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- Topic: How to best prepare for L1 on my own without any tutorial help?
| Author | Topic: How to best prepare for L1 on my own without any tutorial help? |
|---|---|
| MarkH @2020-06-18 00:14:19 |
Hi, I have enrolled for the December 2019 L1 exam, which means that I have about 170 days in hand. I have an 8-10 hour day job and can devote about 4-5 hours daily for prep (double that on the weekends). I am an accountant by profession with only the most basic knowledge about finance and investments. My questions are: 1. In what order should i tackle subjects? Are there any specific methods of preparation that I must bear in mind for each subject? 2. Will the Institute curriculum books and AnalystNotes study package be sufficient for a well-rounded preparation? 3. My interactive study planner on the CFA website gives me 11 days for review. Is that enough time? Realistically, how much time should I set aside for review? At what stage should I begin attempting the mock tests? 4. Lastly and most importantly, how do I ensure that my enthusiasm and self-motivation levels do not dip? Any and all useful tips are most welcome. Hoping to glean from your experiences. |
| skraetsch @2020-07-02 08:29:04 |
If you're on a budget, the CFAI material is adequate although I highly recommend the AnalystNotes review questions and mock exams. I think there are 5-6 thousand questions. I did all the questions 2-3 times by the time I sat down for the exam and was positive I passed when I walked out of the exam. If you can't invest in the AnalystNotes Pro package for $99 (either because you don't have the time or money), plan on doing the EOC at least 2-3 times each + all of the blue boxes in the CFAI books. I read Schweser's study notes too but I found it confusing at times so I ended up reading a lot of the CFAI books as well, which hadn't been my plan. If you're like most of us, likely you'll forget much of what you've read during these next couple of months by the time November rolls around. For this reason, I highly recommend that you plan on spending at least 3 weeks revising - otherwise, you'll be in panic mode. CFAI will post a mock exam on the web that you can use for practice. You might also consider buying 3 of the AnalystNotes' mock exams for $69 which includes all review questions. A lot of candidates use these mocks and there will be quite a few questions regarding them posted on the forum closer to the exam. As for which subjects to cover in which order, I think it's helpful to start w/ Quant, then any combination of the following: Econ/FI/Derivatives, FRA/Equity/Corp Fin/Alternative, Portfolio Management, Ethics. Ethics gets a bad rap, by the way. It's helpful to read it closer to the exam date, but it's even more helpful to read through it twice - a little bit at a time each day/week when you have a few minutes to spare, and then straight through the week or two before the exam. Good luck |
