New candidate for June 2013 session

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djefa

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Hi All,

I just joined the forum and have been through many previous topics on the forum, as well as through the CFAI website, to get a general understanding of the CFA program and its various requirements. I am planning to register for the Level 1 session in June 2013.

Below are what I see as the key steps and the plan I envisage:

1) Enroll in the CFA Program and register for Level 1 session in June 2013

2) Purchase a Schweser Study Package - likely to opt for the Essential Study Package

3) Purchase a financial calculator. I think of going for the TI BAII Plus given that I am not familiar with either the TI or the HP and I got the feeling from previous discussions that the TI is more intuitive at first. Also, the fact that Schweser uses TI gives me more incentives to opt for the TI

4) Starting to study with Schweser Study Notes as the primary support and refer to the official CFA curriculum when needed (and for Ethics in any case). I assume that I will receive the books by mid-November. I will plan c.300 hours of study between mid-November and end of April, broken down as follow: 1 hour per working day and 4 hours per weekend day. Given that I am working full time and have unpredictable working hours, I would rather stay on the safe side and do not plan more than an hour per working day. In the end, I will probably not respect the initial plan and have to be flexible, but will do my best to remain as close as possible

5) Use the last month to review the programme and do as many mock exams as possible

6) Exam day


That’s how I see things at the moment, with my limited knowledge of the program. Please feel free to comment on it, and to give any advice with regards to study schedule or techniques, recommended sources or materials, etc. Please also let me know if there is anything important / useful that I might have forgotten in the list above. I am willing to learn from all of you guys, and any advice, even the “simplest” ones, are welcome!

Before finishing, might help you if I give you a bit of background on myself: I have a Master in Finance and have now been working for c.2.5 years in IBD. I do not however underestimate the efforts required to pass the Level 1 - I think it’s mostly a matter of the efforts your are willing to put in. Of course being (very) familiar with most of the topics helps, but this is by no means a guarantee of success.

Looking forward to reading your opinions!

Thanks guys
 
Hi there!
In general this is my route as well, so thumbs up!
Just want to touch quickly on one subject, which is the calculator. I am surprised that you don’t already own one since you have a Master of Finance and have been working in IBD for a while… You might have been using a different model which is not approved by the institute. In that case I would stick to the same brand.
From a personal perspective: I love my HP12c but also own a TI BA II Plus Professional (don’t go for the TI BAII Plus). Its about preference. You can switch off the RPN mode on the HP12c if you are not used to it.
 
Thanks for the answers, really appreciate.
@I-will-pass: I actually don’t own any financial calculator. I studied in France where the use of financial calculator is not widespread - or at least not as much as in other countries. Instead, most students have a scientific calculator (TI 82 in my case) with financial functions that we rarely used. And with regards to the fact that I work in IBD, well, Excel is what I use 99% of the time, and my TI 82 for double checking some calculations off screen.
I see that 2 of you recommend the BA II Plus Pro. I understand that a couple of additional functions and the difference in the softness of the keys are the main differences. I am a bit worried about the later. What is your experience? I guess it depends on your own preferences, but seems like a recurring comment. I would not like to waste valuable time / risk to mistype only because of the keys’ characteristics. Anyway, I guess the best is always to try yourself - I will try to find a shop that sells those calculators tonight and experience myself.
 
The French are a bit behind I would say :)
The HP12c feels better; the TI BA II Plus Pro is better. I believe you will get used to it and comfortable enough to be ready for the exam!!!
 
@crus: Thanks, appreciate the feedback. I went to Dubai Mall and bought the BA II Plus Pro - struggled to find a shop that was selling it and it was actually the last one remaining, so was quite lucky ;)
While I am waiting for the CFAI and Schweser materials to be delivered, I’ll start familiarising myself with the calculator. The TI manual seems quite comprehensive and self-explanatory, so I will start from here. Any better source / crash course for this calculator?
Thanks!
 
^ +1
Was looking for this for quite some time. Was only able to find the demos on youtube. Thanks mate!
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
I would like to get your opinion / advice on how to best start studying for the CFA Level I. By this, I mean:
  1. Is it better to start with a particular test in order to assess strengths and weaknesses, or first start studying the materials? If better to take a test first, any advice as to how and what test to take? (as a precision, I will have access to Qbank)
  2. In case you recommend to start studying the materials first, any suggested order? I understand this depends on each person’s strengths, weaknesses and preferences, but please provide reasons as to why you recommend this particular order
  3. I should receive the CFAI materials tomorrow and the Schweser notes by the end of the week, and have never seen what they look like before. I understand they both have end-of-chapter (“EOC”) exercises, with Schweser exercises being relatively easy and CFAI exercises being closer to exam’s questions. How did you go about practicing after completing a chapter: did you just take the EOC exercises or did you also use Qbank? I guess that in Qbank, you can practice questions related to the topic you desire
 
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