I would just like to vent and call BS on that 300 hours theory. No wonder pass rates are so low. Anybody else feel my pain right now?
of course the 300 hours is a BS theory.
First time taker here, and I agree; 300 hours is pure BS. By the time I sit for the exam, I will have put in over 600 hours. I’m mentally prepared for disappointment…
600?? Yeesh… And I thought my pace for 450 was a little overkill…
I will be close to 600 too.
Yowzers I was budgeting for 400 hours…seems I need to up my game!
i started from November, and now i’m studying >10 hours per day until 6th June! more hours you study, the more your confident!!
I am close to 200 hours…started in Jan, February was too slow, and ramped up in March. April is again slow (dont know why!). By May end, i think will cross BS 300 hours…I really wonder if numbers of hours are important? I believe that first reading from any source should be thorough and then one should take 20-25 days of another reading (revision) and then give mocks (initial 1-2 mocks with formula sheet on hand thereafter just lock them in cupboard till the final day for a quick glance). If you are consistently reaching 65-70% on Mocks by mid of May, one can expect to do better in exam, unless they are drunk the night just before the exam!
How is it possible to study 10 hours per day even if you’re studying full time? That’s like studying from 8 in the morning to 8 at night, with an hour for lunch & an hour for dinner… Tell me the secret!!!
I think I’ve put in 200+ so far. (I haven’t been keeping track.) I’d flunk every section if I took a mock today… I’m not sure that I’ve learned anything yet…
the #hours obv isn’t the same across everyone,
the gap is most noticeable at L1 which basically covers 80% of a decent finance undergrad education
yeah i made this thread back in Feb venting my frustrations on the topic…
http://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-level-ii-forum/91339014
I put in a little over 300 on L1 and L2 and had no problems. Hopefully the same strategy will work for L3…we’ll see. As mentioned above, everyone is different but the 300 threhold is just a general guideline. Most certainly not a guarantee that one will pass.
How many pratice exams did you do? What was your score range?
I completed Schweser test 1 AM section last night and found myself guessing quite a bit. Grading it is not going to be fun…
I haven’t been keeping track but I’m sure I’ve studied less than 200 hours so far. Last months were extraordinary busy at work, I hope the next two would be better. Still I managed to cover most of the curriculum (only Ethics left). I think Level II is easier than Level I, of course I may change my opinion when I see my results :).
On L2, I took the CFA March Mock first and got a 65%, pretty disappointed with that. Then I took a Schweser mock and got a 75% and was clearly much more pleased with that. On actual exam, was >70% on everything except AI and Econ.
I would also add that although I only took 2 mocks, I studied the CFA March Mock like crazy. I went over my wrong answers so many times that I had almost memorized the whole thing. Seemed to help me on the actual exam.
I dont doubt that its possible in 300 hrs but its silly to pretend its anywhere close to the norm. Anyone knocking it out in that timeframe already knows theyre an extreme outlier from every test and class theyve taken before.
30-50% more time than level 1 is probably a better estimate than simply listing hours imo
I came across this analogy in a post tonight while stalling instead of studying:
Level I is to Level II like a Swedish massage is to castration by way of cheese grater.
Too funny! HA HA HA!
I guess I better get back to studying now that I’m not feeling so sorry for myself.
As for my progress - I’m just wrapping up w/ the reading and hope that I can learn this stuff in 7 weeks.
Thanks a million for your help!