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.

ogoluwa

smartpants Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> thanks for the advices, very helpful. Here is my
> situation. (band 10 failed 2010)
>
> - i started by reading schweser notes and doing
> questions as well after each section.
> - after that, i focused on the Qbank, and did the
> qbank questions section by section, and then came
> back to questions i did wrong and actually i
> repeated the entire Qbank 4 times.
>
> - i did not do any mock exam this time, but just
> built up questions inside the Qbank and test
> myself.
>
> i may not focus more enough on my real weakness
> and i did not use the CFAI book at all.
>
> For re-take the June exam, do you think i should
> read the schweser notes again and do the same
> thing i did last year? or just start to practice
> the questions?

Are you sure you did the entire Qbank 4 times......the last time I checked 4 X 4000 = 16000 16000 X 1.5 minutes a piece ......thats ~ 24,000 minutes/60 = 400 hrs doing Qbank.

Cheers

W

Londonrocks

thanks for the advices, very helpful. Here is my situation. (band 10 failed 2010)

- i started by reading schweser notes and doing questions as well after each section.
- after that, i focused on the Qbank, and did the qbank questions section by section, and then came back to questions i did wrong and actually i repeated the entire Qbank 4 times.

- i did not do any mock exam this time, but just built up questions inside the Qbank and test myself.

i may not focus more enough on my real weakness and i did not use the CFAI book at all.

For re-take the June exam, do you think i should read the schweser notes again and do the same thing i did last year? or just start to practice the questions?

ajpheif16

smartpants Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> thanks for the advices, very helpful. Here is my
> situation. (band 10 failed 2010)
>
> - i started by reading schweser notes and doing
> questions as well after each section.
> - after that, i focused on the Qbank, and did the
> qbank questions section by section, and then came
> back to questions i did wrong and actually i
> repeated the entire Qbank 4 times.
>
> - i did not do any mock exam this time, but just
> built up questions inside the Qbank and test
> myself.
>
> i may not focus more enough on my real weakness
> and i did not use the CFAI book at all.
>
> For re-take the June exam, do you think i should
> read the schweser notes again and do the same
> thing i did last year? or just start to practice
> the questions?

I think you may have focused too much on doing Qbank. I think the Schweser books are good, but this time around you should definitely read all the chapter summaries from the CFAI texts as well (to make sure Schweser didn't leave anything out) and do all the end of chapter (eoc) questions from the CFAI texts (what better practice than to do questions put out by CFAI themselves?). Definitely do the CFAI mock exam as well. I would start with rereading the Schweser books and then do what I wrote above. After you've done all that, reread your weak areas and do more practice questions.

Ionutzakis

Instead of doing QBank 4 times do the EOC questions from the CFA textbook 4 times. Generally speaking I found schweser easier than the actual exam.

disiz64

Chebum Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Instead of doing QBank 4 times do the EOC
> questions from the CFA textbook 4 times. Generally
> speaking I found schweser easier than the actual
> exam.


The Schweser was conceptually on par and most likely harder than the actual exam in all sections but ethics.

The Schweser practice exams beat out all other prep providers, imo.

manasib

Note: I work full-time between 10-12 hrs a day in corporate & investment banking.

I initially started studying with CFAI books, covered ethics and could not bring myself to study more until 4 months before the exam. The CFAI text was just too lengthy & intimidating; thus, making it difficult for me to concentrate & retain!! Switched to Schweser eventually.

Material included Schweser Notes, Schweser Secret Sauce (Amazing for review!), Schweser QBank (Too easy, will not purchase again for L2), Schweser Practice Exam Vol. 1 (had Vol. 2 as well but did not use it coz I heard from AFers that it was too calculation heavy and not reflective of exam structure or difficulty), CFAI Mock exam.

I passed with >70% in all areas except derivatives & Alt. Inv.

My advise to new or returning candidates:
1) Use Schweser (or Elan which I hear from AFers is good) for studying while keeping in mind that the material is condensed and every line you read is important and testable (I realized this when doing practice exams). Refer to CFAI only if you run across a concept which requires further explanation as CFAI text will break a concept down completely. I personally had forgotten everything I had initially read in CFAI text and did not bother referring to it again once I started studying with the Schweser curriculum.

2) Make a time table!! you will HAVE to review more than once! I broke down Schweser books into number of pages, made an excel sheet, and accordingly made a schedule for how many pages I would read on each day, when I wanted to finish, and how many times I would review before the exam. I think it is essential you know where you are and if you have slacked, how far behind you are. IMO you require atlease 6 weeks for additional reviews + 2 weeks for practice.

I only had 4 weeks for review & 5 days for practice. I thought I was going to die and hated life! will not make this mistake again.

3) Take notes as you read, complement these notes with either Schweser Secret Sauce (SS) or Elan 11th Hour. I only reviewed from notes and Schweser Secret Sauce because I had only 4 weeks left before the exam to review & practice. Either way, I had forgotten most of the stuff in the early books but got saved by managing to review the material from my notes & SS about 4 times (I literally knew the SS book and my notes by heart on exam day).

4) Solve practice exams + Mock exams (mock exam was most reflective of exam structure, but was more difficult than actual exam). I spent sometime dabbling with Schweser QBank but then gave up because it seemed too easy. When I started working on my first practice exam I realized what a waste of time and money the Qbank was!!I did not do a single EOC or Schweser Notes question. The 1st question I ever worked on was 5 days before the CFA exam in my first practice exam (scored a 78% on it). I would not recommend this and will not make the same mistake during my L2 review. From what I have read, CFAI EOC questions nail down what you need to know for exam day.

5) Putting in anything over 3hrs/day of studying can be counter-productive. You have to find a balance between reading new material & % retention. I'd suggest taking short 10-15 minute breaks every hr (like a power nap without the napping) and just chill out or listen to music. you will be surprised at how recharged you are when you return to the books!

6) Do not study the material solely for the intention of passing. Study because you want to know it and be capable of applying it. It would suck a$$ if you end up a CFA charterholder and could not remember/incorrectly answer something on L1. People would just think you're a tool!

Bluetick1010

Kamisyed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It would suck a$$ if you end up a CFA charterholder and
> could not remember/incorrectly answer something on
> L1. People would just think you're a tool!

Lol yeah I'm sure it would really suck to be a charterholder. Looking like a tool has always been my greatest fear!

kasinkei

Yeah I can't say I agree with you. I did Elan and Schweser and found that Elan were a much better fit. But it is a preference thing.

mnieman

@ Kamisyed
Nice post. You have covered it all. Where are you from?