Re-taking CFA L1 in June 2015. Advice.

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Firstly, congratulations to those who passed the December 2014 L1 exam.
Secondly, as the title sugguests, I didn’t pass this time around. I have been studying since December under the assumption that I didn’t pass so I wouldn’t waste precious studying time.
Unlike last time, this time I’m going through the CFAI books. I’m definately coming away with more knowledge and have already cleared up several topics I was unsure about the first time around. However, the time it takes to get through just one of these books is absurd. Even if I spend every free waking minute studying from the CFAI books, as I have been doing, I don’t think I’ll be able to get through them all by test day, let alone do so with time to spare for a review. Right now, I’m going through the section on international accounting standard-setting bodies in Book 3. I’ve been holed up in an office since 9 AM and I’m just finishing the section (taking notes, reviewing, etc.) There aren’t enough hours to review for this.
So that brings me to my two questions. Firstly, are the review guides good enough? Do Kaplan and Elan (or others) provide enough information to pass the test? I’ve gotten conflicting answers. Secondly, besides the CFAI questions, what other sufficiently difficult question banks are there? I’ve heard that the Q-bank is generally too easy and I’d like something with more of a challenge.
Thank you.
 
you sohuld have more than enough time for June if you work less than 11 hours a day and you have already been through the material once.
use the CFAI material if you want to pass.
EOCS and mocks are sufficient for exam purposes.
 
My brother passed all 3 levels using Kaplan. He recommended me to use Kaplan but do the exercises in the CFAI book because those are he most helpful for the exam.
 
Personally I only know one person that has used a 3rd party provider, and they read that AFTER they read the CFAI books. These people passed all 3 levels first attempt.
 
I find Kaplan Schweser at a little bit lower level than CFAcurr.
Of course it doesn’t mean that it is not sufficient for someone but not me.
 
Definitely do all the EOC questions in the CFAI books. Also just try to do as many mocks as possible. In terms of actual reading, I think there is a lot of diminishing returns. I read the Schweser notes to get some background information but then just did problems on problems. There are way too many details to know just by reading. The only way I feel like you can memorize them is if you see a problem like it and you get it wrong and have to go back. When you do get a question wrong though, make sure you go back to the CFAI materials to understand why you got it wrong.
Also in terms of testing methodology, my experience when I was studying and doing questions is this: the Derivatives and Alternative Investments are your friend. The materials covered in those sections and the number of different types of questions you’ll encounter are far less than any other of the sections. I think i studied the derivatives and Alt Inv sections for less than a quarter of the time I studied the other sections and was consistently able to gaurantee scoring >85% on those two sections. I read a lot about people focusing on the accounting section but honestly, I just thought it was kind of a sunk cost. To get one more question right, i felt like i had to cover so much more material than if I wanted to increase one more correct answer in another section. (Obviously this depends on your background and if you already cover the basic questions).
IMO, theres very few things you really need to truly understand to pass this exam (its mostly about memorization), but one thing you definitely need to know inside out is Discounted Cash Flow and CAPM. I feel like if you really understand those concepts, Fixed Income and Quant Method and Portfolio Manag becomes easy.
 
This was my method, scored 70%+ in all sections for the Dec 2014 exam:
1) Read Schweser notes, did questions at end of schweser chapter and CFAI EOC’s once finished reading section
2) Did all CFAI practice tests online
3) Read Elan 11th hour guide (multiple times)
4) Did 8 mocks - 2 CFA, 4 Schweser, 2 Elan
The mocks are key. Doing those makes you realize where you’re weak on and what areas you need to improve
*EDIT - I tracked my hours and put in 302. I took Economics in University.
 
ceteris_paribus wrote:
This was my method, scored 70%+ in all sections for the Dec 2014 exam:
1) Read Schweser notes, did questions at end of schweser chapter and CFAI EOC’s once finished reading section
2) Did all CFAI practice tests online
3) Read Elan 11th hour guide (multiple times)
4) Did 8 mocks - 2 CFA, 4 Schweser, 2 Elan
The mocks are key. Doing those makes you realize where you’re weak on and what areas you need to improve
*EDIT - I tracked my hours and put in 302. I took Economics in University.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input. What is your feedback on the Schweser mocks as compared to CFAI and Elan mocks? Are Schweser mocks purchase worth it? They sell 2 sets at 3 exams in each set each.
 
