I passed. Went through the material 3 times though, did all the Schweser practice exams and CFAI exams from previous years.

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
 

Hey lads, can someone recommend me a book for CFA level 1. You can add an affiliate link to it if you like, I am happy to help a fellow WSO monkey. I am first year university so I am going to go through CFA each summer for the next 3 summers. Fingers crossed.

hi
 
Best Response

Just a few random thoughts I have. Don't take any of the small readings for granted, make sure you cover everything at least once and the bigger concepts much more, as there is a lot of material. Give yourself at least the entire last month or more for review and practice problems. I am a slow reader, so if I was starting now I would feel at a big disadvantage, so hopefully you are not. If you start reading in order and are not a quant guru don't get too hung up on trying to understand it all on the first run through. There is so much material you don't want to get hung up too long on 5-10% of the exam and not focus on FRA, and Equity which are the big topics. Just a few tips I had knowing from failing level II the first go around.

 

Do you guys recommend reading through everything (relatively quickly), then doing chapter questions? or doing questions immediately after reading through their related chapters? This is for Level II btw.

I'll be doing practice exams provided by the CFA Institute and Schweser as a comprehensive review at the end as well but just curious about how to handle chapter questions.

 

I am following the same plan i did for lvl 1. 1. Reader Schweser and take notes 2. Watching on demand Scheweser topic video 3. Schweser EOC questions 4. Schweser Qbank questions

I also attended a live class for lvl 1 but since I started late for lvl 2 I am only doing the online classes (have only attended one so far).

Once i get through these readings I plan on going over CFAI EOC questions, CFAI Topic tests and as many mock exams as possible.

 

I don’t know very much about the “Chartered Financial Analyst” program. From what I gather, though, it’s a set of exams that you take to get certified to be a money manager out in Ohio. They ask you trivial finance questions and tease your brain with provocative ethical scenarios like: “Should you steal your clients’ money? Answer yes or no.”

I do remember, a few months after graduating from college, hearing the news that a girl we knew, Jen, had somehow managed to fail the CFA Level 1 exam. There was such widespread disbelief in the community, on the same order of magnitude as when we heard someone we knew was “making a documentary.” Something like 40% of people pass the exam, and frankly, we just couldn’t wrap our heads around the concept of the 59th percentile. “I’m disgusted,” said a friend who had hooked up with Jen once, quickly making his way into the bathroom to shower and rinse his mouth out with Scope. Jen took the failure as a sign—an opportunity to “follow her dreams” and become an actress. She is now the subject of our other ex-friend’s documentary, the title: Banker Chick Gets Creative: A Riches to Rags Story.

http://www.leveragedsellout.com/2008/07/chartered-financial-banalyst/

 
WolfofWSO:
I don’t know very much about the “Chartered Financial Analyst” program. From what I gather, though, it’s a set of exams that you take to get certified to be a money manager out in Ohio. They ask you trivial finance questions and tease your brain with provocative ethical scenarios like: “Should you steal your clients’ money? Answer yes or no.”

I am going to make the assumption that your comment is serious and that you are not being sarcastic. Why don't you just Google CFA Institute and then learn about it instead of posting a comment that does not make much sense.

http://www.series7examtutor.com
 
Series7examtutor:
WolfofWSO:
I don’t know very much about the “Chartered Financial Analyst” program. From what I gather, though, it’s a set of exams that you take to get certified to be a money manager out in Ohio. They ask you trivial finance questions and tease your brain with provocative ethical scenarios like: “Should you steal your clients’ money? Answer yes or no.”

I am going to make the assumption that your comment is serious and that you are not being sarcastic. Why don't you just Google CFA Institute and then learn about it instead of posting a comment that does not make much sense.

Check the link out in my post.

 

In my opinion, CFA Institute is using questionable (may be even discriminatory) practices.

I provided CFA Institute with a document issued by Embassy of my country in the United States, which allows me to travel to my home country and at least one more country, which does not require a visa. CFA Institute refused to accept this document as a substitute to international passport because it does not allow “unrestricted travel”

Basically, according to CFA Institute my educational opportunities should depend on the list of the countries I can visit. In my opinion, it is not compatible with US laws, international treaties as well as recommendations of international organizations.

In particular, there is UN Convention against discrimination in education. UN promotes equitable access to education, which does not mean "one size fits all"

According to Brown v Board of Education, the right to an equal educational opportunity is one of the most valuable rights you have.

On addition, "unrestricted travel" is a subjective criteria, which is open for an overbroad interpretation. Approach of CFA Institute can be interpreted as indirect discrimination based on nationality.

 
ma1991ma:
In my opinion, CFA Institute is using questionable (may be even discriminatory) practices.

I provided CFA Institute with a document issued by Embassy of my country in the United States, which allows me to travel to my home country and at least one more country, which does not require a visa. CFA Institute refused to accept this document as a substitute to international passport because it does not allow “unrestricted travel”

Basically, according to CFA Institute my educational opportunities should depend on the list of the countries I can visit. In my opinion, it is not compatible with US laws, international treaties as well as recommendations of international organizations.

In particular, there is UN Convention against discrimination in education. UN promotes equitable access to education, which does not mean "one size fits all"

According to Brown v Board of Education, the right to an equal educational opportunity is one of the most valuable rights you have.

On addition, "unrestricted travel" is a subjective criteria, which is open for an overbroad interpretation. Approach of CFA Institute can be interpreted as indirect discrimination based on nationality.

Less is not more. Why can't you get normal passport?

 

Level III candidate for the 2nd time here. Anyone notice anything substantially different from 2018 Kaplan Schweser books to 2019 books apart from the font and re-organizing a few sections? I've been reviewing my Google doc while having both booths open and so far (I'm now on book 3, Asset Allocation), I've yet to see any new or deleted content?

Anyone notice this specifically for LIII?

 
DoYouLikePhilCollins:
Level III candidate for the 2nd time here. Anyone notice anything substantially different from 2018 Kaplan Schweser books to 2019 books apart from the font and re-organizing a few sections? I've been reviewing my Google doc while having both booths open and so far (I'm now on book 3, Asset Allocation), I've yet to see any new or deleted content?

Anyone notice this specifically for LIII?

Kaplan gets rich by selling content in this gold rush for the CFA. It was a lot easier to get rich by selling pans than panning for gold way back when.

 

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