stewiegriffin
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
- 0
- 0
hi all....this site really helped me prepare for level i in dec of 05, so i thought i'd pass on some tips myself (fortunately i passed)
first of all...go through ethics 2-3 times...it is true when they say that if you are borderline you WILL pass if you get over 70 on ethics. STUDY GIPS!!! this is relatively new material, and the CFA institute created it, which means it will be on there. i only studied it the night before, and about five questions on ethics in the morning AND afternoon were on GIPS....basically if you didn't know it, you would you prob get <70% on ethics.
know your ratios....know them well!! they test ratios ALL THE TIME. the hardest thing about the accounting is the double questions....they'll ask you a two different ratios and you know you definitely got one right but you're not sure about the other. make sure you know them conceptually! they don't simply ask for calculations....they ask 'if company x did this, will the ROA be higher or lower'....this sound easy, but when you simply focus on calculations they can take extra time trying to figure it all out conceptually.
cash conversion ratio was definitely on it.
herfindahl index was on (new material w/i past few years, so they love testing their new material).
quant was surprisingly easy....not too much about t, z, p stats etc....they test these chapters at level two, so i'm pretty sure they ignore them for level i....but don't quote me on that!....that was just my experience.
econ: know elasticity. know foreign exchange.
that's about all i can recall for now...
i personally took the online tests, and felt they helped me a lot. they were pretty accurate. i used schweser and the books to study...and i felt the schweser tests were fairly difficult (more so because their questions aren't as straightforward as the test...so they trip you up a bit). and you'll probably hear 'oh you need to be scoring at least 90 on schweser to pass'....that's a load of bull. i never scored higher than 70 on the practice tests, and i passed. schweser said they've changed the level one practice tests in 04, so they are significantly harder than when people took them before.
oh yeah....know LIFO, FIFO etc like the back of your hand.
know diff between money weighted and time weighted.
know diff types of unemployment.
k....back to my own studies...hope this helps!!
first of all...go through ethics 2-3 times...it is true when they say that if you are borderline you WILL pass if you get over 70 on ethics. STUDY GIPS!!! this is relatively new material, and the CFA institute created it, which means it will be on there. i only studied it the night before, and about five questions on ethics in the morning AND afternoon were on GIPS....basically if you didn't know it, you would you prob get <70% on ethics.
know your ratios....know them well!! they test ratios ALL THE TIME. the hardest thing about the accounting is the double questions....they'll ask you a two different ratios and you know you definitely got one right but you're not sure about the other. make sure you know them conceptually! they don't simply ask for calculations....they ask 'if company x did this, will the ROA be higher or lower'....this sound easy, but when you simply focus on calculations they can take extra time trying to figure it all out conceptually.
cash conversion ratio was definitely on it.
herfindahl index was on (new material w/i past few years, so they love testing their new material).
quant was surprisingly easy....not too much about t, z, p stats etc....they test these chapters at level two, so i'm pretty sure they ignore them for level i....but don't quote me on that!....that was just my experience.
econ: know elasticity. know foreign exchange.
that's about all i can recall for now...
i personally took the online tests, and felt they helped me a lot. they were pretty accurate. i used schweser and the books to study...and i felt the schweser tests were fairly difficult (more so because their questions aren't as straightforward as the test...so they trip you up a bit). and you'll probably hear 'oh you need to be scoring at least 90 on schweser to pass'....that's a load of bull. i never scored higher than 70 on the practice tests, and i passed. schweser said they've changed the level one practice tests in 04, so they are significantly harder than when people took them before.
oh yeah....know LIFO, FIFO etc like the back of your hand.
know diff between money weighted and time weighted.
know diff types of unemployment.
k....back to my own studies...hope this helps!!
uring the annuity session in quants , the professor says "ensure your PMT and FV FIGURES HAVE OPPOSITE SIGNS",while in Bond valuation, he says" PMT and FV should have the same signs".