Nor do I think that encouragement is misplaced here (obviously).
However, I would encourage you to reread Greenman’s original post. He does a great job of putting this series of exams in perspective. Some people who start down this road shouldn’t continue; that’s a fact. (I’ve had candidates in my classes who had no business being there. Sure, someone who has a 1bp chance of passing all three exams might do it, but it’s likely that their time is much better spent doing something else. And there are others who haven’t even that slim chance of success.)
Some people should be encouraged; others should be discouraged. And AF is an appropriate place for that to be expressed.
You probably should have waited until tomorrow. Everyone is very stressed now, no need to add on it. Not to say that your message is right or wrong, I personally think it’s something to really think about indeed.
Just passed L2 and while I did put in over 300 hours, I did not put in as much time on L2 as I did on L1 (cause I didn’t have time having just passed L1 in Dec 13). Looking back, the material on L2 is undoubtedly harder but as for the actual exam, I honestly thought L2 was easier than L1. I think mostly due to less questions and a more focused topic set on L2. I felt much more confident leaving the test room after L2 vs L1.
The point to all this is that I continue to disagree with Greenman’s posts that discourage L1 failers from continuing on. I personally didn’t fail L1 but it’s completely feasible for someone to fail L1 and then pass L2. I’ll get back to you on L3.
I never said that everybody who fails L1 should throw in the towel. I failed L1 once (for lack of preparation) and L2 once (because I underestimated it). The point is that failing twice, or putting a legitimate 100% into it and still failing is a sign that you lack either the ability or the effort to pass the CFA exams. (Note that I’m also speaking about L1.)
Topper, congrats on passing L2. You’ve now passed the application for admission and are halfway through the “real” CFA exam. Only one more year (the worst of them all) still to go.
Failed band 10. Just for the records - I had 3 months one week to study, worked all the time but during May and the June week which I spent entirely on studying, used the CFA curriculum for Ethics, Quant and Economics and then had to use Schweser to fit timewise.
By the way, there were at least three questions that were not covered in the Schweser notes, two were in Econ, I believe about monetary systems but don`t remember exactly.
If doesn’t exist dude, had you known everything there were a lot of thing you would or wouldn’t have done.
And don’t bother complaining about why you should or shouldn’t do CFA. if it didn’t come up exactly to your expectation, there nobody else to blame but you who made the choice in the first place. If ppl are coming to AF for the CFA “thing” you shouldn’t generalize all the aspects of the CFA solely on your personal experience although that is all that you can share obviously. I believe there is no single one person in this world who have all the experience about usefulness of CFA related to jobs, because there are millions of them and we simply don’t have enough time in this world to know them all.
If you do not enjoy reading the material, or at least half of it. Then don’t bother force feeding information that will most likely be regurgitated the moment you’re told to stop writing.
S2000, could you talk a little bit about the candidates that didnt belong in your class? As an instructor, what warning signs did you see? I ask because I think hitting the CFA is a great accomplishment and I want to know what it took for you to be like “you dont belong here”
One was a gentleman whose background was in construction; no business background, no math background. After the first couple of classes it was clear that he wasn’t understanding the material at all; it was so far past his experience that he had no chance to learn it in time. (That’s not to say that he couldn’t have learned it eventually, but he needed a lot of foundational material before hitting the CFA curriculum.)
The other was a gentleman whose background I don’t recall. He was fixated on Ethics, because a good Ethics score would matter if he were on the borderline. Unfortunately, he had no hope of being on the borderline because he, too, wasn’t getting the material, at all. His questions in class made it clear that he didn’t have a fundamental knowledge of most of the topics, so trying to learn the subtleties was a hopeless pursuit.
None of this is intended to suggest that someone without a finance background cannot pass the CFA exams; I have a good friend who is a charterholder, and whose background was writing jingles for television commercials. It is intended to suggest that there are people who lack the ability to learn the material, whatever their background.
