How to pass the CFA Level 1 in one go

This is a prediction.

I have not, in fact, passed my CFA Level 1 exam in one go.

But I'm sure as hell going to try (in November 2026), and here's how.

What follows is my system: research synthesis, live experiments, public accountability.

Learning how to learn

The first step is to start reading material on day one.

Oh, wait, it's not.

Scott Young calls this metalearning: learning about learning, before diving into content. The idea is: before navigating unfamiliar terrain, study the map. Invest roughly 10% of your total expected study time into research before you begin. For a 300-hour CFA prep, that's ~30 hours of research.

It sounds excessive. But one bad decision (wrong resource, wrong study order, wrong time allocation) can waste 50+ hours downstream, or cause a retake.

My research had three layers:

Layer 1: Reverse-engineer the exam.

I interviewed 10 charterholders and candidates. Three questions drove every conversation:

1. What worked?
2. What didn't?
3. What surprised you?

The pattern recognition across success and failure:

• Those who passed on their first attempt mentioned practice questions as the highest-leverage activity.
• Those who failed mentioned spending too much time on the readings.

Layer 2: Understand the exam architecture.

Topics and their weights. Question types and the reality of time pressure (180 questions, 270 minutes = 90 seconds per question).

The insight into interconnected topics was a big unlock:

• Time Value of Money is a prerequisite that unlocks Fixed Income, Equity, and Corporate Issuers.
• Financial Statement Analysis is a prerequisite for Equity.
• Economics is a prerequisite for Derivatives.

Study order matters for retention, even more so for understanding. My research led me to this suggested study order, which accounts for dependencies.

Layer 3: Know when to stop researching.

Metalearning follows the law of diminishing returns.

Compare a few hours of additional research to a few hours of studying. When studying contributes more, start studying.

I hit that inflection point after about two weeks. Analysis paralysis is real; be mindful.

Keep it simple: One book only

After researching resources, I committed to Kaplan Schweser Notes as my study material.

I am excluding:

• The CFA Institute material
• Any YouTube playlist
• Other combinations of sources.

One resource, mastered thoroughly. Caveat: Specific LOS may be supplemented after I've put my head through a wall with Kaplan Schweser Notes.

One "Bible" gives you a consistent mental framework, a single reference point that everything else maps onto.

By the way, do yourself a favor and use Stylus (browser extension) to increase the font size on Kaplan's online reader. CSS I'm using:

.Content-module__contentText--iH9YR,
.Content-module__contentText--iH9YR p,
.Content-module__contentText--iH9YR li,
.Content-module__contentText--iH9YR h3,
.Content-module__contentText--iH9YR h4 {
  font-size: 18px !important;
  line-height: 1.7 !important;
}

Small thing. Makes a big difference over hundreds of hours of screen time.

Rush through content: The goal is mock exams

Counterintuitive component of my strategy: racing through the readings to reach mock exams ASAP, knowing the first score will be horrific.

The "directness principle" at work: Practice what you want to get good at (taking the CFA Level 1 exam), not reading about finance.

Readings are input. The exam is output.

Candidates spending their time on input instead of output fail.

I won't.

Max 30% readings, 20% flashcards, 50%+ practice questions.

What matters for learning transfer is that the cognitive demands match between practice and the real thing. A mock exam forces you to make decisions under the time pressure, processing information as if it's the real thing. Reading a textbook does not. The cognitive fidelity is incomporable.

From your first mock, you get feedback. And feedback is where learning actually happens. A bad score tells you where your gaps are, which chapters to drill, and if your strategy is working.

You won't get that signal from reading.

Flashcards > notes

I'm zooming through content, but I'm also creating flashcards.

Same effort as notes, similar impact on learning, but flashcards have an advantage: you can use them to revise.

"Notes too" you say? Sure, reading notes feels productive. But leads to familiarity, not recall. And the CFA exam tests recall.

Active recall research states the brain strengthens memories through retrieval (pulling information out), not encoding (putting information in). Flashcards force retrieval by design. Notes encourage re-reading, one of the lowest-utility study techniques, according to the cognitive science literature.

Because I value my time (laziness? optimization? idk), my good friend Claude writes my Anki cards, then I import the file.

