Today (19 January 2013) we are exactly 19 weeks away from the level 1 CFA® exam. If you have signed up for the test already you may be deliberating whether or not you should get started on your studies or if you should postpone it a little longer.
The 6 books in front of you (or wherever you keep them) cover 10 different topics. These topics are further broken down into 18 different study sessions, further subdivided into 67 readings. The readings contain 579 Learning Outcome Statements that you will need to master (at least most of them) by answering the 1396 end of chapter questions multiple times as you read through the roughly 3200 pages worth of content.
When framed this way, it should be pretty clear, that now is just about the right time to get into the swing of things, if you want to have a realistic chance of mastering the material in time for the exam.
So if you are convinced to get started, where should you start your efforts?
A good place to start would be having a closer look at Ethics. You can read more about why Ethics is worth prioritizing in this piece, but suffice it to say:
- Ethics makes up a disproportionate part of the test score (15%), compared to how short the curriculum readings are (roughly 7.5% of the total curriculum).
- If you are a borderline pass, a solid Ethics score may convince the CFA Institute to let you through.
If you are sold on prioritizing Ethics first. What is the strategy to attack this topic?
Reading 2, is by far the meatiest of the 4 Ethics readings. I would by no means ignore the other 3 readings, but the fact that this reading is the only reading in this topic area with a meaningful amount of end of chapter questions (40), likely indicates that the CFA Institute considers this highly testable material.
My suggested plan of attack is as follows:
1. Write down the 3 LOS related to reading 1 on a piece of paper or in a text editor, and as you skim through the short reading (14 pages) seek out the answers to the LOS questions posed and make sure to write the answers down.
2. Before you start Reading 2, go through the 40 end of chapter questions answering them to the best of your best ability (This should take exactly 1 hour if you clock the same speed that you need for the exam). As you answer the questions make a list of the questions that you find particularly puzzling (especially whenever you resort to guessing). Review your answers thoroughly (particularly those that you got wrong) and add these questions to your list. You will now have a customized list of the hardest questions in the reading seen from your perspective. This listwill serve as a useful tool later.
3. You will notice that reading 2 is really subdivided into 7 sub-chapters covering the 7 individual standards of professional conduct (these are further subdivided into sub-standards). Write down the 3 LOS related to reading 2 on a piece of paper or in a text editor, and as you progress through reading each of the 7 standards seek out the answers to the LOS questions posed as best you can and make sure to write the answers down. Also make sure that you pay attention to the many examples provided in the reading. Depending on your reading style you may be flicking through the pages at times. But please ensure that you read all of the examples carefully. These are very useful in preparing for the test.
4. Once you are done with this reading, do only the tricky end of chapter questions from your list. Remove those answers that you can now confidently answer correctly, and if there are any left read the explanations thoroughly before you redo. Continue this process until you have mastered all of the end of chapter questions. This process will ensure that you are focusing your efforts on your weaknesses and pushing yourself just that little bit harder than the average competing candidate (without wasting time). Remember the pass rate was just 37% in December (2012), so you want to make sure you are not one of the app. 63% receiving a “better luck next time” email in July…
5. Now finally use the same approach while chewing through the final 2 readings in the topic. Reading 3 is just 4 short pages and reading 4 contains a lot of optional segments. Once you are through Ethics pat yourself on the back. You have now got a solid grasp on the most important 15% of the exam, not a bad start!
Good luck with your studies.