Game Plan

I don’t have a concrete time line in my mind. But I do have a rough sketch about the way I would like to go about Level II.

Materials: I’ll do most of the readings using the Curriculum. Since I paid so much for it, I might as well use it. Plus, CFAI issued a public statement against the prep providers and there is a reason why they have made the curriculum compulsory along with the registration fees. I think the people who will rely on Schweser alone will have a high price to pay this time. I do have the soft copies of 2007 Schweser materials (Books 1-7, Qbank and Quicksheet). I don’t think that I’ll purchase 2008 Schweser notes. I’ll use the 2007 ones along with the Curriculum.

There are a number of new LOS’s that have been added and reworded. The new ones will be more heavily tested, I think. So, obviously, it would be a good idea to read it from the Curriculum in details and hence, the need for Schweser in that department diminishes.

I do plan to purchase the Qbank from Schweser and the CFAI Online Exams next year. During my Level I prep, I used Schweser exclusively mostly because I have a Finance background and because I got a scholarship; so I hardly paid anything for it. I like the way Schweser condenses many topics and whenever I’ll have a doubt, I’ll look into their 2007 and see if it’s explained in a better manner. (Professor’s notes are quite helpful).

Time Line: Everything before the start of Jan ‘08 will be more of casual reading. We need to avoid a burn out.

End of September: Get done with FSA. I already know quite a lot of that Fraud and Accounting Shenanigans stuff.

update: Got done with FSA except for the last reading. How much do I actually remember? That’s another question altogether. I’ll worry about that after my next revision.

October: Ethics and Corporate Finance

update 10/24: Done with Ethics. Doing Corp. Finance right now. Currently running behind schedule.

Update 11/24: Done with Corp. finance. Heavily behind schedule. No way that I can finish Asset. Val and Equity by the end of November.

November: December: Asset Valuation and Equity

December: January: Derivatives and Portfolio Management.

By the end of Jan Feb, I want to finish the rest - Economics, Quants and Fixed Income.

February and March will be spent revising everything again and spending more time working out problems from the Qbank.

April-May: Focus on the key concepts and Qbank and CFAI Online Exams.

I don’t have a detailed time line right now. I’ll keep updating this page when I make one.

Time Spent: Because I’m taking 9 credit hours of MBA classes as well as searching for a job and working for 20 hours in the Dept, I aim to spend about an hour every weekday and about four to six hours during the weekends.

January onwards, I will spend 20 hours per week.

Analyst Forum is a very helpful forum solely dedicated to the CFA Program. I would highly recommend you to join it. It helps me stay on track and remain motivated.