I know this headline can come across a bit patronizing/arrogant. I clearly do not believe that there is only one effective way to study for the level 1 CFA® exam, this post does however outline a super efficient approach to study for the level 1 CFA® exam. If you are only going to read one page on this website, this is the page to read.
As you may be aware the level 1 CFA® exam curriculum is divided into 60 readings (containing nearly 3000 pages worth of content). This is a lot of information to cram into one little (or big) head, especially since you are working under a time constraint. Many candidates either fail to put the necessary hours in or use their allocated hours inefficiently because they become distracted or lack strategy, the FEA Strategy is addressing these challenges through the following 3 simple ground rules:
- Designate your required study time (be slightly militant about following your study schedule).
- Designate a quiet comfortable study area (No distractions).
- Use targeted questions to keep you brain focused (LOS and end of chapter questions are particularly useful).
The below table depicts the challenges mentioned and the suggested solutions to overcome these:
Apologies for being so simplistic, but no need to create rocket science out of something which is clearly not. Before we move on, please have another read of the 3 ground rules above and consider which ones you are most likely to violate? Are you going to be pressed for time? Are you planning to get a significant part of your studying done in a busy subway train? Do you have the patience to do and redo thousands of questions while you progress through the curriculum material? Very few candidates will be able to stick to these ground rules consistently throughout the entire study period (we are all humans after all) and we will to varying degree struggle to overcome the two key challenges. These 3 rules however should be front-and-center as you progress through your studies. If you do not have a structured approach to studying for this test, it is highly likely that you will be wasting innumerable hours of your limited time and fail to get the result that you are after. Now, let’s expand on each of the 3 ground rules in turn:
1. Designate your required study time:
The first challenge mentioned is that you simply do not have enough hours available. In order to address this issue, the obvious question to ask is, how much study time is enough? The answer to this question is interestingly fairly closely linked to the second challenge (how efficiently do you make use of your hours?), but it is also related to your personal skills and abilities:
- Are you a fast or a slow reader?
- How familiar were you with the general material and terms in the curriculum readings before embarking upon this program? Did you go to business school? Do you have relevant industry experience etc?
The standard answer that you will see “floating around” is the guideline 300+ hour average for passing candidates. I would not put too much emphasis on this exact number, but if you plan to spend significantly less than 300 hours you will either need to be insanely efficient with your time, or you will be struggling on exam day.
2. Designate a quiet comfortable study area
We are all different. I personally concentrate the best when I am sitting in a quiet room with no distractions (TV, laptop, tablet, smartphone etc), while you may perhaps prefer background music or sitting in a cafe or other public space with some background noise and activity or maybe you are like me? Either way it is important that you spend your designated study time in an environment that is supporting your ability to concentrate. When I was studying for the test I would sometimes attempt to study in the couch in the living room with people around me and a show running on the TV. Trying to “be social” while studying however is a recipe for disaster. You are going to get super frustrated and not learn a lot. Similarly if you study in a room where you have got access to any of your electronic devices. Unless you are super disciplined the temptation to check you email, Facebook or whatever is pretty hard to fight when study fatigue sets in. My solution was to find a quiet meeting room at work and get some studying done before/after my working hours. These hours were by far the most productive as I had complete silence and nobody to disturb me. Maybe you can do the same of if you have got access to a library, university study hall or other similar facilities allocating your study time here will do wonders for your ability to learn and recall the material.
3. Use targeted questions to keep your brain focused
So now we have blocked out the time and organized for a supportive study environment. The final piece of the puzzle is to have a good strategy for what to do with the designated time. You can use the below 3 step process to attack any of the 60 readings in the curriculum and you can use the same approach whether you are studying based on the underlying curriculum or one of the many study guides.
- Ensure that you attempt the end of chapter questions (from the underlying curriculum) as the first thing when starting each reading (Even if the content is by no means familiar to you at the outset). As you answer the questions make a list of the most difficult ones (especially whenever you resort to guessing). When you are done with the questions, review your answers thoroughly (particularly those that you got wrong) and add these questions to your list as well. You should now have a list containing questions that you found difficult up front and/or answered incorrectly at your first attempt.
- Please ensure that you write down each of the LOS (Learning Outcome Statements) on one side of a flash card as you begin each reading, and as you progress through the reading seek out the answers as best you can and write your responses down on the other side of each flash card (you can do this irrespective if you use the underlying curriculum or an abbreviated study guide). The combined effort of question practice and LOS statement “hunting” will ensure that you are focused on seeking out the most important information as you progress through each reading, and it beats “random” note-taking hands down. You can further extend on this approach by creating flash cards for all formulas and key concepts as you progress through each reading. These flash cards will prove invaluable during the revision process. For both LOS flash cards and other flash cards it is crucial that you reference the relevant book and page numbers on the back of the flash card. This will make your life much easier when you are revising the flash cards later. If fiddling around with “old school” card board flash cards is putting you off, you can use one of the numerous flash card apps for smart phones (iOS, Android etc). I found it easier to use card board (particularly when having to note down long formulas), but the benefit of having them on your phone is that you can practice while on the road (killing time in the queue at the super market…).
- Lastly as you wrap up each reading attempt only the questions that you have collated on your list in step 1 (This way you will focus your efforts and not waste precious time re-answering questions that you can already confidently answer). Review your answers and if you are still struggling with some of the questions read the explanations thoroughly before you redo them once more. Continue this process until you have mastered all of the end of chapter questions in the reading.
If you address each reading in this way you will:
- Make sure that you stay focused on learning the key information
- Build yourself a set of tailored revision tools (tough question lists and LOS-, formula-, and key concept flash cards) that will become invaluable in the month leading up to the exam.
If you want a more in-depth walk-through of our suggested study approach have a look at our free 20 week study program (if you sign up for our newsletter you will receive weekly updates during the 20 weeks leading up to the exam) or if you are short of time, have a look at the 3 month study plan.