Thinking about writing again in Dec 2010, 2nd attempt, studied like mad for this past June 2010 sitting and walked out with a pretty good feeling. I feel like crap now after seeing the results, but just wondering how many times you guys have written the exam and at what point do you say “This just isn’t happening”… Any other advice would be appreciated, and congrats to those that passed!
I passed on my 3rd attempt… but the first one was just for the heck of it dint really study. Worked my ass off for the 2nd and 3rd one. do the reading and questions. Diagnostics and Actual test help a lot. I am dyslexic so maybe its harder for me but …hard work and hours work.
Remember that the goal is not to pass level one. The goal is to get the charter. If your commitment is wavering now, you probably wont make it through this process for three levels. But you should remember that when you have a CFA, nobody asked you how many times you sat for each exam.
If you failed LI twice, good luck passing LII and LIII. Not saying it can’t be done, but you have to realize that you’ll have to put in at least twice the effort to pass the next ones.
awaiting L3 results here. my 2 cents - sorry but if you fail level 1 twice you will never pass level 2
Dpcfa… people like you make me laugh. … I was doing my MBA fulltime from a top univ in NY and working at an Ibank and trying to take the CFA… did you take the time factor in consideration in your 2 cents. Not everyone lives in their mommy basement some of us have to work for what we have Dont ever go into forecasting and valuation as you have to make reasonable assumption about factors… you seem to lack that… If people like you can pass Lvl 2 how tough can it be… My 2 Cents people who make negative statement like you, do not have what it takes to succeed in life. Good luck on your lvl 3 result as I dont think you will pass it…
Adoo, You need to read my CFA Storm Survivor Story in the CFA Level 2 Forum. Keep up the fight; do not let nobody discourage you!
bpsny01 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dpcfa… people like you make me laugh. … > > I was doing my MBA fulltime from a top univ in NY > and working at an Ibank and trying to take the > CFA… did you take the time factor in > consideration in your 2 cents. > > Dont ever go into forecasting and valuation as you > have to make reasonable assumption about > factors… you seem to lack that… hey dumbass, i ALMOST considered writing “and was able to try your hardest” in my original post, but i thought people would understand that that’s what i meant. i hadn’t read any of the posts in this thread before posting; i was addressing the title of the thread. and my answer was 3. WITH OBVIOUS FACTORS CONSIDERED. > Not everyone lives in their mommy basement some > of us have to work for what we have > > If people like you can pass Lvl 2 how tough can > it be… > > My 2 Cents people who make negative statement > like you, do not have what it takes to succeed in > life. > > Good luck on your lvl 3 result as I dont think you > will pass it… i was working full time as i passed L1 in december '08 on my first attempt, and then passed L2 in june '09 on my first attempt. so altho i’m terribly dismayed that you dont think i’ll pass, allow me to take with a grain of salt the opinion of someone who could barely pass L1, which is about 10 times easier than L2.
If the material was new to you, then I would feel about about not passing level 1. I was a liberal arts grad and hadn’t studied any of the material (except econ) on the level 1. It wasn’t easy and took me a lot of studying. Over time you get better at studying for these tests as you see what works and what doesn’t. I think for a lot of the people on here that are quite familiar with this material already they can’t see why anyone wouldn’t pass number 1. I knew a guy who passed it without studying anything except the secret sauce. But this guy was a quant-econ major and a buy side analyst for a top company. Good for him, and people like him. But that’s not all of us. That same guy failed level 3 and never bothered to come back. My theory is that for those people they find the jump from level 1 to level 2 and 3 much bigger than level 1 - because they usually studied level 1 as their college major. I found level 2 very, very, very, difficult, but I spent less time studying for it than I did level 1. This was because I was like an infant when I picked up the level 1 books. These concepts like dispersion or positive skew and weird greek letters really intimidated me. Now, I see it from the perspective of the average finance major and can say yes, it is easy. It wasn’t then. Enough time and reading, and also applying these things in real life you will master these concepts. If you are hardworking and spend enough time working on it you can get through it. Whether or not it is worth it to you is a different matter. I don’t see why anyone of at least normal intelligence couldn’t get through this exam if they pushed through hard enough.
packattack4 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you failed LI twice, good luck passing LII and > LIII. > > Not saying it can’t be done, but you have to > realize that you’ll have to put in at least twice > the effort to pass the next ones. +1
This is a technicality but… “How many times” is not the right question to ask. Any previous attempts that you have taken and at which you have failed are sunken costs. The correct question to ask is what are your chances of passing the n+1th exam, which you can estimate from the number of times you have failed in the past. So this statement does not make sense: “I will not take the CFA exam this year because this will be my 5th time taking the exam”. This sentence makes sense: “I will not take the CFA exam this year as my 4 previous failures imply that I have only a small chance of passing this time”.
