Yancey Wade
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
- 0
- 0
How I Passed Level 1
I do not have a finance background, and I found every subject to be extremely difficult.
I'm not going to say "know this section" "know that section" because you have to know every section. Don't try and predict what will and what won't be on the exam. This is a concept exam. As you go through the questions from each section, CLEARLY UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT THE LEARNING OUTCOME STATEMENT SAYS TO KNOW. Don't rely on Schweser; half of their questions are five years old. Schweser's questions are helpful, but know why you are answering each question - meaning keep a LOS outline close to the computer. At the end of the day, it's a LOS concept test.
FSA is the biggest section on the exam, and I found Schweser NOT HELPFUL on this subject. Yes, Schweswer offers hundreds of questions on FSA, but CFAI books are teaching you what the LOS is asking, and that's what you need to know. Schweser keeps asking diluted EPS formula questions and detailed lease questions - questions that honestly take 3-4 minutes with a calculator at a minimum, while the exam itself will ask the CONCEPT about diluted EPS or off balance sheet leasing, with little or no computing.
Study Materials: I utilized everything I could get my hands on. I mostly relied on Schweser's Question Bank, going through about 4,000 questions. I answered about half of the questions at the end of each chapter in the CFAI books. The CFAI text questions are difficult, but very helpful. I watched Stalla's free lectures on their website.
Sample tests: I practically memorized Schweser Book 6 practice exams. I took nearly every CFA sample test and Mock exam. It's CRITICAL you get used to finishing 120 questions in three hours. It may sound easy, but come game day, keeping your concentration going strong for 6 hours is difficult. The Boston Security Analysts Society (BSAS) test was very helpful, too. I also got in the habit of taking tests on Saturdays from (9 - 12) and (2 - 5), simulating game day, to get used to the schedule.
Test Taking Skills: SPEED: each session in Level one is basically a three hour sprint. It's like a super-fast foreign language exam. Either you know the irregular verbs or you don't, but you definitely do not have time to sit around and think about each question. Each section (Ethics, Quant, Econ, FSA, etc.) has a question or two that is impossible. Those questions are there on purpose! They are there to for you to break your rhythm, to slow you down, to stress you out. When you get to those questions, move on right away; don't waste more than 15 seconds on that question. The guy next to you may get stubborn and spend 5 minutes on that question, then will fall behind in time for the rest of the exam.
What really helped me was going through each section and FINDING THE QUESTIONS I KNOW, AND NOT GETTING STUCK ON THE QUESTIONS I DO NOT KNOW. During the actual exam I circled on my answer sheet all the questions I totally didn't know. It came to about 15 questions per session. Then after I finished the entire exam I went through those questions, without being stressed out about finishing the exam, eliminated the obvious incorrect answers, and took an honest guess. The most important thing is that I moved past the really hard questions and found the easier questions. At the end of the day, each question is worth the same, so don't get hung up on a question that takes a lot of time and is super-ridiculously hard.
Diet: I love coffee, but a month before the exam I had to completely stop drinking it because I noticed that my concentration levels were strong for an hour, and inconsistent for the next three hours. Also, I got in the habit of eating very little sugar. When the test day came around, I found that I could concentrate very calmly for 6-7 straight hours. I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the test day.
Some of what I said may be helpful, some of it may be silly. Good luck. I hope in someway this was useful.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 10:15AM by Yancey Wade.
I do not have a finance background, and I found every subject to be extremely difficult.
I'm not going to say "know this section" "know that section" because you have to know every section. Don't try and predict what will and what won't be on the exam. This is a concept exam. As you go through the questions from each section, CLEARLY UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT THE LEARNING OUTCOME STATEMENT SAYS TO KNOW. Don't rely on Schweser; half of their questions are five years old. Schweser's questions are helpful, but know why you are answering each question - meaning keep a LOS outline close to the computer. At the end of the day, it's a LOS concept test.
FSA is the biggest section on the exam, and I found Schweser NOT HELPFUL on this subject. Yes, Schweswer offers hundreds of questions on FSA, but CFAI books are teaching you what the LOS is asking, and that's what you need to know. Schweser keeps asking diluted EPS formula questions and detailed lease questions - questions that honestly take 3-4 minutes with a calculator at a minimum, while the exam itself will ask the CONCEPT about diluted EPS or off balance sheet leasing, with little or no computing.
Study Materials: I utilized everything I could get my hands on. I mostly relied on Schweser's Question Bank, going through about 4,000 questions. I answered about half of the questions at the end of each chapter in the CFAI books. The CFAI text questions are difficult, but very helpful. I watched Stalla's free lectures on their website.
Sample tests: I practically memorized Schweser Book 6 practice exams. I took nearly every CFA sample test and Mock exam. It's CRITICAL you get used to finishing 120 questions in three hours. It may sound easy, but come game day, keeping your concentration going strong for 6 hours is difficult. The Boston Security Analysts Society (BSAS) test was very helpful, too. I also got in the habit of taking tests on Saturdays from (9 - 12) and (2 - 5), simulating game day, to get used to the schedule.
Test Taking Skills: SPEED: each session in Level one is basically a three hour sprint. It's like a super-fast foreign language exam. Either you know the irregular verbs or you don't, but you definitely do not have time to sit around and think about each question. Each section (Ethics, Quant, Econ, FSA, etc.) has a question or two that is impossible. Those questions are there on purpose! They are there to for you to break your rhythm, to slow you down, to stress you out. When you get to those questions, move on right away; don't waste more than 15 seconds on that question. The guy next to you may get stubborn and spend 5 minutes on that question, then will fall behind in time for the rest of the exam.
What really helped me was going through each section and FINDING THE QUESTIONS I KNOW, AND NOT GETTING STUCK ON THE QUESTIONS I DO NOT KNOW. During the actual exam I circled on my answer sheet all the questions I totally didn't know. It came to about 15 questions per session. Then after I finished the entire exam I went through those questions, without being stressed out about finishing the exam, eliminated the obvious incorrect answers, and took an honest guess. The most important thing is that I moved past the really hard questions and found the easier questions. At the end of the day, each question is worth the same, so don't get hung up on a question that takes a lot of time and is super-ridiculously hard.
Diet: I love coffee, but a month before the exam I had to completely stop drinking it because I noticed that my concentration levels were strong for an hour, and inconsistent for the next three hours. Also, I got in the habit of eating very little sugar. When the test day came around, I found that I could concentrate very calmly for 6-7 straight hours. I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the test day.
Some of what I said may be helpful, some of it may be silly. Good luck. I hope in someway this was useful.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 10:15AM by Yancey Wade.
