big family event before the Exam

Hi all,

Just wanted the opinion of the general public - I am a Level 2 candidate and taking the next June 2018 Exam. My wife wants us to travel to the US two weeks before the Exam, its a very Important family wedding (taking place on 10 of June). I live in Israel so it means at least a week of no studying… according to my study plan, I have 6 weeks before to review and mocks. so far the pace of studying is satisfying and I am on track. My personal feeling is not to go and stay home and study (if my wife goes with our little girl that means that I will even have more time to study then normal days). what would you do? thanks

Simple - I’d go on the trip and roll the dice on a few weeks less of studying. That said, my perspective is different now as a charterholder than it would have been as an L2 candidate. Maybe there is some kind of compromise (ie you forego the trip but in return do something as a family after the exam).

Tough choice. Think it through and own whatever decision you make. You wouldn’t want to resent your family if you end up not passing after having gone to the wedding.

Good luck.

Would you rather pass the exam and have an unhappy wife, or fail the exam and have a happy wife?

(Note: you could also fail the exam and have an unhappy wife.)

Don’t see why you can’t study during the trip? I was in Las Vegas for a week or so before the exam, just used my free time to do some practices.

  1. Don’t take a whole week off - fly there, then fly back, 3-4 days max.

  2. What do you mean you can’t study? What are you doing on the plane and when the wedding is not in session?

Which would you rather do in the worse case scenario: a) take the exam again next year or b) have to get married again next year?

So I would say go and if anything, figure out ways to study as some have mentioned above.

Are Bubbe and Zayda going to be there too? They can spend time with their beloved granddaughter while daddy flies back home EARLY to study and write this verkakte exam!

thanks all for your advice.

the Mrs. was truly happy when told I would join. her support in my pursuits so far and in the future is very important, the family is probably no.1. and there is not a lot of opportunities to go together, especially if my wife mother is paying for the trip. thanks again.

Daddy will stay home before and will travel ahead of me. only one grandmother will be with us but another distant family that will be glad to entertain the little girl.

Or he could … pass the exam and have a happy wife :slightly_smiling_face:

I took CFA Level 3, got married, and ran a marathon in the same 2 month period. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.

CFA should never come before family…

I think there is a bit different meaning of family among nations. Somewhere is counted under family 5-6 brothers, sisters, uncles, sisters-in-law, and 20-30 other relatives etc. , and else this is just spouse, children and the closest family.Lol!

well i have three older brothers and all married…add in mom and pops and my wife’s immediate family ONE BIG FAM. cousins and uncles aunts etc don’t count in my family. cousin getting married? pfff a nice 1 sentence text message will suffice. Usually don’t even get a reply lol

I’m trying to avoid all family events but is often difficult. If your cousin was present at your wedding, you have to attend on his wedding . An unscripted rule. It’s easier with funerals. If nothing else, they have shorter duration.

I’ve said this for years on here and generally everyone disagrees with me, but it worked for me so…

I highly advocate taking time off of studying immediately prior to the exam. Sounds like we prepared similarly. I was done with the material and just taking mock exams about 6 weeks before the test(s). About two weeks before I was scoring high enough I was as confident as I was going to be so I’d take time off work, play some video games, drink, and generally relax. Sure, I’d still study a bit here and there (just as you could while traveling) but it was mainly stuff like Ethics and GIPS. Then about 5 days before the test I would completely stop. I went to Vegas before L3 and Mexico (or maybe the Caribbean…can’t remember) before L2.

My theory is if you haven’t learned the material after 200+ hours of methodically studying, those last couple weeks - and especially the last few days - aren’t going to help you. For me, relaxing and playing Red Dead Redemption for 8 hours a day was much more productive.

If you stay at home I think you will regret those days for not being with the family as you also have a little daughter. I think you should go with your family, enjoy the days and come back with a fresh mode and then study with fresher mode than before.

i think family is more important so studying for cfa makes sense. jkjk. lol ask your wife, be like this is really hard. the be like ray j and say: sexy can i? anyways grats that you decided to go anyhow. i think personally if i was asked by family, i would say how badly do i need to be there? lol i think i had to attend a funeral once thinking back. but it was only a 1 day commitment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeVOnHce37Y

i have so much cousins, i dont even know all my first cousins by name, we literally have different age brackets. i have a total of 15 uncles /aunts, and most had at least 2 kids, my parents had 4 so you get the picture, and we werent the only 1… 1 of my cousins is older than my uncle. so you get the picture. as benzo stated i would focus on the nuclear family. so ask the wife.

if anyone asked me what i did a month before the exams. i did nothing. just stayed home and got fat. played video games to destress. and mocked till i drop. 3 months i only went out once a week and would stop working out. i usually spend 4 hrs of running and 6 hrs of basketball a week. at the time i lived with my sister and her bf as we bought a house together, and they laughed cuz i would only leave my room to eat. i was like a ghost.

lol on stl for red dead. i played a lot of throwbacks, like finish ff7, vanguard bandits, fft. lol. i was literally depressed. it was a sad state of affairs.

I too had a wedding the weekend before the exam. Flew in night before, flew out early next morning. If you are important in the wedding, maybe add an extra day. I attended the wedding but didn’t sacrifice too much.

Father-in-law was impressed with my discipline.

It was for Level II and I passed. Respect Level II.

Study on the plain,in the car,while walking and finally in the wedding hall.