CFAI curriculum

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confused2010

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For those who have used the CFAI text as a supplement or exclusively. I have used CFAI sparingly for some topics and in detail for others. Overall I found a lot of difference in the way concepts are explained.some are explained poorly,really horrible like intercorp, pension,multinational in particular. Some part in equity was OK i guess. Portman was a subject i couldnt really come to grips with so wouldnt blame any text.
Econ had to too much material for its weightage. Ethics i used CFAI exclusively and found it to be ok.
So what has been your experience with the CFAI text? which topics do you think are explained well in the curriculum, enough for anyone using it to understand without use of supplement? this includes how the matter was presented/explained,blue box examples and EOC in Exam format.maybe even practice examples and their solutions.
 
I used the CFAI books exclusively for both level 1 and 2. I prefer to rely on straight from the source material rather than use Schweser to learn, though I used their practice exams.
Everybody has different opinions. I will agree though that econ had a lot of reading relative to its weight.
 
When did you start studying.I couldn’t use CFAI exclusively due to time constraints but parts of FRA were poorly written IMO.
 
I used CFAI exclusively for L1 and L2 now. Past L1 first time, feel fairly confident on L2.
Although I’m sure the CFAI takes more time to read through, it is less time then preparing through Scheweser twice! I don’t want to fail, so I do not like to take any shortcuts with material and, like mentioned by Krazy, I like to rely on straight from the source material as well.
Thats my 2 cents, lets hope I pass now. Considering the amount of time I put in, if I fail, I don’t know what else I can do next year. Gave it my all in terms of preparation.
 
did you take L1 in december or june 2011 and how much did you prepare for L2 using strictly CFAI?
 
I did L1 Dec 2010. Wasn’t eligble for the L2 in June 2011 as I was just wrapping up my degree so had to wait until 2012 to write L2.
I’d estimate I put in about 400 hours for L1 and 500 hours for L2.
 
I only used the Schweser question bank as extra material for level 2, I relied only on the CFA books. I found them to be very useful, mainly because many times questions relate directly to a phrase written in the textbook. I don’t know if shortcuts are as realiable a source as the original material.
 
For some areas CFAI has done a horrible job - e.g. large portions of derivatives, FRA, equity valuation. Best to do Schweser and then EOC. Areas which seem to be completely foreign to you while doing EOC is what I would try to locate in the CFAI books. Of course, if you have time, you CAN do it without any of the material from 3rd party material.
 
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