My Debrief - CFA Level 1

[shekzzz]

When I say I have been plain "lucky", I mean it.......I had many
people around me, who have already cleared all the three levels of the
exam, to take counseling from.......But not all who decide to take the
exam have someone, who is been there, to guide them and help them from
going astray......

Since knowledge is best used when shared.......I want to share here
the debrief of the entire studying process, from skipping lunches to
sleepless december nights, everything required to take you there.....

a) First things First - Have a plethora of studying material around
you. From schweser notes to CFA Institute curriculum books. Get hold
of random videos, ppts etc if you can (they are generally not helpful
but keep giving you scholarly feeling).

b) Make a study schedule - Plan, segregate, divide, ponder. Planning
is of utmost importance. Some concepts require a longer spree and some
are just passe'. I have seen and have rather been a victim of non-
adherence at times, and it may drag you back so badly that recovery
will seem inconceivable. I kept procrastinating Alternative
Investments and suffered in the final exam ( I have 50% - 70% band in
this section ).

In my opinion, start with an easy topic like Quant. and jump onto a
longer (when I say longer it means absolute Brute force) section like
FSA (Book 3).

My week wise distribution (also in the order I did them) (when I say
Book 3 etc., I mean books of Schweser) -

1) Quant. - 2 Weeks
2) FSA (Book 3) - 1 Month (at least)
3) Corporate Finance - 1 Week
4) Economics - 3 Weeks
5) Fixed Income (Bonds and all) - 3 Weeks
6) Equity Investments (Last Part of Book 4) - 1 Week (Easiest of all,
bonus round)
7) Portfolio Management (Middle Part of Book 4) - 1 Week (Maximum)
8) Derivatives (Book 5, All the Options, Swaps etc.) - 2 weeks (has
some complex theories, need to redo them time & again)
9) Ethics - 2 Weeks (I did only Schweser, but this is STRICTLY not
suggested, CFAI Book is a must)
10) Alternative Investments - 1 week

(The above schedule is both squeezable as well as expandable,
depending upon the time you can devote. Though I consider mysely as a
Quick Learner, yet I spent 1-2 hours in the initial months and 3-4
hours in the later months everyday studying).

People say that it's enough to study from Schweser, but truly speaking
I had to read the whole bunch of CFA Institute books to get clarity.
Considering the bulkiness of the CFAI books, it may seem that reading
CFAI Books may take long, but there are many things which just require
a vision are not important (you'll yourself realise it while you'll
study from CFAI books).

Do not leave a single word (rest aside any topic) from the Schweser
books. These books are divine and should be consummated. Do every test
at the end of the chapters. They are easy and will motivate you
(getting 70-80% accuracy in these tests will certainly take you
there).

c) Taste the Tests - I tried finishing the curriculum by 1st November,
but as it turned out, the entire Ethics and Alternative Investment
thing was still pending till 10th November. Eventually I finished both
of the topics simultaneously in 2 weeks.

I gave a super-quick revision to the topics in the last week of
November and that certainly is a scary experience when you go through
each topic and half of the things appear to you as if being read for
the first time.

Finally started the last week before the exam and I took an off from
the office. No mock exam, no full length exam, no Sample Test till
now. No nothing that could judge the preparation level.

Gave a Sample test on Monday and failed by 1 mark ( I assume so as my
friend who had a mark more than me passed). 5 days to exam. Spent
20-22 hours per day in last 4 days. Not feeling confident at all. Wish
could postpone the exam. Thus came the Saturday, flown to the test
center location.Had print-outs of the Mock exams and their solutions,
so kept studying the questions rather than solving them. Stayed at
friend's company's guest house. I thought that I'll push off to sleep
around 11 but "just one last topic" revision syndrome didn't let me
sleep till 3 in the morning. Got up at 6 and rushed to the test
center. Reached the center at 8 AM. Not at all feeling drowsy. First
exam finished. Simpler than I expected it to be. Conducted at the
HIGHEST possible level of professionalism. wowwwww..... had a quick
meal, off to second exam. It was a bit tougher than the first exam but
was still doable.

Out I came. It's been less than 15 hours of sleep in the entire week.
Yet not at all exhausted. The next few days are gonna be fun.

Almost 45 days hence, Outcome - "Pass".
Ecstacy and Jubiliance.

d) In a Nutshell -

- It's tough to study if you're working.

- Once the time will pass, You may have to look out for small-small
patches of time to cover the things up. Like skipping lunches, not
cashing upon a lucrative dinner offer, missing a relative's retirement
party, missing the most exciting cricket match India has ever played
etc.

- Do make a circle or a group with whom you can discuss your doubts
with and can keep a track of your progress vis-a-vis other group
members.

