Considering CAIA. Few questions

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chjohnson

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1. When are test prep packages available for March? The September packages are the only ones listed on Schweser’s site –> http://www.schweser.com/caia/level_1/premiumplus.php . Is there a lag time usually?
2. Is the pre-requisite worth worrying about? I have an MBA in finance and am familiar with CAPM/DCF/Stats/Options, and other quant subjects, but the pre-req list seems to be exhaustive.
I am really trying to decide if I should begin aggressively studying for March 2011, or if I should really ace the pre-req test before I even go for March 2011.
 
I don’t know the answer to your question 1. Regarding your question 2, I think you can ignore the prerequisite stuff. I did and just passed Level I (took it in September), easily I believe; I did the whole CFA program but I assume your finance degree will give you much of the same background and Level I wasn’t quantitative to speak of anyway. Level I was an easy exam, although from what people say on here Level II is considerably harder (and the pass rates seem to bear that out).
 
I just called Schweser. Is this accepted as a good prep package?
They taking out flashcards from all of their packages, which is a bummer. Their deluxe package is >$800, which is expensive, but what other options do I have? Does anyone know?
 
Go to Amazon and buy a copy of the Level I materials for $100 (down below where the used copies are, not the Amazon headline price) and a copy of the CFA Standards of Practice Handbook for $32 (you could probably find this cheaper somewhere else also). Study them both carefully. Do the practice questions the CAIA provides. That should be all you need; Level I is not a difficult exam, or at least it wasn’t in September. The practice questions on the CAIA website were pretty representative of the real exam I thought.
If you insist on a prep package, I can’t say for the CAIA, but Schweser was good for the CFA program. Uppermark seems to be another provider for the CAIA that people use but I have no experience with them.
 
To avoid any confusion, why don’t you go to the “program materials” page on the CAIA web site and choose the Amazon.com option from the pulldown for each text:
http://www.caia.org/caia-program/program-materials
The CFA handbook is only relevant for ethics stuff (not formulas or anything else), but it’s very relevant because all of the ethics stuff is in there.
 
Ok, will do.
Do you think the program materials listed there are enough to pass?
 
That’s the curriculum, so all the information they could possibly test you on must be in there (barring some mistake). As to whether using those materials and the 100 practice questions on the CAIA website will be enough to pass, I’d say they should be but that depends on the person using them. They were easily enough for me to pass.
 
I received my program materials from Amazon.
Aside from the Study Guide PDF on the program materials page, did you use any other sample questions?
It also looks like I will need to buy another BA II plus calculator. I’ve heard anecdotally on this board that there wasn’t a ton of quant on level 1, so is the calculator needed for simple arithmetic?
 
I wouldn’t buy the new schweser prep package is not really necessary for level 1 if you are skint on money.
I would suggest you try and pick up last years used package from amazon or ebay. I’d gladly sell you mine but I’m in India.
You can download the Ethics handbook from the cfa website for free I believe (but thats perhaps that’s for candidates and members).
The level 1 exam is pretty easy to pass assuming you already have something like CFA experience (your masters would cover that). The prereq material appears but is not a game changer. Mostly you just need to memorize the curiculum which is merely paraphrased by schweser from the actual books.
 
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