3 months prep for CFA Level 1

[ksc1940]

I just received my CFA books and am taking level 1 in December. It’s obviously a bit tight of a schedule, but hopefully I can make it happen.
Question. Should I study ethics last since it’s such an important part of the exam and it will be fresh on my mind when I take it? Is there a certailn order I should follow when studying the various topics?
Thanks.

 

[S2000magician]

Start with Ethics, review it mid-October, and review it again the week before the exam. At least.

 

[ksc1940]

S2000magician wrote:
Start with Ethics, review it mid-October, and review it again the week before the exam. At least.

Thanks for the advice.
A good friend thinks that the CFAI books are too much and that I should just focus on schwester materials. Is this correct, or do i still need to go through the CFAI books?

 

[S2000magician]

ksc1940 wrote:

S2000magician wrote:Start with Ethics, review it mid-October, and review it again the week before the exam. At least.

Thanks for the advice.
A good friend thinks that the CFAI books are too much and that I should just focus on schwester materials. Is this correct, or do i still need to go through the CFAI books?

Technically, I should advise you to read the books from CFA Institute: they’re the ones who create the exams, so they’re the final authority.
However, a sizable contingent here will tell you that they used only Schweser’s materials, or only Elan’s materials, and passed with confidence. Most will tell you to work through all of the questions and blue boxes in the CFA Institute books in addition to the third-party books; they should probably tell you definitely to read the Ethics material in the CFA Institute books.
I can tell you that when I took the exams, I used Schweser’s books (along with a 2-3 day review course, the Level I being taught by Carl Schweser himself), and passed each exam the first time I took it.
Finally, for full disclosure, I teach for Schweser (both in the classroom and on videos), and write study guides and questions for Schweser.

 

[ksc1940]

S2000magician wrote:

ksc1940 wrote:

S2000magician wrote:Start with Ethics, review it mid-October, and review it again the week before the exam. At least.

Thanks for the advice.
A good friend thinks that the CFAI books are too much and that I should just focus on schwester materials. Is this correct, or do i still need to go through the CFAI books?

Technically, I should advise you to read the books from CFA Institute: they’re the ones who create the exams, so they’re the final authority.
However, a sizable contingent here will tell you that they used only Schweser’s materials, or only Elan’s materials, and passed with confidence. Most will tell you to work through all of the questions and blue boxes in the CFA Institute books in addition to the third-party books; they should probably tell you definitely to read the Ethics material in the CFA Institute books.
I can tell you that when I took the exams, I used Schweser’s books (along with a 2-3 day review course, the Level I being taught by Carl Schweser himself), and passed each exam the first time I took it.
Finally, for full disclosure, I teach for Schweser (both in the classroom and on videos), and write study guides and questions for Schweser.

Thank you for this valuable insight.
Is the Schwester material shorter and more readable than CFAI materials? Why do so many people prefer it over CFAI? And finally, how long did you study for level 1?
Once again, thanks a lot.

 

[busprof]

The whole point of any study guide is that it distills the CFAI material. The total “heft” of the Schweser material is about 1/2 to 1/3 of the CFAI material.
As to whether it’s enough, it depends on your background and how fast you grasp material. It probably won;t get anyone a perfect score, but a perfect score isn’t what your after - it’s a a passing score. And a lot of people have passed all three using only study guide material. Others have failed taking a full year to prep, 500 hours, and all CFAI materials.
But if you put in the time and spend a lot of your time answering questions and problems, you can pass using the CFAI materials, Schweser, or Elan, or come other approach.
As for how long did I study (Can’t answer for S2000) - not that much (< 120 hurs for each). But I tech this stuff, so I’m not a representative case. In general, the figure bandied around by CFAI is 250 hours for L1. My sense is that if you hae a prior background in finance and/or accounting it’s much less.

 

[gringo_bob]

I think you have plenty of time to prepare for and pass level 1 in december.
the cfai textbooks are a series of academic articles so it takes ages to read them. the schweser notes are written as a learning tool.
read schweser, regularly refresh what you’ve studied, do a lot of qbank questions, do every cfai written question you can find and a load of mocks at the end and you’ll be ok.
for ethics you need to read the cfai books though but leave that until october november

 

[ksc1940]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I just ordered Schweser’s Level 1 package for $175 on ebay and will receive it in about a week. I’m going to use CFAI for ethics since that’s a critical section and then rely on schweser for the other sections. I will use CFAI books for the practice problems though.

 

[S2000magician]

ksc1940 wrote:

S2000magician wrote:

ksc1940 wrote:

S2000magician wrote:Start with Ethics, review it mid-October, and review it again the week before the exam. At least.

Thanks for the advice.
A good friend thinks that the CFAI books are too much and that I should just focus on schwester materials. Is this correct, or do i still need to go through the CFAI books?

Technically, I should advise you to read the books from CFA Institute: they’re the ones who create the exams, so they’re the final authority.
However, a sizable contingent here will tell you that they used only Schweser’s materials, or only Elan’s materials, and passed with confidence. Most will tell you to work through all of the questions and blue boxes in the CFA Institute books in addition to the third-party books; they should probably tell you definitely to read the Ethics material in the CFA Institute books.
I can tell you that when I took the exams, I used Schweser’s books (along with a 2-3 day review course, the Level I being taught by Carl Schweser himself), and passed each exam the first time I took it.
Finally, for full disclosure, I teach for Schweser (both in the classroom and on videos), and write study guides and questions for Schweser.

Thank you for this valuable insight.
Is the Schwester material shorter … than CFAI materials?

Definitely

ksc1940 wrote:Is the Schwester material … more readable than CFAI materials?

Most believe so, it seems; I certainly do.

ksc1940 wrote:Why do so many people prefer it over CFAI?

Because they find it shorter and more focused on the LOSs.

ksc1940 wrote:And finally, how long did you study for level 1?

It was a long time ago – 1997 – but I believe that it was 350 – 400 hours.

ksc1940 wrote:Once again, thanks a lot.

You’re quite welcome.