Hi all. this is a serious post! i basically havnt yet started studying for this Dec exam, but have had a look and some practice questions, and seem to score around 80% on average. is the exam easier than people make out on there? that said i know the low pass rate and i also know some clever-ish people that have failed. Having done some practice q’s i am struggling to gain the motivation to study hard on the material outside accounts, which i know nothing about. i am not a finance grad, but have worked in hedge funds (fixed income0 for a few years so do have some experience anybody experiencing the same?
what kind of practice questions have you done? 80% is a good score in my opinion if you have tried questions (basic, intermediate and advanced) from schweser’s q bank, or from the end of chapter questions of the curriculum. I don’t know the difficulty of the real exam questions, but I assume that if you review some critical concepts in the book you won’t have any problem, provided that you practice and answer a lot of questions from all the topics covered in the exam. As a finance grad with little experience while preparing for L1 Dec, I think L1 is not that difficult in general. Two are the main challenges: the breadth of the material and the Financial reporting and analysis part, which causes me occasionally some serious cephalalgia 
kohsamed Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > have had a look and some practice > questions, and seem to score around 80% on > average. > > Having done some practice q’s i am struggling to > gain the motivation to study hard on the material > outside accounts, which i know nothing about. What you are saying then is that you have, to date, been able to score 80% on only the material with which you are already familiar (accounting)? If that is the case, you may not be prepared as well as you think. The curriculum involves far more material than just accounting; your learning curve for new material will likely be as steep as anyone else’s. [rolls eyes]
L1 is easy people…
I agree, whoever thinks L1 is hard, should probably reconsider the charter…
BruinBanker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I agree, whoever thinks L1 is hard, should probably reconsider the charter… I have news for you: candidates ‘reconsider’ the charter at Level 2 and even Level 3; earning a pass on Level 1 because it is comparatively easy is no guarantee that you will go on to earn the charter. Further, don’t count your eggs before they’re hatched. The material itself may not be terribly difficult, but anything can happen during the exam. That aside, the OP based his opinion of L1 as ‘easy’ only on material in which he was already familiar.
BruinBanker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I agree, whoever thinks L1 is hard, should > probably reconsider the charter… +1 (from an L3 candidate) and if you’re in the “I studied 250 hours for L1 and got less than band 9”, save yourself the trouble of continuing
CFA Level 1 seems easy with the right background/education and a bit of time.
Level 1 was like learning to crawl, walk and run for me as I was basically an infant when I started with it in finance knowledge. This took me a long time to learn how to do. Level 2 was like making the varsity team at highschool. It took a lot more work and skill but felt a lot more natural and was in many ways easier as I at least knew what the hell I was doing. Level 3 might be like competing in the olympics? Not sure yet I think for a lot of people that already have big backgrounds in this stuff the material does seem pretty straight forward and easy. But don’t let that lull you into overconfidence. The exam is challenging and asks a lot of detailed questions. I’ve met plenty of MBA’s that took it expecting to thrash it with their mighty MBA and got absolutely rejected. You do need to prepare no matter who you are.
ChickenTikka Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think for a lot of people that already have big > backgrounds in this stuff the material does seem > pretty straight forward and easy. But don’t let > that lull you into overconfidence. The exam is > challenging and asks a lot of detailed questions. > I’ve met plenty of MBA’s that took it expecting to > thrash it with their mighty MBA and got absolutely > rejected. You do need to prepare no matter who > you are. +1. Probably the best advice here.
builders Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------------ > +1 (from an L3 candidate) > > > and if you’re in the “I studied 250 hours for L1 > and got less than band 9”, save yourself the > trouble of continuing Don’t let comments like this discourage you. Perseverance is key
I have no idea what you guys were talking about. I passed L1 straight out of undergrad with 3 nights of cramming, very impressive huh?!