The process:

1. Retrieve HTML from Kaplan Schweser Notes using the selector Content-module__contentText
2. Paste into an HTML file
3. Upload the HTML file to Claude Cowork
4. Use this prompt:

Create Anki cards aimed at ensuring I pass the CFA Level 1 exam. The in-scope learning objectives are: [paste specific LOS]. Base the Anki cards on the Schweser notes found at: [file path]

Not a 100% convinced this is "the best" prompt. I might play around with alternatives.

This generates cards in minutes that would take me hours to create manually. But there is a non-negotiable: every card must have clear tags mapped to specific Learning Objective Statements (LOS).

Many (or most?) AI-generated cards won't make sense to you, especially when you're moving through content quickly. You will need to go back to the source material, build understanding, and edit cards into your own words.

Tags ensure efficient navigation.

Do every question available, three times

I'm zooming through the readings, making flashcards, and also doing my best on practice questions.

My goal: complete the question bank(s) three times. Anything less than twice is failure.

Each pass serves a function:

1. First pass identifies what you don't know.
2. Second pass builds pattern recognition and fixes gaps.
3. Third pass builds speed and confidence.

The compounding effect is real, by the third pass, questions that took 3 minutes take 45 seconds, and you're solving them from intuition rather than calculation.

Tracking hours (or fail)

You have to track your hours. Without data, you're guessing.

Jeff Haden says: set a huge goal, use it to design a process, forget the goal and focus entirely on the process.

Did I hit my hours? Yes, or no.

That's the only question that matters.

Here's a simplified version of my tracker, organized by the study order I'm following:

The study order is designed around prerequisite chains: Quant feeds into FSA, FSA feeds into Equity and Fixed Income, and Econ feeds into Derivatives. This sequencing builds on foundations you've laid, improving retention.

AI is a damn good teacher

Hit a hard-to-crack concept? Claude with this prompt can do magic:

You're a top 0.1% professor teaching a bottom 0.1% student. Your goal is to ensure the student passes the CFA Level 1 exam. Explain the following Learning Objective and content accordingly: [paste LOS and content]

This is the Feynman Technique externalized. If you can't explain something simply, you don't understand it, and Claude forces the simplification.

The "bottom 0.1% student" framing is deliberate: it eliminates jargon and forces the explanation to start from first principles with concrete examples.

I've found this more effective than re-reading the same paragraph five times or watching a 40-minute YouTube lecture on one concept. Though I still use both those options more than I like to admit.

Overshooting the 70% Threshold

The standard advice from charterholders is to keep doing questions, mock exams, and reviewing weak areas until you consistently score 70% on mocks.

I'm aiming for 80% (the "overkill approach").

When you train harder than what you need, you're unlikely to miss important lessons or feedback. If I can consistently hit 80% on mocks, the real exam becomes more manageable: the extra 10% is my insurance.

Aiming higher also reveals gaps that 70% bar would mask. At 70%, you can get away with being weak in one or two topics. At 80%, every topic needs to be at least decent.

The higher bar forces more comprehensive preparation.

Anki daily habit

Anki is my retention engine.

Spaced repetition exploits the forgetting curve: by reviewing information just as you're about to forget it, you convert short-term memories into long-term ones with minimal total review time.

Essential Anki add-ons

• Review Heatmap: visualizes your consistency streak (accountability through visibility)
• Image Occlusion Enhanced: creates flashcards from diagrams and tables
• FSRS4Anki Helper: optimizes the spaced repetition algorithm beyond Anki's defaults

Editing

Cards get edited as I learn. AI made the first draft, it's bound to be part slop.

Understanding makes the final version. Every time I review a card and think "this doesn't make sense," I stop and rewrite it in my own words.

IE; combining retrieval practice with elaboration, two of the most effective learning techniques stacked into one action.

Daily rule

Reviews happen every single day.

The compound effect of spaced repetition only works if the spacing is consistent.

Miss three days and you're buried under a review backlog that takes hours to clear.

Mock analysis: Where most learning happens

Taking a mock exam is (unfortunately) the easy part.

Analyzing it properly is where most candidates fail.

Ray Dalio's formula applies here: pain + reflection = progress.

A bad mock hurts. But the pain converts to progress if you reflect systematically.

Of course: "You need to study more".

But, specifically, what went wrong, and why?

