I would suggest if you think becoming a Charterholder is a “great” accomplishment, you might not have a good idea of the intent of the program and you may be pursuing the Charter for the wrong reasons. You may end up disappointed. The Charter fills a gap that has been left open in finance. That is all. It demonstrates an absolute minimum. Would you feel good about designing something to code, the absolute minimum acceptable standard for your profession. You may want to go beyond the minimum before you start feeling like you have done something great.
No I studied, and I was doing very well on schweser. My mock exams were between 68%-74%. The thing that really threw me off was my strong points on kaplan (specifically fixed and corporate finance), were ALWAYS above a 70%, and rarely between 50-70%. Not once did I get under 50%.
Well on the CFA exam both fixed and corp came in at under 50%. it’s mind boggling…
^Scoring 70% on mocks isn’t exactly “killing it”. Nonetheless, it sounds like you just had a bad day. Sometimes they just test all the wrong things.
If I were you, I’d do it again. But if you fail a second time (even if you’re Band 10.999), I’d stop altogether.
For a charterholder, your understanding of bands is exemplary.
If we follow this logic, then getting your MD isn’t a great accomplishment because you’ve only demonstrated the absolute minimum of being a medical doctor.
Jokes aside, the CFA isn’t a bare minimum for a lot of financial professionals. Sure maybe for the big private equity jobs, but not for the iddy biddy private wealth management guys or corporate financial planning and analysis guys (or even some of the accounting guys).
u should be scoring high 70s+ on practice exams
If you had put in 250-300 and failed band 2, I’d say you just getting started, put in another 300 hours and you can pass, like me.
Time for the biennial bump.
And, sure, I’ll just post what I wrote two years ago…
If you don’t mind hearing the perspective of another charterholder…
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If you’re determined to complete the CFA program because you think it would really help your career or because you just want to learn a lot more about finance, then fight on.
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If you’re determined to pass L1 mainly because you’re not used to failing things and you want to kick its butt… well, ok. But if you pass L1, then what? Go back to #1 above and make sure that you’re doing this for the right reasons, and not as an ego trip.
Yes, L1 is cake. L2 and L3 are significantly harder. Huge time commitments, health issues, family issues, insane pressure to pass a test offered only once per year. I passed all three exams on the first try, but if I’d have failed L3 I don’t know if I would have done it again. Heck, even now I don’t really want to contemplate what I would have done if I’d failed, and I passed four years ago.
GM, Like you, I also served 6 years in the military before finishing my degree and entering a career in investing. I am the same age you were when you started the CFA journey, and I failed the december exam.
I know that I could have done better. I didnt really know what I was getting into at the time. But I do now. In my mind it doesnt matter how bad you failed. Each exam is a fresh opportunity. And like frisian said, doing it for the right reasons is a great motivator to keep going.
As for quitting. Quitting isnt an option for me. Naturally gifted people may pass each exam the first time and thats fine, just because your good at taking tests does not mean you will be the best at your job. I won’t squander my time between now and june.
I totally forgot to bump this in July. I’ll just bump it now, so everybody can view and stew.
Wait the results are out…?? I received an email yesterday saying that I would get an email with my results on January 26th…
Results are not out yet. Per the email you’ll have them on the 26th.
I forgot to bump this a couple of days ago. A few years later, and I still stand by my original post.
So, Topper, now that you’ve failed L3 twice, how do you feel?
I don’t normally like to rub it in people’s faces, but for you and robertucla, I’ll make an exception.
So, now that it’s been 3.5 years since I originally started this thread, all of you should have had the chance to complete the charter by now. (You’ve had three years to take two tests.)
TopperHarley failed L3 twice.
Robertucla is MIA, but his profile still says “Level 2 Candidate”.
Any other L1 candidates want to opine on how easy the test is?
Greenman like a boss after his workout this morning
Sadistic…but, i love it
Wow! There is no rebuttal. I wonder what being completely whipped does to the psyche when one was completely delusional starting the process…