CFA - Level I

[J pold]

A few more questions, how imperative is it to have? What short of job opportunities open up once you have your level 1?

[IliketoPuck]

I'll let ya know when I get it

I graduated with a Finance degree, and would like to eventually work in capital markets, or something along those lines, so the CFA made sense for me personally. Lots of people go the MBA route as well. Extra education can only help you when it comes down to career prospects though, at least that's my opinion.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by J pold

A few more questions, how imperative is it to have? What short of job opportunities open up once you have your level 1?

Passing level I does not do anything for you other than implying to a prospective employer your commitment to passing all three levels. Ultimatley to unlock career opportunities you need to get the designation. In investment banking, research, and in some corporate finance circles you will need either an MBA, a CFA Designation or both to get promoted above the analyst level in most cases.

[J pold]

Yes this is probably information that I could get from the website, but you guys are just so darn resourceful I'm going to keep bothering you. Is their any restrictions for taking the exam? Also I'm due to graduate next December and will only need to finish up a few classes in my final semester, would it be wise to register for the exam now study through the summer and my final semester, than write the exam the same time I graduate next December?

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by J pold

Yes this is probably information that I could get from the website, but you guys are just so darn resourceful I'm going to keep bothering you. Is their any restrictions for taking the exam? Also I'm due to graduate next December and will only need to finish up a few classes in my final semester, would it be wise to register for the exam now study through the summer and my final semester, than write the exam the same time I graduate next December?

The problem a lot of people find is that you want to be able to 'peak at the right time,' namely exam time. If you get a bulk of your studying done in the summer then you might find you're going to be forgetting things come December. There's just so much testable material.

[Rutuu]

A bump...since Level I and Level II results came out today for the June 2010 sitting.42% Pass rate...not including the 25% that sign up then don't write.

[IliketoPuck]

nm

[Rutuu]

A quick blurb from Bloomberg on the exam results and how they compare to the last round of exams.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-0...amination.html

[J pold]

**BUMP**

I’m bumping this old thread because I’m basically in the OP’s situation. It’s August 17, I’m writing the exam on December 4th and I just got my books in the mail today. HOLY FFFFUUUUUU that’s a lot of material to be covered in roughly 105 days. I know it can be done, but I’m going to have to work my ass to get it done.


For those who have passed a few questions:


I know the institute says minimum 300 hours in order to be successful, but do you reaallllyyyy need to study that much? I’m not trying to down play the amount one should study but 300 hours seems a tab bit in excess.


What sort of exam regiment did you follow? Did you work in a group or alone?


And finally would you recommend the Schweser prep material? I’ve already sunk a fair bit of coin into the curriculum that is provided for me, is it worth another $500 bucks?

[IliketoPuck]

I would say yes J. I'm going to get the Schweser prep material for this go around.

I will be rewriting Dec. 4 as well, (8th ranking percentile to passing but not passing). That link to the bloomberg article is such a kick in the balls. If I had written last year I would have passed.

[J pold]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

I would say yes J. I'm going to get the Schweser prep material for this go around.

I will be rewriting Dec. 4 as well, (8th ranking percentile to passing but not passing). That link to the bloomberg article is such a kick in the balls. If I had written last year I would have passed.

Ouch! That really sucks, hopefully it goes better for you this time round’.

How many hours did you study for your first attempt? You go to U of C right? Have you been studying much already?

[Jing]

Originally Posted by J pold

**BUMP**

I’m bumping this old thread because I’m basically in the OP’s situation. It’s August 17, I’m writing the exam on December 4th and I just got my books in the mail today. HOLY FFFFUUUUUU that’s a lot of material to be covered in roughly 105 days. I know it can be done, but I’m going to have to work my ass to get it done.


For those who have passed a few questions:


I know the institute says minimum 300 hours in order to be successful, but do you reaallllyyyy need to study that much? I’m not trying to down play the amount one should study but 300 hours seems a tab bit in excess.


What sort of exam regiment did you follow? Did you work in a group or alone?


And finally would you recommend the Schweser prep material? I’ve already sunk a fair bit of coin into the curriculum that is provided for me, is it worth another $500 bucks?

You definitely have to put the time in. I studied by myself, but I think it is good to study with others as long as you have all covered the material and are reviewing. Good luck!

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by J pold

**BUMP**

I’m bumping this old thread because I’m basically in the OP’s situation. It’s August 17, I’m writing the exam on December 4th and I just got my books in the mail today. HOLY FFFFUUUUUU that’s a lot of material to be covered in roughly 105 days. I know it can be done, but I’m going to have to work my ass to get it done.


