that were short answer, and some that were repetitive. While I was doing questions, I reread areas of difficulty (I wouldn't let myself simply guess what answer was right..if I couldn't make an educated guess than I would go back and reread that topic).

Toward the end I did 1.5 practice exams provided by Schweser and of course the mock exam provided by CFAI. I did half an exam at a time and then marked it and reviewed my weak sections. I think I got a good indication of my weak areas from just doing half an exam and I didn't want to waste the precious time I had left simply doing tests if I wasn't prepared enough and needed to learn more.

After I did the CFAI mock exam, I marked it but DID NOT look at the answers. First, I reviewed the topics I scored low in (reread certain sections in Schweser) and actually retook the entire exam before looking at the answers. I managed to outscore my original score by A LOT. This really helped me assess how well I was reviewing the material and how well I was improving.

When you are doing practice questions, review not only the questions you got wrong but also the questions you got right. Sometimes you get a question right just by chance..you want to make sure you understand every answer.

Anyway, as you can see I didn't really do anything special. I just spent a lot of time with the material and did a lot of practice questions. There really isn't a secret trick other than sitting down with your book and learning.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 07:20PM by bay.street.

waldziuchna

ahmadmadoff, do you have any finance/economics background? what field are you in?

ishfaque

i passed lvl 1 on june, 2010. 4 months before the exam broke up with my gf on the day before Valentines day and chieese new year( last year they fell on the same date). i had all these plans to do on that day, but @#$%& happens lol.
felt so @#$%& afterwards but had to force myself to concentrate.

totally feel you



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Friday, February 4, 2011 at 06:16PM by passme.

siavosh

I got greater than 70 on all topics on level, december 2010.

Here is what I did.

475 hours of studying (timed)

I read CFA books twice, got a very strong base, but could not retain the things that needed to be retained so it was Schweser from then on.

Did 6 Schweser mocks from book, 1 Elan, 1 Schweser online, 80 was my avg score.

Level 1 is a joke, probably could have done it with much less than 475 hours but i was not about to take chances.

I have a BBA from a top school in the middle east. I got great advice from level 2wers when I was level 1. So i love giving back, if you have any questions my email is ayt05@aub.edu.lb

Siddimaula

I don't post here much, but I thought I'd share because this was something that helped me quite a bit. I just passed in December 2010. I was >70 in all but Quant and Derivatives, which I was 50-70 in. My background is that I'm mid 20's, I have an undergraduate business degree, I have my MBA from a top 25, and I work in corporate banking. At most I ever took off was 1 day in a row over 5.5 months. Otherwise, it was a minimum of 1.5 hours a day, but I would guess 3 on average.

1. I read 95% of the entire CFAI text. If you're like me, you get bored of this easily so this was the most difficult part. The other 5% of the time, I would substitute a CFAI reading with Schweser just to spice things up.

2. I wrote every single LOS on a page of a notebook and wrote down everything relevant to the LOS from the reading in my notebook.

3. I did every EOC question.

4. When I was bored at work, instead of going to Hotmail, CNN or Facebook (as most mid 20's do), I would do Schweser Qbank. I am in corporate banking 'working' 8-10 hours a day so this was KEY. I honestly didn't find these representative of the actual exam questions, but I did find them very useful for reviewing concepts from past readings you have done to say fresh.

5. After getting through the material, with 1.5 months left, I did the first half of the Schweser mock exam. I got a 61%. I felt like crap. But, I proceeded to do every single question on the mock exam and make sure I understood it.

6. Over the next month, the month right before the exam, I did the other half of the first mock I took and 2 more full exams and went back over every question, even the ones I got right. I think it's key to do at least one full exam to prepare yourself mentally for 6 hours of testing. After my first screw up, I didn't get less than a 71% or better than an 84% on a mock exam. One caution on Schweser is that you train yourself to answer 'Schweser' style questions rather than CFAI. I would definitely recommend doing the CFAI exam last so you acclimate yourself to CFAI style.

7. I took the last week off of work. I studied 6 hours per day. 3 in the morning on ethics and 3 in the afternoon on the CFAI mock exam questions.

8. Last day before the exam, I studied my tail off. I don't care if people say not to study right before the exam, that it won't help, it will only hurt, bla bla... I was so burnt out, but, let's face it, some of this stuff just doesn't stick long term. It really helped me.

9. Test day: As you can tell, I am a Washington State undergrad from the gocougs name. The exam was on Apple Cup day. (WSU vs. UW). I had a 4 Loko I had bought when I found out they were going to be the next death due to Washington prohibition. The very first thing I did after the exam was pretty much shot gun a 4 Loko. I totally recommend that, or something else, to look forward to. It was the light at the end of my tunnel. I picked up a 30 pack and I proceeded to watch the Apple Cup (even though the Cougs lost) and have an AWESOME night. You don't know the feeling until you've taken the exam or, at least, I sure didn't.

In my opinion, the EOC questions are best, followed by CFAI mock, followed by Schweser mock, followed by Qbank. The 2 months following the exam, I didn't drink, I didn't do anything fun on the weekends, I just focused on CFA. I just kept telling myself "5 months of hell and you'll enjoy a lifetime of accomplishment." Believe me, it was worth it to have a crappy life for those months. Now, I find myself saying the same line for level 2.

cchang

Start early, leave lots of time for revision, and be disciplined.

Everything else has pretty much been covered by other posters in this thread.

Micholien

smartpants Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks baystreet! I hope i can follow your study
> process for level1 as good and effective as you
> are and enjoy the 7-9 steps you list above.
> Thanks again.


Huh? Did you read his #9? Sounds completely depressing.

Oh I also jsut read the books then I did Schweser practice exams book... I think reading CFAI and doing all their problems is enough if you have a finance background (I do). I didn't feel Schweser was similar to Dec 10 at all.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Thursday, January 27, 2011 at 05:42PM by paulx441.

thisisbrianly

Thanks baystreet! I hope i can follow your study process for level1 as good and effective as you are and enjoy the 7-9 steps you list above. Thanks again.

bapswarrior

this was my strategy I used to study and passed level I (>70 all sections except ethics which was middle score bracket).


0. Obtain CFAI materials and Schweser practice exams vol 1 and vol 2, course notes, and qbank.

1. read the CFAI text completely!!! do every practice question and example
2. after every major section in the CFAI (ethics, quant, etc) do some practice questions from the qbank. not 100s but just enough until you know everything completely.
3. once done the CFAI text read/skim the schweser notes focusing on your trouble spots. doing every review question.
4. Do the practice exams from schweser - dont do both morning and afternoon sessions at once. spend the 3 hrs and do the morning session timing yourself and then after youre done go through the test and make study notes for the topics of EVERY question you got wrong.

you'll often find in step 4 a simple misreading of the question can lead to a page of notes on topics you thought you knew 100%.

5. dont do more than 2 full exams per week. I did 1.5. the reason for this is to give yourself time to actually study the concepts you got wrong on the test.
6. once done schweser, do the CFAI mock. again making study notes.
7. write the real exam
8. wait anxiously for results
9. pass and celebrate (or in my case, pass and tell the one person you love the most in life first, who youre in a long term relationship with and planned on marrying, only to have her come back and say she wants a 2 week break to figure her life out)

good luck.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Thursday, January 27, 2011 at 02:06PM by BayStreet.

scr879

Looks good.

Try getting your hands on a sample of both Schweser & Elan notes for a reading and compare. I personally used Schweser but have heard great things about Elan.

You dont need the Schweser Mock, get the Schweser Practice Volume 1.