@umbereen
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Up5
I took 9 practice papers, 343 hours study time, the week off before the exam, and still felt like I feel like I had no idea what to do for some of the questions. What irked me the most was when I couldn’t derive the right answer, even though I was pretty sure my calculations were correct.
Like others here said, the AM and PM portions of L1 seemed to be completely different exams.
Up5Thank you all for your advice.
I’m going to start reviewing the CFAI material this week (a full month later than I had originally planned, but I just couldn’t bring myself to open a book and I really needed to take care of other things I had been neglecting), planning to complete my first read-through by the end of the year, review in January, and start Schweser live classes in late January.
I’ve realized I’m the kind of person who just needs to keep reviewing, and am a slow-and-steady type learner, so I think 8 months should suffice.Up4what i suspected. thanks @mattnyc
Up4I did seven Kaplan Schweser (six printed and one on-line) and two CFAI. I found KS easier than CFAI, but the real exam was much harder than either.
FWIW, I found the KS format closer to the actual exam, even if the difficulty wasn’t on par.
For L2 I’m using KS again, but will definitely get extra exams from other providers.
good luck!!!
Up3@DextTheCFA I just finished my second live class with Schweser in NYC and our professor has us going through the SS going out of order; we’re doing Quant first, then Portfolio Mgmt, several weeks on FRA, then Corporate Finance, then Fixed Income and Equity in the same week, Derivatives/Alternative Investments in the same week, with Econ and Ethics in the last week.
He’s doing it in this order because of how he thinks the curriculum and LOSs relate to each other. I’m not totally sold on how he’s under-weighting Econ since it’s 10% of the exam, but considering the number of LOSs I can see where he’s coming from.
He recommends skimming Ethics starting in week 1 and doing a little bit every week alongside the rest of the curriculum, and a second pass-through the week before the exam.
Last Fall I had to cover a lot of the material for an in-house exam my employer administers to those of us who wish to be sponsored for the exam, so I can definitely see the advantages of approaching the curriculum out of order.
Good luck!
Up3thanks @edulima! What you said sounds about right to me
Up3I completed my first review of the material this past Monday, and started Schweser classes last night. QM really does make more sense after just the first session, and the instructor confirmed something I suspected about Derivatives.
updates from anyone else?
Up2Thanks! I’m planning on reviewing Ethics the last week – any other recommendations?
Up2i read something somewhere (i think CFA Candidate Resources) that the page numbering is different in VitalSource this year to assist with printing when it comes to different screen sizes, resolution, and zooming in/out
with the L2 curriculum, every section start (1, 2, 2.1, 2.2, solutions, answers, summary, etc.) only looks like 1 page, even though when printed is much longer
Up1I received my L1 result at 9:08 this morning
Up1@Ethurial the real deal was WAAAY harder for me than any KS and CFAI mocks. Maybe it was nerves of the day that made it all seem harder. I have no clue how people for whom English is not their native tongue were able to get through it; English is my first language and I was struggling with the questions.
When it comes to time, I finished my mocks with 20-30 mins to spare and review for both AM and PM; on test day I barely put my pencil down when time was called.
Up0@CFAcharterwannabe do you mean Financial Statement Analysis? If so, that’s what I am referring to when I say FRA
Up0hello! I’m a Level 1 candidate with no finance experience prior to joining the financial services company I joined in 2012, but eager to learn as much as I can