My mock analysis protocol categorizes errors:

• Concept error: I didn't understand the underlying principle.
  • Fix: go back to the reading, use the Feynman Technique, create new Anki cards.
• Calculation error: I understood the concept but made a math mistake.
  • Fix: drill the calculation type until it's automatic.
• Time error: I understood it but ran out of time.
  • Fix: practice under tighter time constraints. Speed comes from pattern recognition, which comes from volume.
• Careless error: I knew it and still got it wrong.
  • Fix: slow down on "easy" questions. Develop a checking habit.

This maps directly to finding your "rate-determining step", the bottleneck that limits overall performance.

In chemistry, a single slow step controls the reaction's rate. In CFA prep, one type of error dominates your score.

E.g., If 60% of your errors are concept errors in Fixed Income, all the time management drills in the world won't help.

Attack the actual bottleneck: Okay chapters get less focus, hard ones get prioritized.

Track improvement over time. It's motivating, tells you whether your study strategy is working, and where to go next.

Environment design

Willpower is limited and unreliable. Environmental design removes the need for it.

The underlying insight is that distractions come from three sources: your environment, your task, and your mind.

You can engineer the first.

You can modify the second (active study techniques are inherently more engaging than passive reading).

The third, mental wandering, anxiety, restlessness, is the hardest, but handling the first two makes it far more manageable.

Here's my setup:

The lock-in-o-scope.

A designated study location (my home office). A trigger for focus. I work & study here. I don't scroll, YouTube, or goon.

The location itself becomes the cue.

Phone in a different room.

IN A DIFFERENT ROOM.

The research on this is unambiguous: if the phone is absent, distraction isn't a choice to resist.

Website blockers during sessions.

Self-Control.

I prefer "whitelist" because it lets me go only on Kaplan & Claude.

No non-essential notifications.

Focus Mode on every device.

Diagnostic framework for getting unstuck

Not all stuckness is the same. The fix depends on:

Is it understanding?

I can't grasp the concept at all. Fix:

• Feynman Technique: write it out as if teaching someone. When I hit a gap, go back to the source.

Repeat until the explanation flows without looking anything up.

Is it retention?

I understood it last week but forgot it. Fix:

• More retrieval practice, more Anki. This is a spacing problem.

The memory formed but decayed; review intervals need to be tighter for this topic.

Is it focus?

I'm reading the same paragraph for the third time. Fix:

• Check the environment: Cluttered workspace? Studying a complex topic in a noisy café?
• Use the five-minute start rule: commit to just five minutes.

The initial resistance usually fades once you begin.

Is it drilling?

I understand the concept, but can't execute. Fix:

• Isolate the bottleneck component. Drill it in isolation.

Cognitive component drills (practicing one aspect at a time) reduce the cognitive load and allow focused improvement.

Is it feedback?

I don't know what I don't know. Fix:

• More practice questions with detailed explanations.

The CFA Institute's own questions provide corrective feedback.

The final push: Intensification

Two weeks before the exam, I plan to shift into high gear.

8 to 12 hours per day.

Mocks become the primary activity: full-length, timed, under exam conditions.

Anki continues daily.

Resources I'm using (and considering)

Primary:

Kaplan Schweser Notes + Question Bank.

This is the Bible.

Definitely buying:

CFA Institute practice exams (mocks created by the people who make the exam).

Charterholder I interviewed named these as the most valuable purchase.

Under consideration:

Schweser's Secret Sauce.

I've heard good things, but unconvinced.

If I'm consistently hitting my target mock scores with Schweser Notes alone, there's no reason to add another resource.

Free resources I'll use as needed:

• 300hours.com
• Fin Tree YouTube channel (three 8-hour course)
• Analyst Prep
• Bloom Prep
• More free stuff

Additional mock exams:

I'll buy more if I run out.

I'd rather spend money on mocks than on more readings.

Final note

Charterholders told me, "The exam tests discipline more than intelligence."

The CFA Level 1 syllabus is broad, but its concepts aren't beyond anyone with an understanding of linear algebra.

What separates people who pass from people who don't is whether they actually did the work:

• Showed up
• Tracked hours
• Drilled weak spots
• Maintained the Anki streak

The CFA is about proving, to myself, that I can commit to a grueling, months-long process and see it through.

I'll see you on the other side.

And then I'll update this article, potentially write a new one, with what actually happened.

Last updated: 26 February 2026. Exam date: November 2026.

Liked this? I write about learning systems, career strategy, and working at the intersection of technology and finance at theoleimer.com.