Although I did not make it as renown as Bleron I had defended what he said because essentially I did the same thing. Level 1 I studied 2 week - actually not even studying, read ethics, did practice exams. and passed. Level 2 - studied 1 month, got fucked big time This past time Level 2 - studied 2 month, passed with flying colors. Probably going to stick with 2 month on level 3
I think quoting numbers is totally meaningless, unless you put them into context like busprof and JoeyDVivre did. If you did an undergrad in finance or worked in the industry for a few years and spent “zero” hours, how does that compare to someone who had no finance background and put in a few hundred hours?
FYI: meaning of life is the number “42.”
I studied my ass off simply because I cannot afford to wait a year. Was it necessary? Maybe I overdid it for Level 1… definitely not for level 2. Every hour was well spent.
My reading starts today… Got exactly 12 weeks to the exam date… Lets give it all we can
you’ll hear the following many times: - “there is a right way, a wrong way, and the CFA way!”. I had solid working knowlege of several of the topic areas areas (worked in the industry at all levels from bottom up to director/ceo) + learned/taught various courses (including post-grad) over 20 years - and still had to learn “the CFA way”. For level 1 you might get lucky with say 100 hours of study - but why not do the work and pass it first time - why waste a year? For level 2 - you cannot afford to be weak in any areas - you have to know all the stuff inside out - the CFA way, regardless of what you think you learned in the past. Even having passed L1, only about 1/3 pass L2. good luck! Stop fiddlling around and get on with it…
Why is it that every time you assholes talk about being tough or smart, you have to put women down? “Studying is for women and children” ■■■■ you.
Just as an FYI, there are women taking the exams too. We’re doing it while balancing demanding jobs in hedge funds, raising our families AND we aren’t being complete dickheads and putting people down or mocking “weakness.”
I just also want to especially highlight this comment as an example of the everyday casual sexism that women in finance experience on a daily basis. It almost always gets brushed off as a “joke” that “meant no harm,” but it has real consequences both in terms of obvious outcomes (pay/promotions/hiring) and less visible outcomes (mental health, self esteem etc.)
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To be honest, 99% of these “macho” posts are full of crap to begin with. So if certain folks are posting nonsense and lies, it is entirely likely that they are immature misogynists also. They are the boys in the locker room always talking about what they (never) did, and they likely don’t understand or have much success with, and are in real life actually terrified by, ladies. So they spout partial foolishness no matter what they post. In your shoes I would just skip these idiots. I’m sure you know these types of man-boys who are keyboard warriors and keyboard casanovas… while in the real world they are unnoticed. Rest assured, most of these “big talkers” are working at entry-level jobs junior to yours in real life, they are not movers and shakers. You, on the other hand, may well become a captain of industry - so don’t let some dopes ruin your mood. Particularly if they are posting about taking the exams on minimal study timelines, these people are exhibiting foolish behavior and seem to lack the tools for success in either life or, in the case of those making mysoginistic posts, social interactions too. They are like permanent 13 year olds who never grew up or developed mentally (maybe physically as well). My 2cents.
Bottom line - if you or your employer is spending thousands of dollars to register and prepare for these CFA exams, don’t be the village idiot and skip studying. Darwin tips his cap at those folks who do otherwise, and who come in hoping for a miracle. You can hardly be a successful financial analyst without knowing how to spend time diligently studying things and analyzing all the required topics. These exams are designed to test if folks are able to do that.
You will also notice that almost all of the posters above never got their CFA badges here, despite posting roughly 13 years ago. Because Darwin weeded them out, this was a “self-identifying fool thread.” They are probably now on social media talking about how the CFA program is a waste of time. Because they lacked what it took in life to climb the mountain you are in the process of climbing today.
Cheers - good luck on your exams - you got this 
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Very well said. While I’m not pursuing the CFA program, the advice to skip studying is complete nonsense. Even if you already studied some of the material in your undergrad, it’s strongly recommended that you put the time to study the material from the syllabus. Especially since the syllabus will likely cover new material not typically taught in college. The worst that can happen from doing so is being over-prepared for the exam and having a good study habit that will remain relevant long after you finish your CFA program.
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