Anybody taken it? I have to take it soon and wonder how long I’ll need to study. This will be post L3.
I studied for about a month but very not very intensely, depending on how hard you’re going to study I’d say 2 - 4 weeks…a lot of stuff you’ve seen on the 7 and a lot of bs memorization that you’ll forget 2 mins after taking the test
A month! My boss told me I could probably study for a day or two. Damnit. I don’t even want it. I’m being forced. What a waste of time I could be studying for GMATs.
I’d say a week is doable…I leisurely read the book for the first 2 or 3 weeks then did some practice questions, I could have easily done everything in a week. Its very boring, hard to get motivated. 1 or 2 days might be tough unless you’re great at memorizing crap.
Resurrecting an old post - I’m about to take this test, and have about 40 hours carved out in the next two weeks to study. Is that too much? Too little? I breezed through the 7, 66, 86 and 87 years ago, so that regulatory knowledge is stale, but I’m more worried about the rote memorization aspect of this one. I’ve searched here and other forums, and consensus seems to be that there’s an unknown portion of knowledge base that shows up on the real test, which isn’t covered by any of the test prep materials. Any idea what subject matter that might entail, and tips for how to prepare for that? As always, CFA>no CFA.
i’d say 2 solid weeks only because it is so boring that you’ll fall asleep several times during the reading. i have my 4, 7, 9, 10, 24, 55, and 63 and unfortunately i’d say this is far and away the most boring one to study. just rules, rules, and more rules. *yawn* after studying for the CFA, though, any series test is sort of a joke. you’ll know taking practice tests if you’re ready or should push the date out. there are no curveballs.
Bannisja, thanks for the quick and honest reply. So, you think 2 weeks of cramming for about 40 hours ought to about cover it? I suspect it’s enough, but failure is not an option as I won’t have any more time to devote to this after my single attempt. I’m currently reading the material, taking the short chapter quizzes, and then plan to go back, re-read and create a ton of flash cards. After which I’ll take as many practice quizzes as I can stand, and then give it a go. After typing that out, I’m guessing I’m looking at more along the lines of 60 hours to get through it all. Ouch. Goodbye Labor Day!
sounds like plenty. i used the kaplan whatever it was product that had a q-bank and tons of questions. read it once and then just pounded questions again and again, taking a few notes along the way. you might pull your hair out with the amount of for this filing it’s 10 days before and 30 after… or was it 5 days before and 10 after, etc. just boring stuff you have to memorize. i would just read the stuff fairly quickly and then just punch out a million questions and practice tests. that’s when it sticks. my boss right around dec of 2009 told me he needed me to get it asap. sort of sidetracked me for a few weeks on my 2010 L3 studies, but i passed the 24 with flying colors. if you’ve been studying for any of the CFA tests, you’ll no doubt be disciplined and crush it. and then you get to run an office, hooray. good luck!
You will be fine. I ended up only studying for about a week.
Thanks for the confidence boost! I’ll stick to the 2-week plan, and focus on rules and timing memorization. I have the STC material, and they have a huge online q-bank that I’ll tap.
24 was the worst “series” exam I took. It wasn’t that hard, but man was it TOTALLY dry and boring.