My current financial constraints, what is a smart strategy to study Level 1

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passionate

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Hello every one. Owing to my financial constraints I cannot register for CFA as well as order third party text books at the same time. I was thinking to order the third party text first and study that. When I have my finances and feel like ready for exam, then I wish to register with CFA body and sit for the relevant upcoming exam centre.
Is it practical or in anyway violates CFA ethical standards?
Please note another reason is to study well for exam, I am not in a rush, and want to make sure before I pay exam fee I have higher probability to pass.
Please dont worry about curriculum getting out of date as the third party text provider I intend to buy provides updates.
Appreciate your replys.
 
It is not a violation to purchase third party materials prior to registering. Keep in mind, however, that the registration fee increases in a couple of increments as the exam gets closer. I’m not sure how far in advance the third party providers release their materials, as I assume they need to see what CFAI is including before they can publish.
 
higgmond wrote:
I’m not sure how far in advance the third party providers release their materials, as I assume they need to see what CFAI is including before they can publish.
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I think if you purchase, then they continuosly update as CFA updates, not just once a year (twice for L1).
 
You can pass without purchasing third party materials. I had to borrow some cash to pay for L1 and skipped third party materials and passed just fine.
Nothing against them, but you can pass without. You can also buy a set of 2015 schweser notes online for cheaper, and just note what readings have changed and do them from the CFAI text
 
Haven’t spent a single dime other than registration for any level.
 
I got my Charter just using the CFAI books. It’s all you need, and you’ll know a bit more than the guys that took the short cuts.
 
I’ve used the CFAI e-books for Levels 1 and 2 and it got me through just fine. I can’t even imagine shelling out extra money for the physical books, even if it wouldn’t be mine since my employer is covering costs.
 
I sprang for the texts this time as I really didn’t enjoy using the ebooks, but if on a tight budget they work just fine.
 
Thank you every one for your replies and valuable guidance. Much appreciated.
 
I’ll add to this– you certainly don’t need any third party materials. If you can study with the CFAI e-book, do so, but if not, the hardcopy is about $150 more (and shipping about $20). If that’s too expensive, you can probably find a previous year’s set of official curriculum books for cheap, and you’ll be able to supplement updated sections via the e-book. CFAI also gives you loads of practice questions and mocks online, and EOC questions in their texts.
Just trying to share more positive results with a (relatively) lower cost. Don’t let Schweser fan boys fool you. I’d be interested to see a legitimate, unbiased (and brief) study on the proportion of first-time test takers who pass using Schweser vs the proportion who pass using CFAI material (again, on the first attempt).
 
Schweser is a substitute for time. There is nothing in Schweser that isn’t in the texts. It just cuts down the body of knowledge to a more digestible level. If you have the time to hammer the texts, do that and you’ll be better off. If you don’t have the time, interest or patience, pitch for prep materials.
 
If you have financial constraints the best strategy would include early start and official curriculum with no shortcuts. If you take shortcuts and don’t take enough time your exam will become expensive because you will have to take it again. I would suggest that you register within the first registration deadline and spend substantial time on the prep. In that respect, I would suggest that you get TimePrep for iPhone that will guide you throughout the process and make sure you complete the pre-set study plan on time.
 
geo wrote:Schweser is a substitute for time. There is nothing in Schweser that isn’t in the texts. It just cuts down the body of knowledge to a more digestible level. If you have the time to hammer the texts, do that and you’ll be better off. If you don’t have the time, interest or patience, pitch for prep materials.
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There are some things that are in the texts that aren’t in Schweser. In order to make their materials more digestible, Schweser makes an educated guess on what will be tested and what will not. They don’t always guess correctly.
 
higgmond wrote:
There are some things that are in the texts that aren’t in Schweser. In order to make their materials more digestible, Schweser makes an educated guess on what will be tested and what will not. They don’t always guess correctly.
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+1. Every single exam I took, there was something that I had never seen or heard of before, and I’m sure it was because Schweser didn’t cover it.
That being said, they covered ~95% of what was on the test. And they did so it a way that it was easily learnable in a condensed amount of time.
If I had to take the test again, I would use Schweser again, and never open my CFA books (except for end-of-chapter questions).
 
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