The Crucial CFA Exam Guide
5/31/2017
CFA exams are not easy: most people fail. Nor can they be rushed: the CFA institute advocates at least 300 hours of study for each of the three levels. If you want to pass, you’ll need a plan. And you’ll need to stick to it through long years of study. Based upon the average age of CFA exam-takers, earning the full charter will take you three years – at least. If you want to pass the CFA exams, this is what you’ll need to do: Understand what you are getting yourself into: Don’t even start the CFA program without an awareness of the implications. If you just plan on attempting the exams just for the sake of having the title on your CV, don’t! You need to be genuinely interested in investing and doing research. Also you need to be prepared to make many sacrifices, like saying goodbye to your social life and friends. If you are truly capable of this commitment, only then will it be appropriate to register. Get a head start The more time you have the more higher the chances are for your success, so the earlier you start the more the chances of you succeeding. You definitely need to plan your study time well in advance of the exam date, and stick to it. If you start early you will have more time to practice, try and practice at least one CFA practice exam every week, the CFA practice exam will revolutionize your study game. Try and work on your English skills If you have gone through even one CFA practice exam you will know that the CFA exams test your knowledge of financial concepts. However, they also test your knowledge of English. If English is your second language, work on your fluency alongside your studies. If you’re a non-native English speaker, you have a handicap. These are English exams and some of the phrases are difficult to understand, even for English speakers. Use the CFA Institute’s online study planner The CFA Institute provides its own study planner. This indicates how much time you’ll need to allocate to each topic and allows three weeks to review your knowledge. Steve Horan, managing director and co-lead of education at the CFA Institute, advises using this planner from the start so that you can optimize your study time. Read a summary of the CFA’s study materials, but don’t neglect the originals The CFA provides its own study materials, but they can be wordy. Use a ‘notes provider’ for Level I, but revert to the CFA’s own materials for levels II and III to make sure you “cover all the gaps”. Go through necessary questions after studying every topic If you want to succeed in the CFA exams, it’s imperative that you run through past question and do the CFA practice exam. Also practice the end of chapter’s questions that come after every chapter. Focus on your weak points You cannot leave anything out if you are studying for the CFA exams, so it is mandatory you give priority to the topics you find difficult as even the smallest details can affect your scores. As the exams approach, questions must dominate your revision While you need to run through questions after studying each topic to ensure you’ve understood it, you need to devote an increasing amount of time to answering CFA practice exam questions as the final exams approach. We recommend, therefore, drilling end-of-reading questions, topic-based practice exams that are generated from a bank of over 1,000 questions, and CFA practice exams. Take a week off as the exams approach If you’re working full time, you should take some time off as the six-hour CFA sitting approaches. At the end of the day when you’re working and trying to study in your free time, it really helps to give yourself this space.
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