Should I call it quit?????

Hi All,

This is the first time I post on this board. Infact, I registered with the forum today.

CFA has proved me wrong!!!

In my education life, I have been the best student in my class since elementary school. I need not tell ou that I have received numerous prizes over the years for topping the class. My collegues and friends made use me as a measure of how hard an exam is. When I failed CFA Level II (the first attempt) friends of mine who failed threw in the towel on the premise that if I can fail an exam, they know they cannot pass it.

I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Finance (First class honours - GPA: 3.9) I am a CPA. I started my career in audit but moved to investments after a few years. I am currently a Senior Investment Analyst. I passed level I exam in 2010 with >70 in 8 subjects and the remaining 2 in the 50-70 range.

My level II journey has been as follows;

June 2011: Band 10 - NB I found the exam easy but I due to lack of time, I had looked at CFAI Curr Qstns >70: FRA, Ethics, Eco, Alter, Corp Fi 50-70: Equit, QM, PM <50: FI, Deri Used Schwesser only

June 2012: Band 10 - NB I had a headache the week before and during exam - found the exam very hard >70: FRA, Ethics, Alter, Corp Fin, Econ 50-70: FInc, QM <50: Equit, PM, Deri Used CFAI Curri + Schwesser

June 2013: Band 9 - NB Was of energy that day and felt like the exam was the easiest I have ever done in my life >70: FRA, Corp Fin, Ethics, EQuit, Econ 50-70: QM <50: Deriv, FI, Altern, PM Used CFAI only

In the last exam, I found the alternative section very easy… I was expecting an over 70 over that. I have always gone to the exam room knowing that I have all the derivative concepts in my fingertips but I end up frustrated with the type of qstns tested.

I have never felt confidence after an exam like I did on 2nd June 2013… after the results on 23rd July, I was left frustrated and lost in thoughts and weird dreams. I am now 29 and was looking to complete this thing on my 30th birthday. This year I married my long time sweetheart and we have a baby… she is the most understanding wife I have ever seen and she is been encouraging me to not give and do it again. I however feel like my era of been branded as ‘sharp’ and ‘genius’ has come to an end. I have always known I am not a genius but I have always given the lecturers the highest grade and mark they ever wanted.

I am known to be good in essay questions and sometimes I blame the MCQs as a reason for my 3 years failure. However, I believe that a good scholar shoud pass it all, regardless.

I dont know what to tell my boss and all my friends now. Anyone with experience similar to mine??? should I quit??? I am now 30 and with a family.

NOTE: My employer does not support me in this… I use my money and vacation days.

It seems Passing L2 in first go is a real achievement.

Give it a try again mate

He will then be attempting L2 for a fourth time (not a second).

Everyone’s got different personal situations and levels of support around them. I would like to think I would attempt an exam twice if I failed initially and then probably call it quits and move on to something else.

It seems you’ve not got much support around you (at least from your employer), so you’re regularly sinking time, money, and an incredible amount of effort into this thing. It likely not what you want to hear, but I would advise against going through this a fourth time.

for me it depends on what you want to do.

don’t quit if you’re quiting because you think you can’t do it, you can, you’ve been really close before and if you give it your all next year i’m sure you would clear it.

only quit if you no longer want to pursue the cfa, sounds like you don’t really need it in your current role.

Thanks guys for you comments… I really need the desination for my role… It’s what I do??? I am a Senior Investment Analyst with the responsibility of analyzing portfolios and trade executions. I know my salary will jump by 50% if I complete the exam.

Sometimes I feel like CFA is unfair… I have passed FRA, Ethics, Corp, Equity and one other big one at times but still end up in the upper bands.

You answered your own question…

No lxwarr30; even though I know completing the program will give me good money (+50% of pay), I have seen individuals who have earned more and more due to thheir experience in the industry. In fact, my boss, a highly regarded Managing Director is not a CFA.

Looking at my scores, I feel like CFA has refused me the right to pass… I mean, I have passed all the big subjects; FRA, Cor Fin, Equ, Ethics, Econ

I posted because I dont know if it’s woth it anymore??? because every time I look at the tabulated passing scores, I feel like I should have passed in 2011.