CFAblitz wrote:
ceteris_paribus wrote:
This was my method, scored 70%+ in all sections for the Dec 2014 exam:
1) Read Schweser notes, did questions at end of schweser chapter and CFAI EOC’s once finished reading section
2) Did all CFAI practice tests online
3) Read Elan 11th hour guide (multiple times)
4) Did 8 mocks - 2 CFA, 4 Schweser, 2 Elan
The mocks are key. Doing those makes you realize where you’re weak on and what areas you need to improve
*EDIT - I tracked my hours and put in 302. I took Economics in University.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input. What is your feedback on the Schweser mocks as compared to CFAI and Elan mocks? Are Schweser mocks purchase worth it? They sell 2 sets at 3 exams in each set each.
Click to expand...
Schweser are worth it because they are different from Elan and CFAI. I think the variety of mocks I did really helped. Schweser was more technical where as Elan really made you read the question and understand what it was asking. I got mid-70% on my first two Schweser mocks and then got 66% on my first Elan. By the end I was scoring around 78-84%.
I wouldn’t just use one provider. For notes, sure, but I think you’re taking a risk by using one provider for mocks. Just my opinion though.
 
ceteris_paribus wrote:
CFAblitz wrote:
ceteris_paribus wrote:
This was my method, scored 70%+ in all sections for the Dec 2014 exam:
1) Read Schweser notes, did questions at end of schweser chapter and CFAI EOC’s once finished reading section
2) Did all CFAI practice tests online
3) Read Elan 11th hour guide (multiple times)
4) Did 8 mocks - 2 CFA, 4 Schweser, 2 Elan
The mocks are key. Doing those makes you realize where you’re weak on and what areas you need to improve
*EDIT - I tracked my hours and put in 302. I took Economics in University.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input. What is your feedback on the Schweser mocks as compared to CFAI and Elan mocks? Are Schweser mocks purchase worth it? They sell 2 sets at 3 exams in each set each.
Click to expand...
Schweser are worth it because they are different from Elan and CFAI. I think the variety of mocks I did really helped. Schweser was more technical where as Elan really made you read the question and understand what it was asking. I got mid-70% on my first two Schweser mocks and then got 66% on my first Elan. By the end I was scoring around 78-84%.
I wouldn’t just use one provider. For notes, sure, but I think you’re taking a risk by using one provider for mocks. Just my opinion though.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback. Any real difference between Schweser mock package 1 or mock package 2? I’ll be doing 2-3 Elan mocks (not sure if Wiley will provide 2 or 3) + 1 from CFAI institute + 1 from local CFAI institute + CFAI online mock - this will bring the total to 5-6 so am likely only going to buy 1 mock package from Schweser.
 
please can anyone help me with changes in june 2015 cfa l1 curriculum except that in fixed income and derivatives. it would be of great help thanks in advance
 
Don’t give up hope. I was in your position before. Failed L1 in a Dec then passed it in the following June.
And I’ve got a full time job and young family to look after. Since you’ve gone through the curriculum once, you should focus on your weak areas. You don’t have to ready every bit of text in the CFAI text and make sure you focus hard on the concepts and key formulae.
Then burn through as many practice questions and mock exams.
 
atsong09 wrote:
Also in terms of testing methodology, my experience when I was studying and doing questions is this: the Derivatives and Alternative Investments are your friend. The materials covered in those sections and the number of different types of questions you’ll encounter are far less than any other of the sections. I think i studied the derivatives and Alt Inv sections for less than a quarter of the time I studied the other sections and was consistently able to gaurantee scoring >85% on those two sections. I read a lot about people focusing on the accounting section but honestly, I just thought it was kind of a sunk cost. To get one more question right, i felt like i had to cover so much more material than if I wanted to increase one more correct answer in another section. (Obviously this depends on your background and if you already cover the basic questions).
Click to expand...
This is HUGE- i could not agree more and this is probably the best piece of advice i got for L1. At some point, you have to start fighting for points, and that makes topics like alternative investments and derivatives a key piece for L1. You know that 5% of the exam is going to be on AI, and (unless it has changed for june) its only one reading and an easy one at that!
Key takeaway is that rather than sink all of your time into something you just arent getting, get to the point where you think you can get 60-70% and then work on nailing down the topics you DO understand. For me that was ethics, equity, corp finance and AI.
 
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