CFA Study Time (Session-wise)

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FrederickF

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Hi,
i am a level 1 candidate for June 2014 started studying in early January.
i would love to ask about the time required to study each study session or topics,
i know that the answer would be relative based on individual’s prior knowdledge of the topics.
But let’s say you compare each topic one to another. which one take the longest time and which one is take the shortest time.
The reason i ask is because when i first made the study planned i thought i would need 5 days to complete 1 study session + Schweser concept checker and CFAI EOC. As i progress i notice that some topics are faster to finished and some are longer.
As for now i am studying the macroeconomy(SS5) and somehow i feel that my study time is slowing down significantly compared to the first 4 study session due to the necessity to think hard about the relationship between the economic output, economy theory, etc. Where as for quantitave methods i have already studied some of the materials like TVM, stats, probability, etc before which made it much easier.
Should i be worry about the progress or am i doing fine? because my intial plan for february is to finish economy and FRA, i thought that economy will be finished in 1 week and FRA which much more difficult takes more time than economy.
*note : as for accounting i have only the basic for business accounting, so i would need to study deep into the details i guess.
Any comments or advises are much appreciated
Thanks in advance.
 
I have only completed the first three books so far, but I found the FRA book to be the hardest and most time consuming. I’ve heard many times that this is typically the case, so I would set aside most time for that if I were you.
 
EvgenyL wrote:
I have only completed the first three books so far, but I found the FRA book to be the hardest and most time consuming. I’ve heard many times that this is typically the case, so I would set aside most time for that if I were you.
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yeah that’s what exactly what i am affraid of.
may i known how long did it take for u to finish the third book?
 
Hmm hard to say, and I think that would be misleading as well since I’ve done a different class that taught many of the concepts found in FRA. What I will say is that the middle two sections take the longest. I’d imagine you would want a day per chapter to just read, then there’s plenty of concepts to practice.
It really depends on how you study.
 
I am about 2/3 of the way finished with FRA. Started studying FRA on February 1st.
For me, economics has been the hardest to actually RETAIN
FRA is more straightforward (personal opinion). There is a lot of information and concepts to remember, but have had an easier time reading the material. Perhaps it is because I am more interested in FRA.
I have heard that you should dedicate a month to reading the FRA book. And then go back, like all sessions, and re-learn.
My plan.. finish FRA by the end of next week. But I want to finish all books/EOC questions etc.. by May 1st, so I have 1 full month to go take exams and re-learn.
 
Hello everybody, I was wondering if anybody can help as I am freaking out. I ordered the schweser exam prep books in early february which is 9 books with about 400pages each. What are my chances of passing L1 as I still have 8books to go through in 3months. Is there a shorter way to completing all the required materials for the exam in order to pass it. Thanking you for the reply in advance.
 
Nadia14 wrote:
Hello everybody, I was wondering if anybody can help as I am freaking out. I ordered the schweser exam prep books in early february which is 9 books with about 400pages each. What are my chances of passing L1 as I still have 8books to go through in 3months. Is there a shorter way to completing all the required materials for the exam in order to pass it. Thanking you for the reply in advance.
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Hi,
as far as i know the schweser notes consists of 5 books,
1. Ethics + QM
2. Economy
3. FRA
Book 4 and 5 is mixed between all the other subjects such as Corporate Finance, equity, fixed income etc.
So i guess that the 5 books that you need to go through wihin 3 months and its absolutely possible especially if you have prior knowledge to some of the materials.
As for me, i study 1 - 2 hours on weekdays and spend 3-4 hours on weekends. however as i am also a gradute student, i find it hard to study when there are lot of assignments to do. As for now i just finished Book 1 and 2 and i think i will finish all the books in 3 to 3.5 months and dedicate the last month to do all the questions and mock exams.
For some materials like TVM, stats, microeconomy, i studied it like 2-3 months ago so some of the materials is still in my head and make the reading process quicker, however for macroeconomy i find the material a little longer to digest. I heard that FRA is the hardest which i will be doing in upcoming weeks.
Don’t panic. Keep calm and paddle on, in three months you will be there. =)
 
From my experience, i think it’s definitely possible to START studying for L1 now and still pass in June. Given you have a full time job but willing to spend at least couple hours of studying each day (of course more on the weekends!)
Don’t worry about benchmarking with others, people who read all the books now may not pass the exam in June! Just bacuase people read faster doesn’t mean they’ve learned anything.
What you have to do, is look at a past or mock exam! see how much you know and how much you don’t know! That’s the better benchmark for you than the “average candidate”.

BEST OF LUCK ^_^
NANA
 
Hello everybody and thank you for the input, I was wondering if I stop reading books and simply go through the schewer class notes and do the practice exams if I would have a chance of passing the exam or do I have to read all the books?
 
Nadia14 wrote:
Hello everybody and thank you for the input, I was wondering if I stop reading books and simply go through the schewer class notes and do the practice exams if I would have a chance of passing the exam or do I have to read all the books?
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No way in hell… those class notes are DEFINITELY not adequate. There are no short cuts to success!
 
Nadia14 said:
Hello everybody and thank you for the input, I was wondering if I stop reading books and simply go through the schewer class notes and do the practice exams if I would have a chance of passing the exam or do I have to read all the books?
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How strong is your background? If you have solid academics and work experience that relates it is possible to pull off what you suggest - but risky. With 3 months left you have plenty of study time for L1 if you stay on task. Plus you will have to work a lot harder on L2 than what you are suggesting here - how serious are you about doing all this?
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can somebody clarify what did she mean by class notes? are those different from 5 schweser study notes?
 
can somebody clarify what did she mean by class notes? are those different from 5 schweser study notes?
 
I think that there is no alternative to reading volumes, either Schweser or CFA oficial curriculum. Even Schweser is abbreviated, and if you go for something that is more abbreviated there is no big chances you will succeed in the process. In addition, I think that working experience and sound academic experience can only partialy compensate time spent on the curriculum. CFA is, for many professionals, not about learning new stuff but about systematizing the existing knowledge and in my opinion you have to spend certain time reading these books and solving these practice problems.
Regarding time needed for prep it is typically very individual. It depends on study routines, speed, study elements you are using (e.g. if you use Schweser instead of CFA oficial curiculum you will consequently spend less hours learning). However, even if you are using the same strategy as your peer it doesn’t mean you will complete the process at the same time. TimePrep is in my opinion good personal assistant for organization of study process and can really help you organize and control yourself.
 
FrederickF wrote:
can somebody clarify what did she mean by class notes? are those different from 5 schweser study notes?
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I think she is refering to the class notes of the lectures, ie, the powerpoint slideS???
 
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