AuthorTopic: One Year ago Today
DonCox
@2014-09-21 18:03:53
To all of you out there starting to look at that massive pile of books staring back at you I just thought I would say best of luck. Exactly one year ago today I opened my first CFAI book to start the process. I passed in December and then passed level 2 in June. I didn't do anything for level 2 until I found out about level 1, and took a week off to go to Cuba in April. Pace yourself and enjoy the experience. I really can't believe how quickly the year has gone since I sat in your shoes one year ago.

My best piece of advice is to still have a life. I know how important that was for me. Study hard when you study and reward yourself with a night out if you put in a whole saturday or something like that. I found that after rewarding myself with some time with friends I was so much more motivated to get back at it.

Second piece of advice is to do questions. I couldn't believe how poorly I did when I started answering questions right after I read. I would have to go back numerous times to see how the hell to do something. I really think that the more questions that you do the better.

If you have time - use the textbooks. There is no chance that you see a question that you are completely lost on if you use the textbooks.

Level 2 is harder than level 1. Plain and simple. But I think that best thing you can learn in level one is how you study. Find out what works for you and what doesn't. You will have less time for level 2 (if you go Dec-June) but you will know what works for you and what doesn't - so pay attention to that in level one.

Take these suggestions with a grain of salt - they worked for me but I know that everyone is different.
crystalma1
@2014-09-23 10:52:15
Hey thanks - that was a hit of motivation I've been needing this week. Started a month ago and feeling quite behind (despite already attempting 2 years ago). Only half grasped Quants & will finish Econ over the weekend. So this post has helped me realize not that far behind and relieves the guilt of going out & about like normal the last few weeks (which will be curtailed from now on). Thanks!
nadya
@2014-09-27 09:30:12
Sounds like you and I are almost in the same place. I cranked it up a notch or two over the weekend due to a little bit of panic setting in on where I am in the curriculum. I will say I probably grasped about 75% of the stuff in Quants, but much of that has already seemed to have started to fade to another region of the cerebrum. I let myself get bogged down in Quants and should have just noted I need more work there and kept up with my initially planned pace. ECON is going a bit smoother, although there are a couple of fuzzy spots there too right now. I actually returned to ECON after leisurely reading through and I'm doing a rather quick read now and plan to do all Concept Checkers. Then on to FRA. I should be deep in FRA next week. I'll take some time this weekend and revise my original study plan with the commitment to stick to it this time.

BTW, Great post!
quichoad
@2016-11-29 16:39:59
I wanted to just say thank you to all of you for that. I spent 16 hours this weekend trying to understand the Quants stuff and went through a rollercoaster of just wanting to give up CFA because I couldn't understand it, to pushing myself to keep moving forward. I too am panicking that I'm behind (taking test June 17') so I'll take the advice of Nadya and keep up with my initial pace. Thanks everyone!
farhan92
@2018-12-10 13:03:00
just taking some time off from the stress that is the week before exams and having a look at the forums. A bit of advice for those doing the exam in June is once you go over a section regularly do questions for it. So if you finish quants by the end of this month make sure do to like 10 questions every week regarding quants. Not doing that hasn't put me in the best position for Saturday but you live and learn :)

CFA Discussion Topic: One Year ago Today

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You have a wonderful website and definitely should take some credit for your members' outstanding grades.
Colin Sampaleanu

Colin Sampaleanu