@cecilpaladin32
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Up5
Surprised that Derivatives is currently leading this poll…I would’ve thought that FRA/Fixed Income would be in the lead, here. The number of formulas being tested in Derivatives is quite high, but to me, it seems one of the less “conceptually intensive” sections (and the EOC questions were mostly pretty straightforward). That being said, I wouldn’t mind if this was on the low end of the potential test weightings, and say, Corp. Fin was more heavily weighted o_O.
Up1Hi all,
Long time lurker here. First off, let me say that this is a great community with a lot of positive sentiment. Very cool to see. I’m in a bit of a different boat than the OP – it’s not the difficulty of things per se that I’m struggling with the most (although there are definitely some very challenging/nuanced topics) – the biggest problem I find is being overwhelmed at the sheer amount of material/lack of retention. I’ve been thinking of ways to map out my remaining study time and was wondering if someone could comment on the efficacy (or lack thereof)…? Thanks!(i) Finish what readings I have left for CFAI by March 7th (Portfolio Mgmt, Econ, Quant, Ethics)
(ii) Redoing CFAI EOCs/Blue Boxes – focus on memorizing formulas/hammering home big picture concepts*
(iii) Skimming through the FRA book again, as I know that will likely be my biggest weakness
(iv) Once I feel comfortable with the above, doing 7 mocks (six 2014 Kaplan mocks, 2015 CFAI official mock)
(v) Doing the “topic test” questions offered on the CFAI website
(vi) Learning how to use my financial calculator*A few questions I have related to my planned study methods:
1) If someone can comfortably go through the vast majority of the EOCs and Blue Boxes and understand the core concepts being tested/solve them correctly (without relying on rote memorization of the actual questions), does that give them a decent shot to pass the actual exam? I’ve found the EOCs to be all over the board with difficulty and (lack of) things being explicitly tested. I’m going to bank on the fact that I expect test questions to test fairly similar concepts/not look too radically different than what the CFAI provides in EOCs/BBs/Mock Exam.
2) A mistake I made with the Level I is not learning how to use my financial calculator…at all. It was basically a glorified scientific calculator for me during the exam. Can anyone comment on the usefulness/quality of Kaplan’s calculator book? I’m thinking about ordering it. Unlike the level one, when I do practice questions this go around, I will try to actually try to incorporate calculator practice in.
Apologies for the lengthy post, and thanks in advance for everyone’s help/insight!
Up1Hi edulima,
I appreciate the advice. While I certainly understand where you are coming from, and I do agree with enough practice questions some of the things will subconsciously “stick”, I do think that for some areas even where I have decent understanding, rote memorization will definitely help me (FRA especially).When you say question banks, I assume you’re referring to 3rd party providers? I am only using the CFAI curriculum, coupled with some Kaplan mocks, so I won’t be using these. I may order some questions/mocks from Wiley, depending on time management. I am relying on having a solid grasp on EOCs/blue boxes to get me through. If the actual test is similar in test and scope, I feel okay with this plan. If not, well…
I basically plan on spending 3 months of drilling questions and re-reading some of the material, as I see fit. I’m hoping to get to “initial” mocks to diagnose my weakest areas in late March after going through FRA for a second time.