WTF Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have no idea what you guys were talking about. > > I passed L1 straight out of undergrad with 3 > nights of cramming, very impressive huh?! dbag
Tstone Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Don’t let comments like this discourage you. > Perseverance is key This forum is at times alternately encouraging and discouraging.
Tstone Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > builders Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ---------- > > +1 (from an L3 candidate) > > > > > > and if you’re in the “I studied 250 hours for > L1 > > and got less than band 9”, save yourself the > > trouble of continuing > > > Don’t let comments like this discourage you. > Perseverance is key Seriously. If someone is taking the time to study and apply themselves regardless of how hard it is, who’s to say they wont make it?? “Save yourself the trouble of continuing”?? If I were you i’d take the tests over and over until I passed every last one of them just to prove people like this wrong. Just keep at it and you’ll do fine, if it’s something you REALLY want - you’ll get it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc&feature=player_embedded
Screw encouragement, be realistic. Level II is a lot harder than Level I, if you do not think that Level I is easy (the material itself) then I would just stop there and pursue something else. If you do not have a background in accounting/ finance etc… then what the hell are you doing in the first place? Like everyone here said, there are plenty of MBA’s that fail this exam, which is largely due to the fact that the MBA curriculum is a joke, totally general with a few core classes in one’s respective concentration. Do not let everyone get your hopes up like you are going to pass. There is a reason why so many people fail/ and or quit the charter. You can only take the Level II and III exam once a year! so if you fail you gotta wait a whole year to retake, and odds are that if you are considering the CFA you are going to be working a finance job for at least 50- 60 hours a week. To defone, screw you scrub, what the hell do you know about finance, you just go around forums correcting people’s comments to be politically correct. Yea no S*** there is a lot of detail there, but if you prepare accordingly level I is a gimmie… you are right about people re-evaluation their candidacy at level II since that is the hardest one, but if you cannot pass level III again you are a moron, and it just means that you didn’t fully understand level’s I and II. Don’t listen to this SFoyil kid either, complete moron. His words from above “If I were you i’d take the tests over and over until I passed every last one of them just to prove people like this wrong.” Not only is that not even optimistic its down right retarded, also “ust keep at it and you’ll do fine, if it’s something you REALLY want - you’ll get it.” This isn’t about want, everyone who signs up wants it to a certain extent, its how intelligent you are! Like most people, who memorize concepts and make their way through school that way, the CFA exams are written to screw those people over. So if you find yourself flipping through pages and do not understand the material, save yourself the trouble, consider your finance career without the CFA, it will save you a lot of stress as well as wake you up from your misguided sense of self belief.
“So if you find yourself flipping through pages and do not understand the material, save yourself the trouble, consider your finance career without the CFA” There are definitely people taking CFA exams who should not be taking CFA exams. But anyway, it’s worth pointing out that people who are struggling with these exams might have the most to gain from passing them. First, difficulty implies learning new things. Second, the group of people who think the exams are easy are probably gifted and have other academic accomplishments. So, they will probably be successful even without the CFA credential.
I did not think Level I was easy by any stretch. I had to study quite a bit, particularly because my academic background was in economics with very little finance classes. Many people (after the fact of course) like to pretend that they were never concerned and passing was always a foregone conclusion, but almost none of those people were making such public proclamations in the days before results are out. In December 2008, I walked out of the exam hall not sure if I passed level I, because I thought it was a hard exam. Turns out I passed, then knocked out Level II and III in succession, so good thing I didn’t decide to “reconsider the charter” just because it was hard.
kohsamed Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi all. this is a serious post! > > i basically havnt yet started studying for this > Dec exam, User Profile : kohsamed Posts: 37 Date Registered: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 05:49AM Now why would someone, who hasn’t yet “started studying for the Dec exam” register with analystforum before the June 2009 exam? NC
BruinBanker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > To defone, screw you scrub, what the hell do you > know about finance And you know this how? > you just go around forums correcting people’s comments to be politically > correct. I do? News to me. You sound like a sanctimonious idiot. Angry much?