If you failed, my advice, do mock test from elan guides. That’s all I did plus their videos. Also the official mock exams. You need to be scoring 70%. Your first tests will look like shit, but over time you will memorize answers or steps to get the answer. Dont bother reading the book not good an improving your score given the amount of time needed to do it.
Overall though, it is not worth the time IMHO if you fail. You are doing it for the associated prestige to have 3 letters. if you are super smart go for it since you wont fail, or work too hard to pass. But if you are moderate intelligence, try something else.
Like s2000, I’ve been teaching this material for quite a while. And I think Greenie’s post has a lot to recommend it. My take is that IF YOU FAILED L1, you have to take a hard look at why and by how much. Here are the questions to ask yourself
Were you close, or band 6 or 7? If you’re close, definitely give it another try
Did you honestly give it your all? If so, and you weren’t close, you should take a good look at what strategies you can use to close the gap, and how likely they are to give you success. If you put in the time (300+ hours) and still ended up band 6 or so, it might be tilting at windmills for you to continue.
Did you feel like you were actually getting a good part of the material, or did you feel like you were barely hangin on?
A lot of people want to be give nothing but encouragement. But sometimes, it’s more helpful to be told it’s just not a good fit. I wanted to get a counseling degree a few years ago. Given that I’m probably borderline Aspergers, that clearly wasn’t a good fit (ya think?). Instead I got a Finance PhD, and all is good. If someone hadn’t given me “the talk”, I would have wasted a lot of time pursing something for no good reason.
Let me be clear - I’m NOT trying to be discouraging. But taking a good hard look at yourself is almost always extremely hard, and usually pretty beneficial. Most of us are capable of far more than we think. I’m a slow guy who became one of the better runners in my state. But even then, when I got to college, the bar was high enough that NO amount of work would get me over it.
But overachieving takes a lot of hard (and smart) work. And it’s important to (1) assessjust how much work is needed, adn (2) whether or not you’re REALLY willing to go through it.
And as an aside, I’m one of the few who spent far less than 200 hours a level. But I have a unique background-- I’d probably taught 80% of L1 before I took it, and over 50-60% of L2, have a good accounting background, used study material to good effect, and am generally good at taking exams (academics usually are).
Bottom line - even L1 is tough, and if you’re far enough “out of the money”, you have to take a good hard look at whether it’s worth it to continue. And realize that since I teach prep classes, my incentives are to encourage you to continue. So advice that goes the other direction is probably credible.
^That’s a tough one. Finance major, 250-300 hours, but still failed band 8.
If you were a poetry major and studied 250-300 hours, I’d say that you just don’t have enough finance under your belt. Keep studying and you’ll get there.
If you had put in 50 hours and failed band 8, I’d say you lack discipline and study skills. Acquire some and take it again.
If you had put in 250-300 and failed band 2, I’d say you just don’t have the academic prowess. Give it up.
When you say, “studied 250 hours”, are you studying and watching Law & Order SVU at the same time, and counting that as an hour of study? Or is it alone, in the library, with a pencil in one hand and a calculator in the other? (This might be part of your problem.)
Excellent point - my sense it that a lot of students try to “multi-task” when studying. Real studying means NO distractions - leave the cell in the car, turn off the laptop (or use an app that disables the browser for the time you’re studying, etc…).
"But…But… I can’t study without my (insert necessary distraction here).
Of course, I’m just a crusty old fart. What do I know?
You’re the best judge here man. Frankly i dont understand why/how candidates state the number of hours they put in for this exam. i mean, who does that? who counts the number of hours they studied !!??!!
That is no means of judging ones preparation for this exam. The real questions you should be asking yourself are :
Did you give an honest 100% to this exam?
Do you have an interest in finance?
Did you use the right material?
Did you complete at least one reading of the entire syllabus?
If you have an interest in finance, which you clearly do [Major in finance], why would you let the world on a public forum make such a decision on your career ?
