Under 4 months is very doable. But it really depends on the person, their study habits, and their background in finance and econ. You really don’t need to look at the CFAI books at all for level 1…..if you read Schweser’s Secret Sauce a few times and exhaust the Qbank problems and do at least 4 timed practice tests before the exam, you can probably pass. Also, if you can take a week off and have the money, I cannot tell you how valuable WindsorWeek is. Blows those weekend courses out of the water in terms of the quantity and quality of the content taught.
The most important/useful study tools for me were (In order):
1. Qbank Questions (I printed off every question I got wrong to review and did a minimum of 40 Qbank questions a day….usually more. I also loved customizing mock exams by adjusting the difficulty and selecting which sections to include. I would often times create exams that would vary in length with nothing but medium difficulty and most difficult problems and focus on select topics like Quant/FRA/Equities/Portfolio Management/Corporate Finance. I also loved having the option to see the answer right away, or make it more like the actual exam and not look at the answers until after I completed the test)
2. Practice Tests (Take a minimum of 4, but preferably 6…..two of them should be timed.)
3. Schweser Secret Sauce (I recommend reading this first before looking at anything else and then rereading it again at least 3-4 times sometime before the test…..it’s not that long of a book. If you read it first, you probably won’t be as overwhelmed by the amount of material as I was when I first started) studying.)
4. Windsor Week (If you are not able to read through all of the material by the end of April…..this with Secret Sauce will definitely get you back on the right track…also the two binders with all of the slides that are gone over in class are incredible…far more valuable than any of the other texts that I used. I plan on going back for Levels 2 and 3. Only thing I didn’t like about WindsorWeek was the food…on the bright side I did lose a few pounds that week)
5. Schweser Quick Sheet (Memorize and understand everything on here and you will likely do VERY well on the exam.)
6. A prescription for Adderall….yeah I feel a little bit like the Barry Bonds of the CFA program, but I didn’t read anything in the Ethics section that mentions anything about performance enhancing drugs. I personally would not have been able to focus, study, and comprehend all of the material without it….most of you obviously don’t need it, and I should not endorse prescription drugs because I’m not a doctor.
7. Personal study notes, flash cards, and voice memos of key concepts that I’d listen to in my car, while sleeping, and at the gym.
8. Schweser Books….I honestly think I could have passed without having read them and just used the Qbank and Schweser Secret Sauce)
9. CFAI materials…..didn’t really use these much. For a few sections I used them to do EOC problems, but found the QBank to be just as good if not better.
10. Kaplan Schweser 3 Day Weekend Course…..It was okay, all it really demonstrated to me was exactly how much more work and effort I needed to put into studying before the exam date.
11. Passing Score’s iPhone app. The flash cards are okay, and it allows you to make your own, but I doubt I will buy the app for level 2 since I bought the Schweser mp3s.
12. Schweser Videos….they are okay but I didn’t watch that many. They didn’t seem to add much value for my style of learning.