For those who have passed a few questions:


I know the institute says minimum 300 hours in order to be successful, but do you reaallllyyyy need to study that much? I’m not trying to down play the amount one should study but 300 hours seems a tab bit in excess.


What sort of exam regiment did you follow? Did you work in a group or alone?


And finally would you recommend the Schweser prep material? I’ve already sunk a fair bit of coin into the curriculum that is provided for me, is it worth another $500 bucks?

Keep in mind that the prerequisite to enroll is a reconized post-secondary degree in a variety of fields. Many people who write level 1 are seeing most concepts in those text books for the first time. If that is the case then most definately 300 hours would be the bare minimum. If you graduated with a B.Comm and majored in Finance in all honestly you might find that it takes less than 300 hours.

As for the schweser materials, I would consider them a must. They typically give a greater variety of review questions, comprehensive notes on each learning objective, and good pointers on how to navigate the curriculum specifically to what you should focus your time on in each reading.

The successful study plan for me for Level I was going through the schweser materials for each reading and performing all the of the practice questions. After each reading, I would then delve into the curriculum books to see if there was anything that the Schweser materials missed and then do the practice questions at the end of each reading. You should be getting close to 100% on each set of Concept checker questions and questions in the curriculum because the exam questions will be much more difficult.

Make sure you are finished reading and doing questions in the curriculum and schweser materials up to a month before exam time (Meaning you have about 2.5 months from now to crush all those pages! Get going!). Once you have reached this point start doing practice exams and try to simulate as best as possible the testing conditions(There are a couple of books of practice exams that come with your schweser purchase). In between practice exams you can do additional online questions on specific curriculum that you are having trouble with.

If you do all that you should be well on your way to passing level 1 and enrolling for your level 2 exam (which is exceedingly more difficult than level 1!).

PS: As an add on to your cost comment on Schweser materials, earning a CFA designation can net you on $20,000/year more pay. So seriously just pay the $500-1000 per level for your schweser materials because it's worth it!

http://johnmolson.concordia.ca/en/gr...iles-pass-rate

[IliketoPuck]

I completely agree with what Cowboy said.

I did graduate with a Finance degree, and I put in a min. of 300 hours for the test and came up just short. I did not use Schweser the first time, but will definitely use it this time.

[red sky]

Great advice Cowboy. Keep in mind J Pold that the material that you will be learning isn't really all that difficult when viewed as separate subjects. It is more the breadth of the material that causes people problems. I just passed Level II after my second go around. For Level I I used mostly Schewser but found with Level II that the study guides weren't that helpful. Do as many questions as you can but concentrate on the end of chapter questions in the CFA Institute books as the wording is somewhat tricky and it is a good idea to get use to it.

Edit: with that said, it is a difficult test and it does require a lot of time and sacrifice. You are going to have to work pretty damn hard in the coming months.

[Slava]

^ So what you're saying is that for me to sign up now and write in December would basically be suicidal? (IIRC you have until September 15 to enrol?). I've been toying with this as you know Cowboy and haven't made a decision yet. Still on the fence I guess as to whether I want to hate my life for about 10 months and bang out level one and two in that time period.

[IliketoPuck]

Slava, since you have a background in Finance already I would think you would be fine if you put in some solid work from sept-dec. If you decided to go for both, by this time next year you could be a successful level 2 candidate, which is pretty damn impressive.

I am planning to start studying again at the start of September, with Schweser this time.

[Flames89]

Originally Posted by Flames89

Wow. What a bump. I was reading the first post thinking to myself "what a poor s.o.b"! Ha!

Well, yes it was possible. Passed Level 1 that December. Passed Level 2 the following June, and Level 3 the June after.

Advice? I used Schweiser. Get through all the material a month before, then hammer questions. I recommend the Schweiser Question Bank for that, or old exams. Just do them. Endlessly.

Rinse repeat for all three.

Slava, it is definitely possible. It is just commitment.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Slava

^ So what you're saying is that for me to sign up now and write in December would basically be suicidal? (IIRC you have until September 15 to enrol?). I've been toying with this as you know Cowboy and haven't made a decision yet. Still on the fence I guess as to whether I want to hate my life for about 10 months and bang out level one and two in that time period.

I don't think it's suicidal at all. If you can get a solid 10 hours in on each weekend and knock down a couple of hours one or two weeknights a week you can nail it. You'll have to start ASAP though.

PS: As mentioned before, you'll also find a condensed study schedule for level II because you won't get your results from level one until the end of January which will push back your Level II efforts into February. That all said, you'll have the benefit of not having the Olympics provide temptation away from study this year. Of course that benefit will be reveresed if the Flames go on a playoff run in the spring!

[flamingchina]

Just wondering if anyone's tried the CFA review classes at the UofC?
Are they worth it?