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- Topic: Required CFA Books
| Author | Topic: Required CFA Books |
|---|---|
| Beckam @2003-05-04 12:01:33 |
Can anyone tell me if it is worth buying all the books recommended by AIMR for the L1 test? I have a BS in finance and currently am a MBA student at UC Davis in Finance so I figure buying all the books is overkill. Should I just buy a study notes guide?All help is appreciated! |
| Sparticus @2003-05-25 21:40:40 |
I suggest you get the three books published by AIMR. Definitely get the following:
A. Standard of Practice Handbook: it covers all the scenarios (the study guides CANNOT be complete without inflinging on copyrights) B. Quantitative Methods for Investment Analysis: a unique book that covers everything from basic statistics, DDM & bond math, to Econometrics. A size fits all type of book. C. Fabozzi's book. The materials covers exactly the materials you need for the exam.Other books can be substitutes by your typical college textbooks. At least for the Level I. |
| Claudio @2003-06-04 14:52:28 |
Financial Statements Analysis text is also imperative. Don't know how it is possible to sit the exam without reading it.
I bought all the recommended texts, except the ones for derivatives and basic financial accounting. I borrowed some from the library (e.g. Reilly) so that I wouldn't feel bad after paying for that BS |
| Ottawaman @2003-06-17 01:23:48 |
The question is whether you want to slam dunk the exam or just pass. I have an MBA in finance and read cfacenter's study notes in a 5 week cramming seesion before the exam. I believe I got a raw score of 75% on the level one exam (I was scoring better than 79% of other candiates on mock exams of this site. While these mock exams are comparable in terms of testing your knowledge, they are much less demanding in terms of testing other cognitive abilities like integration and application). I am quite confident that I passed level 1 but not completely happy about the exam experience because walking out of there knowing that there were literally dozens of questions I was not at all sure I got right is rather unsettling. If you just use a study program like cfacenter you are not working out of 100%. For example, there was a question about bond indices on this year's level 1 that cfacenter was completely silent on (I went back to the its notes and confirmed that: Mike please double check). There was also a question for which the answer was variation margin that I don't remember cfacenter ever addressed. You will have better exam experience if you read all the assigned readings, because then you have seen everything at least once. But study notes alone should be enough to allow you to pass. |
