DISPERATE TO PASS THE EXAM - give me all the advice needed!!

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geekchic

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Hey Everyone.

I'm taking the Dec Level I exam.
I really want to pass this exam.

I gave up taking my masters for this!

you got my point.. I'm disperatly wanting to pass the exam
(Trying to implement the law of attraction here lol)

So yeah. I am giving it my all haha.

Ok. So I have zero experience. I am familiar with many of the concepts introducted in the CFA, generally that is.

I beging studying next week.

I would REALLY appreciate if you would give me some advices and helpful hints.

& for the ones who passed - congratulations! (share your secret please!)
as for the ones who failed - atleast you tried and you have less chance of failing next time! - positive thinking! (what would you have done differently though??)


So anyone?
 
1) Consistency in your study
2) Discipline (see consistency)
3) Read the CFAI texts
4) Buy Schweser qbank and do lots of questions
5) For the love of God, take ALL CFAI practice exams ($50 a pop. PERFECT preparation material)
6) Know FSA and Ethics backward and forward
 
kkent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1) Consistency in your study
> 2) Discipline (see consistency)
> 3) Read the CFAI texts
> 4) Buy Schweser qbank and do lots of questions
> 5) For the love of God, take ALL CFAI practice
> exams ($50 a pop. PERFECT preparation material)
> 6) Know FSA and Ethics backward and forward


Sound advise from kkent.....I don't regret not purchasing the CFAI official texts, however, I wish I had purchased the CFAI practice exams (heard there were a few freebies). I barely passed but my strong performance on Ethics put me over the top, you can't afford to do poorly on those subjects.

Looking through all the pass/fail results posted here, the passes all have one thing in common, solid Ethics/FSA....the reverse seems to be true of those who failed: <50% on those same subjects.
 
What made the difference for me was when I signed up for the on-line seminars (16 weeks) and purchased the on-line exams, QBank, audio files and basic material - all from Schweser. I don't think I could have taken out any of those four components. I also own the official CFAI textbooks but did not use them except on a few rare occasions. As you can see from below I rushed through the material towards the end to allow for enough time being spent on practice exams. The secret is to hang in there, day after day, week after week, and not give up or procrastinate. That's where I feel the on-line seminars were important, it was always about keeping up so as to be prepared for the NEXT lecture. I could allow myself to lose sight of the big picture, concentrate on the current study session, and got valuable help on tips and tricks for how to work different problems or approach difficult areas.

- Ethical & Professional Stnds. 36 - - *
- Quantitative Analysis 28 - - *
- Economics 24 - * -
- Financial Statement Analysis 68 - - *
- Alternative Assets 12 - - *
- Equity Analysis 24 - * -
- Fixed Income Analysis 24 - * -
- Derivatives 12 - * -
- General Portfolio Management 12 - - *

That's it, I guess. Oh, well, there is another important fact too, and if you've read "Good to Great" by Jim Collins then maybe you can figure out what it is! "To this day, I carry a mental image of Stockdale admonishing the optimists: �We�re not getting out by Christmas; deal with it!�"
(http://www.jimcollins.com/lib/goodToGreat/ch4_p83.html)
 
geekchic, I dont want to come across as being picky but great attention to detail (ie disperate vs desperate) will help you not only to make it through the CFA ordeal but as well through professional life in general
 
Well, I guess it's not always for us to decide how we come across.
 
The first question I asked myself when I got the material was "do I really have to memorize and understand all of these formulas? (even the degrees of freedom)".

Yes.

I also suggest studying the ethics last so that it's fresh.
 
that was my point but apparently not everybody (hello wawa) did get that
 
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