I took and passed another professional exam on July 10th which I found less time intensive than my peers who sat for it with me, however I was aware that it did not hold a candle to the material and preparation required to pass the CFA. I want to add the CFA for a variety of reasons which I will avoid getting into right now. I will say that my background is not STEM, therefore when I began reviewing the Schweser notes for Quant part 1 I was a little overwhelmed. Needless to say due to work and time constraints at the current time I decided it was prudent to hold off on lvl 1 prep and plan to sit for it in June '19. What a long winded intro… What I’m here looking for is some advice on how to learn and understand the material for someone who does not have a background in math or science. Doug Van Eaton has a PHD in finance and the CFA and the way he was explaining the material in the live class was way beyond my understanding.
What’s your background?
The hardest math part if the Black-Shoals (which you won’t have to do the calculation on the exam) in the CFA material. The rest math part are pretty easy. IMO, study hard, even English major can pass the exam.
The hard Black-Scholes maths (e.g. the differential equations of geometric brownian motion) is basically excluded from the CFA curriculum (los is basically regarding understanding/application of the model). So I agree, know basic arithmetics and you’ll be fine. If Schweser or some other provider’s text is too high level for you, then just go through the CFAI text. Everything is explained in a lot of detail.
Since time is on your side, I’d urge you to go through all of the CFAI texts and take notes along the way. I’d use Schweser notes after going through the CFAI material, not as the initial reading. Keep plugging away and it will click.
Watch YouTube videos explaining formulas in a simple language. My favourite are IFT videos. You need some illustrations to understand the basics.
It may not mean much to you now, but it is all about “weighted average” is the main theme in pretty much all math in CFA
What I am gathering is that the CFAI material is more detail oriented? Am I able to register for the June '19 exam and receive the books? If not, will the 2018 books and material be substantially different than the '19 curriculum? What is the hives recommendation?
If you can pass college algebra, you have more than enough math skills to pass the CFA exam.
With no prior knowledge of the curriculum other than my background in personal financial planning, is it a better idea to begin studying using the kaplan material or the CFAI books from the start?
Congrats on passing your first professional finance exam.
#cfaiClaritas