I passed all 3 on my first attempt, by putting the effort in, reading all of the notes, taking all of live classes, no short cuts, so it can be done. If you failed L1 the first time either not studying enough, keep in mind that the exam experience itself is very intimidating the first time you sit, especially if you are in a major city with thousands of test takers. The guys from Schweser during the live review class mentioned a case of a determined guy who took 17 years to get the charter, taking one exam a year. So don’t be concerned. Yes level 2 and 3 are different animals than Level 1, but don’t be discouraged. If for instance you failed L1 twice and say you went from a Band 6 to a Band 10, you are close, keep up the work.
jasonms Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The guys from Schweser during the live review > class mentioned a case of a determined guy who > took 17 years to get the charter, taking one exam > a year. So don’t be concerned. Yes level 2 and 3 > are different animals than Level 1, but don’t be > discouraged. > you really think that’s worth it? to spend about 25% of an average life expectancy studying for CFA? sounds pretty nuts to me. i’m hoping to find out in 3 weeks that my journey took 2 and a half years, which is the minimum time possible, and STILL feels like too much time to me.
jasonms Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The guys from Schweser during the live review > class mentioned a case of a determined guy who > took 17 years to get the charter, taking one exam > a year. So don’t be concerned. Yes level 2 and 3 > are different animals than Level 1, but don’t be > discouraged. That is dumb to me. What a waste of life at that point.
jasonms Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The guys from Schweser during the live review > class mentioned a case of a determined guy who > took 17 years to get the charter, taking one exam > a year. Sounds like an urban legend to me.
L3 candidate here. If you really gave L1 your best solid effort and are still only getting Band 6 or 7 (ESPECIALLY after trying 2 times or more) the CFA program is not for you. If L1 is giving you THAT much difficulty, I honestly find it impossible for you to pass L2 or L3. L2 = ( L1 on ultra steroids )^3
bpsny01 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dpcfa… people like you make me laugh. … > > I was doing my MBA fulltime from a top univ in NY > and working at an Ibank and trying to take the > CFA… did you take the time factor in > consideration in your 2 cents. > > Not everyone lives in their mommy basement some > of us have to work for what we have > > Dont ever go into forecasting and valuation as you > have to make reasonable assumption about > factors… you seem to lack that… > > If people like you can pass Lvl 2 how tough can > it be… > > My 2 Cents people who make negative statement > like you, do not have what it takes to succeed in > life. > > Good luck on your lvl 3 result as I dont think you > will pass it… Why are you launching a personal attack on dpcfa? He’s essentially saying the same thing as the poster before him.
Passed LI after the 4th attempt… 1st attempt - Dec 2006 (No band system that time) 2nd attempt - June 2009 (Band 6) 3rd attempt - Dec 2009 (Band 9) 4th attempt - June 2010 (Pass) Never really finished reading the materials for the first 3 attempts, but finished reading the whole material for the 4th attempt (read Schweser notes, did end of topic questions, end of chapter questions in CFA curriculum book, elan free practice questions and also did the CFA mock exam from the website, that’s about it…never bothered to do Qbank questions). Having said that, I’ll make sure that I finish reading the whole Level II materials and try to pass Level II in the 1st sitting. Wish me luck.
CFA Jay Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > jasonms Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > The guys from Schweser during the live review > > class mentioned a case of a determined guy who > > took 17 years to get the charter, taking one > exam > > a year. So don’t be concerned. Yes level 2 and > 3 > > are different animals than Level 1, but don’t > be > > discouraged. > > That is dumb to me. What a waste of life at that > point. Why is this a waste of life? This, in my opinion, is a person who chose a life of learning and succeeding over mediocrity. And the background of the story is not there, so who is to judge? Does it change you opinion if I said I know the story, and that this person had a learning disability? To me, this is situation above passing a test. It is about succeeding in life and always striving for the pinnacle. So @ Adoo…keep striving for it, for those who lack in learing or test taking ability can make up for in persistance and hard work. Do not listen to those who say “you can’t”. Instead, surround yourself with those who say “you can” and I gaurantee you that you will come out on top and will make more of an impact on the lives of those around you than any of the others who said “you won’t”.
all he’s pointing out is that we’re only given so many years on this earth, and we all know that studying for this exam is a huge time commitment, so it’s difficult to imagine putting that much of your life into it. i wouldnt spend 17 years studying for this exam even if you could guarantee me that it would triple my salary for every year of my career.