It’s time to ace the June 2010 exam 
Let’s get cracking in a couple of weeks. Take some time to get into the mood. I heard that only 1 in three charterholders gets there passing all three at the first attempt. But, by the time you’re a charterholder no one really cares how many attempts you had or how many topic areas you scored more than 70% on. If it helps, my younger brother just cleared his Level I today (third time lucky). He was a Band 10 and then a Band 9 failure in his other attempts.
definitely bud. i’ve already started as i knew i’d fail. started studying in late september, and just didn’t give it a fair shot. i PROMISE myself though that i’ll kill it this time around. i have today and tmrw off, so looong weekend, and wanna put in a solid 24+ hours hopefully. but anyhow, us failures need to stick together! not let that ish happen again 
…still haven’t got around to telling anyone yet lol…i figure i’ll start with my family tonight, then move on to friends etc. but thats the worst part. ah well, no one to blame but me.
- Stick to Scheweser notes (I did not touch CFAI’s, waste of time) - Do the Qbank (do at least 1000 advanced questions). - Try to understand the matter instead of memorizing it. You will get there faster than you planned for. - Remember the real exam is easier than the advanced questions of Qbank.
CFAL1led, are you going to get the 2010 version or just stick with the 2009 schweser? thanks
beatthecfa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I heard that only 1 in > three charterholders gets there passing all three > at the first attempt. Huh? 1/3 of the charterholders went 3 for 3? That seems a bit too many. There is no source for this info.
I failed again. Scored a 10 in June and then a 6 in December. WTF? Totally lost motivation.
@t0 I passed L1 and scored >70% on all sections. If I was you I would get the 2010 version and stick to it like I would stick to my Bible. The reason I am promoting Kaplan is because I was 50 pages into using the CFAI books, when I saw one of the polls somewhere showing majority of the students using Kaplan for preparation. For the heck of it I opened the Scheweser notes and then I realized I have been saved from a major disaster. CFAI books are waste of your life. They are red herring meant to prove how had CFA L1 is even though L1 is not hard. It is just massive.
CFAL1ed Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @t0 > > I passed L1 and scored >70% on all sections. > > If I was you I would get the 2010 version and > stick to it like I would stick to my Bible. The > reason I am promoting Kaplan is because I was 50 > pages into using the CFAI books, when I saw one of > the polls somewhere showing majority of the > students using Kaplan for preparation. For the > heck of it I opened the Scheweser notes and then I > realized I have been saved from a major disaster. > CFAI books are waste of your life. They are red > herring meant to prove how had CFA L1 is even > though L1 is not hard. It is just massive. thank you, by the way, did you do every questions on the schweser pratice exam books (1 & 2)? thanks
xT Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > beatthecfa Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I heard that only 1 in > > three charterholders gets there passing all > three > > at the first attempt. > > > Huh? 1/3 of the charterholders went 3 for 3? That > seems a bit too many. There is no source for this > info. 2009 pass rates (if we include the Dec Level 1 pass rate of 34%; Level 2 - 41%; Level 3 49%) suggest that only 7% of candidates pass all THREE levels first time around. K
But that is compared to the whole population who took the first test, not to charterholders.
Kakane Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > 2009 pass rates (if we include the Dec Level 1 > pass rate of 34%; Level 2 - 41%; Level 3 49%) > suggest that only 7% of candidates pass all THREE > levels first time around. > No, it’s above 7%. You are assuming that everyone has the same probability of passing each exam. In reality, the people who pass L1 on the first try are more likely to pass L2 on the first try. The people who pass L1 and L2 on the first try are more likely to pass L3 on the first try.
Hello Mister Walrus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Kakane Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > > 2009 pass rates (if we include the Dec Level 1 > > pass rate of 34%; Level 2 - 41%; Level 3 49%) > > suggest that only 7% of candidates pass all > THREE > > levels first time around. > > > > No, it’s above 7%. You are assuming that everyone > has the same probability of passing each exam. In > reality, the people who pass L1 on the first try > are more likely to pass L2 on the first try. The > people who pass L1 and L2 on the first try are > more likely to pass L3 on the first try. =================================== this would be a good quant question to put on the CFA exam!
