Ideas on Strategizing to Study for Level 2 of the CFA Program

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Thus begins the journey of writing my very own first blog……………………..I am excited and also quite conscious because I have to make that extra effort to be very smart about my choice of words, my spellings, and to use state of the art grammar. I guess I will get better with time. But here’s a start anyways……………

I am currently preparing for the CFA Level 2 exam. Its March 11th today and I have little less than 3 months left. Its stressful for sure, but I am quite enjoying the journey of studying. As they say, its not just the final destination that makes all the difference in life, but also how you get to it. What you learn along the way. The sense of discipline it infuses and what it teaches us about ourselves. Can we hit it……?

So this is my strategy for studying: I have the Schweser notes (books) and flashcards that I really make good use of. I subscribed to get the secret sauce as well. But seriously I am not sure if I will be left with enough time at the end to go through it. I do know that most likely many concepts that I studied long ago, I will get hazy on. I will surely need a brush up. So what I do is make additional notes alongside the notes printed on the flashcards. I will probably go through all the flashcards at the end as a way to rehash concepts and to refresh my memory. I subscribed to the Schweser self paced video cd’s that came along with 2 seminar/slide workbooks (powerpoint slides). I bought them because honestly when I opened the first notes book from schweser back in November of 09, I got intimidated. I had looked through so many conversations, tips and pieces of advice on online cfa forums that said that I should not miss anything from those books because as it is the schweser books were abridged versions of the cfa institute materials to begin with. So there I went underlining the whole of the first chapter I read, literally. That wasn’t smart and the book got messy. I got nervous…………….so I again went through the schweser website to check out their products because I remembered reading something about the video lecture cd’s a while ago. I bought them. And my strategy was to cover one study session a day. Mind you I was planning on going overseas for a vacation in December 09, visiting family.

I really thought I could kill one study session a day. But, to my dismay, I was lucky if I knocked down even 2 readings from a study session a day. Some study sessions had multiple readings while others had a few. But anyways, long story short, it took me a little more than a month to go through those lectures. Its so hard to stare at the same person/instructor for hours at a go. My goal was to make important notes along the way next to the powerpoint slides on the seminar workbooks based on what the instructors taught. I figured they had a better idea of the important points in the study sessions than I would, and I honestly felt this style of learning would suit me better. So far studying from those slides has been a comforting and good experience. I go through the slides and the notes that I made along the way in the seminar workbooks. And then if I need further clarification, I go to the schweser notes. But in 8 out of 10 instances so far, I did not need to refer back to the schweser books.

See its really hard for me to stare at hundreds or is it thousands of pages of cfa material with no idea as to what is important from each LOS, while knowing well in the back of my head that the forum discussions from the cfa forums I had gone through earlier said to not miss an inch in the schweser notes books. So like I said before, I have more confidence on the schweser instructors than on myself and am hoping and praying for my sake that they have covered it all in the slides on the seminar workbooks. I literally noted down each and every word they said in those lectures, except for the obvious. Yes my seminar workbook is messy with tons and tons of chicken scratches. But I figure its better to go through these 2 books (yes they are fat), than the 5 notes books (schweser notes). But the caveat is that you should definitely do all the questions in the schweser notes (books) and the cfa text books. Yes I found the questions in the cfa text books to be more comprehensive and a bit harder at times than the schweser questions in the notes. And I gather from reading various cfa forums that many questions in the text tend to repeat on the exam. And logically it seems likely that they would. So again, when I do these questions and I don’t understand something or think I might need to memorize some concepts, I note them down on my flashcards for the respective study sessions. This way I have all my points noted down not neatly, but surely untidily, on my flash cards and on my 2 fat seminar workbooks.

Another thing I do is that when I check my answers on the back of the schweser notes books and the cfa text books from the institute, I make photocopies of those pages that have the answers so that its faster and easier for me to review the questions. Oh, and I also make copies of the formula sheets at the end of the schweser notes books and add my additional formulas (from my readings) along the way so that at the end when I review/memorize these formulas, they would all be in one place. Well this is my strategy so far, how I do it. I hope it works out. It does sound nifty though.

I study approx 2-3 hours on the 4 weekdays, Monday through Thursdays. No, I am sorry but I cant study on Fridays. Give moi a break. Saturday nights are another no no. Just cant get myself to do it. Girls must have some fun. I do think its important to give yourself a break sometimes to avoid that burnout. Go to the gym if anything, but do take time out. I study approx 5-6 hours on both the weekend days. But I am thinking of taking out more time. Perhaps I will not sleep in until late on the weekends. That is why I avoid being out past midnight on Fri or Sat nights, so I can wake up on time on the weekend. I always keep a snack handy and a soda/cappuccino while I am studying. I try to study in the library. In the rare chance that the library is closed, I will go to a café and study. I try to find the ones which don’t have their music blasting through and where the patrons don’t feel the special need be shrill when they talk or laugh boisterously. Or, where the coffee machines or grinders are constantly screeching. That’s annoying at times. Actually, I also invested in a $100 JVC noise controlling/sound reducing headphone. Its much more effective than ear buds in giving you that extra peace and quiet while studying. Its comfortable as well. It reduces noise/sound, however, it does not kill the sound of loud music in the cafes, or loud people or those screaming grinding machines.

I also try to go through the flashcards on the train while commuting. Not always, but sometimes for sure. And if I have any spare time during work I will as well. Except that today instead of going through the flashcards, I instead felt a beam of white light coming from heaven, that I must express myself through this blog. And I want to offer any tips, helpful advice that I can to other fellow comrades on this journey called the CFA L2 story.

Will continue updating as time allows. Take care and study hard. Go do it!