I wanted to share my way of studying because I sincerely believe it is the most efficient. No bragging intended here; I passed all 3 exams on the first attempt with very little studying (1 week full time for Level 2 and 2 weeks full time for Level 3) and I think everyone has the ability to do the same if they focus on the right things and don’t waste time reading too much.
Here’s what I recommend:
Start by reading Schweser’s Secret Sauce (about 200 pages). It will give you a broad understanding of the material without wasting too much time reading stuff that you don’t understand or won’t remember by the time you start doing exercises.
Do all the topic area tests on CFAI website, looking back to Schweser’s Quick sheet for making sure every formula is on it.
By that time, you should understand what’s important and what type of questions are usually being asked.
When that is done, now you can start actually reading CFAI books or Schweser’s (I would recommend Schweser’s). It won’t be useless reading since you’ll be able to understand more deeply the materials that you covered quickly doing the topic tests. It will also save a good amount of time because you will quickly go over (or skip) sections that you know you already master.
Finish with doing as many mock exams as you possibly can. Memorize the Quick Sheet for all the formulas and make sure you would be able to explain everything that is on it.
I think the most common mistake is starting off by reading everything all at once. It’s taking so much time that you rush through it, can’t remember half of what you read and don’t know how it can be evaluated in an exam. I have to admit I am a quick learner and that’s perhaps something that works only with people with above average learning abilities. But in any case, I would do a lot of exercises before reading into details.
Just my two cents, take it or leave it, but it’s my honest opinion and I highly believe in it.
For Level 2, 1 week was not enough to go back to reading the material. So just did Secret sauce + lot of topic tests and mocks. Obviously it was a long shot, probably passed band 11 and would not recommend doing so. Anyway whether you believe me or not is not the point, I’d still recommend studying in this order.
You should tell CFAI about your experience and encourage them to make the material harder. Apparently 140 hours on schweser is all you need. I don’t care because I’m done
Agree. Also they should require at least 10 Y of work experience 'cause 4 Y may collect each lubber who was temporarily working in the financial industry and then he can continue planting corn.
What I meant is the “required” 300H of studying can be cut down to a lot less by not wasting time on useless reading early on. And although it may be true that you’re more likely to forget the formulas by studying that way, you can’t pass the exams by simply learning everything by heart, what you assimilate you remember just as much.
This is probably the worst possible advice to anyone studying for these exams. Even if you did what you say (which I doubt), I bet that this strategy has a success rate of under .0001%. I bet given 1M candidates on this schedule, under 100 will finish all 3 exams on their first try studying 1 / 2 weeks. Maybe you’re the smartest guy in the world, who knows, but just because it worked for you doesn’t mean it will work for anyone else
This is probably the worst possible advice to anyone studying for these exams. Even if you did what you say (which I doubt), I bet that this strategy has a success rate of under .0001%. I bet given 1M candidates on this schedule, under 100 will finish all 3 exams on their first try studying 1 / 2 weeks. Maybe you’re the smartest guy in the world, who knows, but just because it worked for you doesn’t mean it will work for anyone else
Did you even read past the first paragraph? If you read the entire thing and still think what I recommended here is to study only 2 weeks, well no wonder you need 500 hours of studying.
I thought the plan sounds reasonable. He read the books and supplemental material, and did a lot of questions. What else are you supposed to do? The time estimate (140 hours) is not unreasonable either. I probably spent close to this on each exam.
The only thing I cannot process is that OP appears to have taken 2 weeks off to study for CFA exams. Don’t you have anything to do at work?
May isn’t the busiest month at work so yeah I did take 2 weeks off (I can take up to 3 weeks of vacation a year). Don’t you ever take time off work? I hope you do.
Yes, in fact I am required to a 2 week yearly break for compliance purposes. However, I prefer to spend this time doing things that cannot be done during normal days. There are noticeable business implications when I am away from work for more than a few days at a time.
Exactly. I think people are bugged on the “2 weeks” timeframe. Bottomline is, I covered all the material and spent enough time practicing, that’s it, no secret formula here. Thanks for your input and good luck in your future indeavours.