CFAL1ed Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > @t0 > > I passed L1 and scored >70% on all sections. > > If I was you I would get the 2010 version and > stick to it like I would stick to my Bible. The > reason I am promoting Kaplan is because I was 50 > pages into using the CFAI books, when I saw one of > the polls somewhere showing majority of the > students using Kaplan for preparation. For the > heck of it I opened the Scheweser notes and then I > realized I have been saved from a major disaster. > CFAI books are waste of your life. They are red > herring meant to prove how had CFA L1 is even > though L1 is not hard. It is just massive. _______________________________________________________________________ Yes, I agree with you. My colleagues who have gotten the CFA charterholder advised me to read Schweser notes for Level I and Level II. However, they advised me to read CFAI curriculum book for Level III because according to them, the Schweser notes for Level III is not so reliable for the exam. I cannot really verify this as I am only sitting for Level I but I can testify that it is better to read Schweser notes for Level I than reading the CFAI curriculum book. However, for ethics, I believe it is better to read from the CFAI curriculum than the Schweser notes.
Not even for ethics. If you are so interested in somehow incorporating those glossy pages in your life, just do the EOC questions for ethics but soon you will realize the Qbank and Notes problems are good enough or maybe somewhat more challenging. For the ethics I observed that if you have memorized the code of conduct, GIPS, etc. you are more than half way through because rest is common sense. When I say memorize it does not mean the entire paragraph but just the catch phrases. E.g. seven types of standards of professional conduct, etc. Most of these catch phrases are self explanatory. But you got to practice 1000 advanced problems from Qbank. No I did 4 practice exam (i.e. 12 hour not 4 days) from Vol 1 and 2 mock exams from CFAI. After I took the mock exams I lost the push to do any more as they were easier than the practice tests I already had taken. Mock exams are good representation of what you will see on the real test.
CFAL1ed, I am retaking the L1 in June. Do you think studying from the Schweser Notes, doing the Qbank and then the CFAI mock exams be sufficient? I am not inclined to spend $1400 for the PremiumPlus package that Schweser offers. But if the Qbank+ Notes is what is sufficient, I’d spend the $600 for the Essentials package. Also, is the Schweser Notes about the same as the CFA curriculum books in terms of the amount to read? Thanks in advance for your advice…
I used the regular notes from Scheweser. I do not know your background, mine is engineering. So, practically no finance/accounting exposure. I still passed it gracefully. What this means is if you work through the Kaplan notes diligently, it can give you good result. CFAI has more BS in it than real matter. So, yeah they are fatter, look slimy and give the impression of having more matter. Truly though, the cream of that book has been represented well in Scheweser. Stick to Schweser Notes, Q bank and Vol 1 exam. You might have to do the material 2-3 times depending on your memory. But dude do it honestly.
Thanks! I just ordered the Essentials Package and just browsed through the online access material… Seems more interesting than the CFA books. I am also from an engineering background but have studied some of the material in my MBA program. I am confident of nailing it in June!
I passed CFA 1 on my first try and had heard a lot of ‘stuff’ about preparation. This is what I did: read the Schweser Notes once (did half the end-of chapters questions), 2000 questions from QBank, read the Secret Sauce twice, 300 hours to the best of my knowledge.
I had about about the same number of hours as beyiyi. But they were the honest hours. I did not include the hours when I was sitting on the desk but couldn’t study because I was too tired or was thinking about chicks.
CFAL1ed Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I had about about the same number of hours as > beyiyi. But they were the honest hours. I did not > include the hours when I was sitting on the desk > but couldn’t study because I was too tired or was > thinking about chicks. Oh we can’t count those? Then I’m about 3 hours in lol