Two Band 10s and a Band 9? That’s just bad luck on guessing on a few questions… You clearly have the aptitude to pass the exam.

I can instantly picked the mistakes from your first post.

didn’t go through your post completely, but what is this?

>70: FRA, Corp Fin, Ethics, EQuit, Econ 50-70: QM <70: Deriv, FI, Altern, PM

is it supposed to be <50, instead of <70 ?

you made same mistake 3 times. Also, in North America (I assume you took the exam in the States) the exam day this year was 1st of June not 2nd.

young lad, be more careful. you probably made lots of mistakes on the exam that you actually didn’t know and still think you were right on them.

you are over confident by the glories of your elementary education record.

Didn’t want to be harsh, but I found elementary education system in North America does no good other than produce over confident kids.

Your logic is faulty. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. If you know that obtaining the charter will get you a raise, then you should keep trying to pass the exams. That doesn’t mean you can’t at the same time strive to gain more experience and acheive requisite performance levels to become a managing director over time. Do both. You aren’t choosing one path or the other.

If you get the CFA charter, your firm will increase your salary by 50% ???

where do you work???

Thanks for your corrections jquian. You may be right… I feel like I made some silly mistakes in the exam… however I dont feel like the mistakes were in selection of answers or reading the vignette but on shading the correct question. I left out Alternative, FI, Deri, Qm and Econ to complete after taking the FRA. Equity, Crop Fin, Ethics qstns. I therefore feel like I shaded answers reponding to the wrong questions due to time limitation at the end… because to be honest, alternative, PM and FI were very easy for me.

One of the global invetsment banks New York

I feel like people say this kind of stuff a lot and it baffles me. All of the finance knowledge in the world doesn’t do you any good if you can’t match up the bubble sheet with the question list. Honestly, that’s a lot worse. I’d much rather have an analyst with a lesser knowledge base/skills set than one prone to data entry errors.

don’t want to argue.

however be careful that in this world English is not a world language and q is not always followed by u.

don’t always assume everyone recognizes the same rules that are universally acknowledged by Americans. At the end English is Bristh, not American. And I am not a native English speaker, as you might have already figured out.

You are arguing already… my posts dont have to be corrected as long as those reading them understands… and the fact that I am in America does make English my native language… BTW I have been in the US for the last three years only… English is also not my native language.

Mind you, I am an analyst, I do write reports that I review and send to senior management for review before sending to clients… believe me I wouldnt be working with one of the leading global investment banks if my English is never correct… it really doesnt mean anything writing in correct English on this forum… mistakes will always be made… be it computer typing errors or whatever. Now, please drop your beef with Americans and address posts with an aim of helping out rather pouring your feelings.

ps You would be shocked to know where I was born and raised… and how my hard work has taken me from one continent to another and NO, I did not attend the US elementary schools.

funny how threads start out one way and end in another…

I know maan, I wrote to be helped out only to see a persons who wants to wound the wounded… I mean, it’s only courtesy and respect to help out… I am already frustrated, why throw punches at me.

Tough luck but I doubt you did this. Eventually you would have either found an extra bubble or ran out of bubbles when completing a section.

Some people have posted on here that they passed after 4+ tries, sounds like you should just do it until you pass. You’ll probably regret it later down the road if you don’t.

Listen, ignore all the crap. Everyone is different - but the more I would fail, the more I would feel like I NEED to pass. Especially as someone bright, it would eat me up that I could tackle everything else academic but not this, when other people can. To be honest, there are many differing kinds of odds in life, odds you’ll be good looking, odds you’ll win the lottery, odds you’ll get hit by a car walking to work. In this case, for some reason you hit the odds of getting CFA exam questions that somehow tested the stuff you were most prone to making errors on…3 times in a row! Yes prob 1/100 for you. I passed Level 2 this year, but my matrix looks worst than yours. Seriously. What that tells me is that you must have been a few questions away. My boss who is s Managing Director, stopped taking the CFA 15 years ago after failing Level 2 and told me the other day that he wishes he tried again. Don’t be him. I have a wife and kid also, and studying for the exam meant I would wait until everyone was asleep by 11PM and study until 1AM every night. And study on the train/in the bathroom. I failed once. I did it again, and I passed. Do not give up - because it’s pretty clear you can do it.