- Things will not be so clear in the first reading, second reading
will reveal many new secrets, third reading will take you there. So
don't worry if after first reading you end up feeling if it's Chinese
written over there.

- Lastly, have faith in your abilities.
There are many who have done it earlier as well so its not something
absolutely divine.

I wish you all the best and expect the same from you guys as even my
story is unfinished yet......

[yuvika sumbly]

gr8 post...wud be really helpful for preparation....

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[lovkesh k]

Really awesome post man and raise my motivation and confidence to go
hard for this. . Thanks a ton man . . I'm a June level1 candidate ..
and hope to clear it .. I'll like to give a brief of my prep till
yet ..

I'm working in a MNC as a s/w engineer in Noida with no finance
background.

1. I'm till doing all prep from schweser only. I registered two dayz
back only.
2. Done with economics book and FRA. but feels like have forgotten
everything from eco book. Regarding FRA, after completing i took self-
test and got 50% correct but was also not sure about them. So
confidence really went down. Again felt like forgetting everything.
Then i revised it. Revised 50% of FRA and remaining will revise soon.
3. Now i've started with Corporate finance and targeting to complete
book4 and one book more(book1 or book 5) till end of feb. started with
capital budgeting yesterday.

Targeting to complete whole of the syllabi by 15th of March so that i
can have enough time for revisions and test but i really need to pump
up myself and urs this post is somewhat like a booster. Thanks man.. I
real feel the need some group or friends to study with. Studying in a
group also keeps ur spirits high. Really feeling someone to discuss
and all tht stuff . .

well still have to carry on because its a big bet, Bet of 50000 bucks
and even more that its about achieving what you want . . its about
turning ur dreamz into reality. . Really need to push ourselves hard
guys . .

I'll request others(both who appeared in dec lvl1 and who are gng tp
appear in june) also to give an insight into their prep so that it can
be helpful to others. . . we really need it. .

Best Rgds
Lovkesh

"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life
moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on
in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream."

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[Ajay Kamat]

shek has given a lovely description of his study schedule and his feeling..

I know what you guys are feeling.. 

Let me first tell you about my schedule.. I am a MBA student in NMIMS, Mumbai.. 

I decided to give CFA level 1 in last week of august.. Pretty late, i know.. 

Excatly 3 months were left but that was not enough for me.. 

First 10 days of Sept was spent in my first trim exams at school.. and mind it the coming second sem was equally tough with 9 subjects and a span of less than 10 weeks to finish the second sem.. 

fortunately for me the second sem exams were in the third and last week of Dec.. but you know how MBA life is..

You must be wondering How did i complete my studies for level 1??

i am basically a S/w engg, but had finance interest since third yr of engg.. that was the saving grace for me..

I took 2 and half months to complete the syllabus once.. (from Sept 10 to Nov 22)

then revision within 10 days.. (don't ask me how did I do that, but i had taken a off from college for 7 days).. 

Then 3 mock exams for 3 continuous days.. (was exhausted at the end.. Gave exam even a day before..)

What did I study??

1] Schweser notes, quicksheet..

2] CFA notes only for Ethics..

3] Schweser secret sauce

4] Practice Exams

5] schweser pro..

Suggestions:

1] It almost compulsory to get 70% above Ethics.. so please do refer CFA orgi notes for that.. Schweser is not enough..

2] Some more subject where u should get > 70% are FRA, Economics, Quant(this is scoring specially for Engg's), fixed income and equity investments..

3] Schweser is enough for all the topics (except ethics).. 

4] Secret sauce is good for last day study.. Quicksheet for between exams.. 

5] during revision phase, create exams using schweser pro and take exams for each study session.. That will help.. 

If possible try to look at all the questions in the software.. (you guys have lot of time unlike me..)

All d best guys.. just chill and don't think of june 6 right now.. I'm more tensed then u guys, haven't started studying level 2 and u need twice the time required on level 2 then level 1.. 

Let me know if I can be of more help..

-- 
Regards,
Ajay Kamat 
NMIMS

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[lovkesh k]

Hi Ajay,

That was really nice of you to spare some time to add on ur
experience. Your brief was more about how to manage ur time when u r
short of it:) . . Actually i was about to ask what we need to read
from CFA for which schweser will not be enough and what more
additional material we shd refer and how to go for it. Thanks for that
man.

Any more advices guys you will like to give?
Expect to read on more experiences in coming dayz. Guys plz add on ur
experiences. They can be really useful for us.

Ajay u dnt worry. You have managed it earlier also in short time and u
cn do it again. Dont worry man our wishes are with you. Best of Luck
for ur exam.

Best Rgds
Lovkesh

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