CFA Level I Exam: Study Material - Suggestions

[archer90]

Hello everybody!
My name is Mike, and it is my pleasure to be part of such a over-achieving forum! I am too a candidate for the CFA Level I exam held on December 6th, 2014.
However, it is my first time I take it, and I don’t really know what the best study material would be.
I was thinking of getting:

• The CFA study material provided by the CFA Institute (the one that comes with the registration fee).
• The Essential Study Package from Schweser which includes Schweser Notes, SchweserPro QBank, and 6 full-length practice exams

Do you guys think that I would be good with those above listed? Are they worth the money they ask?
My ideas was to get the material before the summer starts, and study everything during the summer and my last semester of undergraduate school (Fall 2014). What do you guys think?
Guys, thank you very much for helping!!

 

[don_0]

CFA study material provided by the CFA Institute is a MUST HAVE imho.
It’s good to have another source. Schweser is damn expensive. I chose standard account at Soleadea.

 

[archer90]

don_0 wrote:
CFA study material provided by the CFA Institute is a MUST HAVE imho.
It’s good to have another source. Schweser is damn expensive. I chose standard account at Soleadea.

Thank you! I have just registered for the CFA in December. Moreover, I got the e-book version of the CFA study material. Towards the end of May, I will purchase Schweser’s notes and q-bank.

 

[Twice the man]

Can anyone else chime in on this? I’ve so far been preparing to use just the CFAI materials, but if access to a 3rd party product is considered essential, I’d like to hear the “pro’s” of that position.

 

[Greenman72]

Many people have passed using CFAI stuff.
Personally, I used Schweser’s stuff and passed all three levels. Never cracked CFAI stuff except for EOC questions. And if you have the budget for it, that’s what I’d recommend.

 

[archer90]

Greenman72 wrote:
Many people have passed using CFAI stuff.
Personally, I used Schweser’s stuff and passed all three levels. Never cracked CFAI stuff except for EOC questions. And if you have the budget for it, that’s what I’d recommend.

Hi Greenman72,
First, thank you very much for your advice! I am no expert and I have never taken the CFA before.. could you please suggest me a study plan/method for my December exam?
I won’t have school in the summer, so I want to dedicate a lot of time to studying for the CFAI. From September, I will have my last semester of undergraduate.
Thank you so much again for your help and your time!

 

[Topperharley]

Everything you need to pass is in the CFAI books obviously. CFAI also gives explanations so you understand concepts instead of just memorizing formulas. Anyways, everyone has their own opinion on this so you have to decide for yourself but if you understand the CFAI books and have the time to read CFAI, no need to complicate matters with a third party service. Just my opinion.

 

[igor555]

archer90 wrote:

Greenman72 wrote:
Many people have passed using CFAI stuff.
Personally, I used Schweser’s stuff and passed all three levels. Never cracked CFAI stuff except for EOC questions. And if you have the budget for it, that’s what I’d recommend.

Hi Greenman72,
First, thank you very much for your advice! I am no expert and I have never taken the CFA before.. could you please suggest me a study plan/method for my December exam?
I won’t have school in the summer, so I want to dedicate a lot of time to studying for the CFAI. From September, I will have my last semester of undergraduate.
Thank you so much again for your help and your time!

this is his advice
http://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-level-i-forum/91317574

 

[ayousaf]

Topperharley wrote:
Everything you need to pass is in the CFAI books obviously. CFAI also gives explanations so you understand concepts instead of just memorizing formulas. Anyways, everyone has their own opinion on this so you have to decide for yourself but if you understand the CFAI books and have the time to read CFAI, no need to complicate matters with a third party service. Just my opinion.

+1

 

[Greenman72]

Topperharley wrote:
Everything you need to pass is in the CFAI books obviously. CFAI also gives explanations so you understand concepts instead of just memorizing formulas. Anyways, everyone has their own opinion on this so you have to decide for yourself but if you understand the CFAI books and have the time to read CFAI, no need to complicate matters with a third party service. Just my opinion.

I think is certainly true, but incomplete.
Yes, you’ll probably get a better understanding of the subject material if you use CFA stuff. But I wasn’t terribly interested in learning everything about everything. I just wanted to pass the test, knowing full well that I would learn everything I need on the job.
And you’ll find that there’s a lot of stuff in the CFA exam that you’ll never ever use. For example, I’m quite certain that I’ll rarely (if ever) use derivatives. And I’ll never use the trading stuff or the benchmarking stuff in Level 3, so that is useless to me. I don’t want to understand it. I just want to pass the test.

 

[ayousaf]

Greenman72 wrote:

Topperharley wrote:
Everything you need to pass is in the CFAI books obviously. CFAI also gives explanations so you understand concepts instead of just memorizing formulas. Anyways, everyone has their own opinion on this so you have to decide for yourself but if you understand the CFAI books and have the time to read CFAI, no need to complicate matters with a third party service. Just my opinion.

I think is certainly true, but incomplete.
Yes, you’ll probably get a better understanding of the subject material if you use CFA stuff. But I wasn’t terribly interested in learning everything about everything. I just wanted to pass the test, knowing full well that I would learn everything I need on the job.
And you’ll find that there’s a lot of stuff in the CFA exam that you’ll never ever use. For example, I’m quite certain that I’ll rarely (if ever) use derivatives. And I’ll never use the trading stuff or the benchmarking stuff in Level 3, so that is useless to me. I don’t want to understand it. I just want to pass the test.

But the corollary is: how can you pass the test if you don’t have a decent understanding of the material?

 

[archer90]

That’s what I was thinking of doing. I will just study from the Schweser’s Notes and get further clarification from the CFAI material in case something needed more reading. Moreover, I will take the EOC questions from the CFAI books.
I was wondering, what type of study plan I should use in order to approach the material in the most efficient way? I have all summer long, and Fall semester before I take CFAI on December 6th.
I have no idea how to plan my summer accordingly. What do you guys suggest? How many hours a week? How many times shall I read the Schweser’s Notes? Etc.
Thank you so much for helping!!