CFA Level I Exam: Why Hard Work Alone Isn't Enough And What Actually Works

You've opened up the CFA curriculum for the first time and your stomach drops. A hundred topics, thousand formulas, thousand pages. You say to yourself, "I'm going to study 4 hours a day, everyday, and somehow it will stick. After 3 weeks, you're reading the same paragraph about fixed income, nothing is getting through. As you would expect, that sense of calm, but panicky, is not uncommon.

The common mistake made by most of the candidates at the start. They read the whole curriculum several times, making highlights and believing that if they read it a few times they understand it. It doesn't. An explanation of the Capital Asset Pricing Model is far from being the same as knowing when and how to use it in exams.

CFA Level I is NOT a memory exam. The exam tests you on scenario questions that require you to not only know the formula, but also understand the concept. There's the danger of judging the Ethics section every time and then there's the time pressure when there are 180 questions in one day. 

How do you know if you're going to pass the exam or fail it? They cease to learn, and begin to learn from, the material. They relate concepts within subjects and identify how a concept in Financial Reporting relates to Equity Analysis. They work on their low strengths rather than relooping their warm spots. They learn the behavior of formulas in problems, rather than by just looking at a flashcard.

That change can only come about through actual practice exam-style practice. Updated questions help you to practice responding to a pattern, develop your speed, and get into the pressure cooker on exam day. Make use of resources, such as Pass4success, which provide realistic CFA level 1 practice questions that closely resemble the actual CFA exam format; thus you can develop this natural instinct over time.

The CFA Level 1 exam is a difficult exam but not impossible. Thousands of people go through it each cycle, but they're not super-human, they studied smarter. Take the first steps, practice repeatedly and believe in the process. You will be glad you did on exam day!