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(Last Updated on 7 Feb 2005)
Major Changes in Curriculum for 2005
There are new editions on several textbooks, including:
Analysis on the Changes of Curriculum for 2005:
Passing Rates of L1 exam in recent years:
Weekly Study Tips from Schweser for 2004 :
Exam hints:
What did the candidates say about their experiences with L1 exam?
Errata List of Schweser Notes 2003:
1. The Format & Content
L1 is now in multiple choice format. Before 1995, the L1 exam was half in essay format and half in multiple choice questions.
AIMR has discontinued the publication of actual past exams since '95.
What's the problem here with L1?
Candidates pledge not to reveal the contents of the exam and the creators are, of course, bound to secrecy. No one who is free to give advice about the upcoming exam has perfect knowledge of the contents of the most recent exams.
You can't see any actual past mc questions and therefore can't trace any pattern or even having a feeling of what the actual exam really is.
In book 5 (old questions review) of Schweser, we saw many of the "All-Time Favorite" questions that seem less frequently asked again in L1 with the change of exam format. In my own experience (I took L1 in 2000), I was surprised with the real exam that was quite different from those in the so called "old questions review" or Schweser's sample papers - in terms of style and content.
2. Study Focus
Learning out-come statements (LOS): use LOS as our study focus. You should differentiate the meanings of those command words in the LOS - sometimes the LOS says "you should able to describe" the concept, and sometimes it says "you should be able to compute.....". You have to focus on these commands words of LOS. Otherwise, you may waste your time on something that won't be tested in the exam.
Do the past paper or whatever that 're exam type exercise: CFA is not an exam of memorization. You internalize the concepts and apply them in the exam. So the best way to learn, is to do as many exam type problems as possible.
Understanding the underlying concepts is much more important than memorizing the details and formula.
Use Schweser's study notes (or other your preferred study notes) as your study platform to grasp the essence of the curriculum. Supplemented with text books which are used as your back up. Whenever you got problems with Schweser, refer to the text books.
The Easy marks: Quant section, Portfolio management.
The Difficult sections: Accounting, Fixed income securities.
Study the hard topics first. It's easier to tackle the tougher subjects when you're fresh.
3. Study Schedule
Read the study notes twice
Set aside a month to do the past papers.
Make your own study schedule and stick to it.
4. Passing Scores
AIMR never release the passing scores required for the exam. For L1, there're 240 multiple choice questions. I think you need to crack 60%+ of them to pass it - I know people who got >50% on all sections, still failed the examin.
Unofficial Story: AIMR use the top one percent candidates' result as the benchmark for all other candidates. That is, if these top one percent people got 90% scores, we can get only 45% correct on the questions to have a result of 50%. But, all these are UNOFFICIAL story that often told on some popular forum.
5. Weekly Study Tips from Schweser for 2004 June exam
| May 13, 2004 |
You can sign up for Schweser's latest "Tip of the Week" from HERE.
If U have any notes/study outlines, e-mail them to me. I will post them on the net for free download.
Comments or suggestions? Please e-mail me at normanhk01@yahoo.com.hk
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