Just curious. Preferably input that have done both.
both easy
Both are sausage fests for sure.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
so both are just as hard…lmao
I know the perfect person to ask.
#SaraGrillo
hahahaha
Becoming a Master Plumber takes years of education and experience, not to mention you’ll need a great mentor.
Plumbing > CFA > MBA > FRM > Bill Ackman
You said Top MS so I’ll pick MIT MS program…
Given that the material is similar for both CFA and MS in Finance, I would think the MS route is more difficult overall. You have to take the GMAT and get in the 700s, which is 90th percentile and write a few essays and interview at the school. It’s two years of class where you learn not only the materials covered in CFA but also programming languages as well…You actually become very good at R and other languages after your MS. Job placement is - for obvious reasons - excellent…People from this program go to quant funds at two sigma or citadel or buy side research firms with base of 100k and bonus well over 100k on okay to good years.
Now CFA…
You go to CFAI site and pay your fees and start studying. Study on your own and the pass rates for each exam is around 40% so just be prepared to beat little more than half of the field in order to pass each level. Afterwards, you pay some more to CFAI and get your charter. You will undoubtedly learn a lot. The material especially reading from CFAI books can be interesting with real life examples and problem sets.
CFA is harder assuming you got into your dream school. They have “quotas” and “legacies” etc. but this is less an issue at the graduate level. The GMAT is not as hard as CFA Level 1. I guess if you’re English is terrible and you can’t interview, you will have a big problem getting a high paying finance job in New York either way. But once you are in “dream school” they will help you and your classmates will help you as they do not want to lose their cash cow or admit they made a mistake in admitting you, plus your entire year’s worth of effort does not come down to a single exam. The is huge, plus you are a full time student not a part time student.
“if you’re English is terrible” I lol’ed
Yes, GMAT is easier than Level 1 of CFA or even a 10th grade math test IF you’re going for say 400 on GMAT…But if you’re going for the 700 level in the GMAT to get into top MS programs…well 700 is around 90th percentile out of all test takers nationwide…I don’t care how you slice and carve that, top 10% in anything is pretty tough to do. Are you in the top 10% in your state in anything you do right now?
Let me ask you this although you could say anything you want, have ever taken the GMAT and got over 700 and got into top MS or MBA program in the US AND taken all three levels of CFA? Or are you just shooting from your hips blindfolded?
This is such a pointless debate. It’s like asking what’s better - Islam or Judaism.
oh boy…let’s not go into religion. But I do agree, it is pointless.
What’s better Titleist or Taylor Made?
It looks like many ask this question frequently so CFAI included this comparison onto its new designed web page. Lol!
Infinity
You are gettin’ annoying with MBA and GMAT to both the God as well to the Sheitan upon all religions. 
I always make that certain mistakes, you’re right.
I did an MBA, I don’t follow the rankings anymore, I only applied to my hometown schools. But I wrote the GMAT in Japan and took the bullet train and then wrote it, I studied for a couple months tops, it was far from ideal, I can’t remember my exact score, but it wasn’t 700, my GMAT claim to fame was getting a perfect score in the essays, which apparently only 2% of people accomplished when I did it. I’ve passed the CFA Level 1 and Level 2, I am registered for the Level 3 exam, a fact my AnalystForum profile should indicate.
So you’re welcome to make accusations against others online, but I for one am not a liar. I also now am extremely hesitant to help people online, all it leads to is grief.
Enjoy accusing random people online of lying, I’m sure it impresses everyone.
well OP asked for top MS program VS CFA so it was inevitable. Top MS requires GMAT and top MS is for many go hand in hand or in direct competition to top MBA programs…
easy. cfa
I have done both. The CFA is more rigorous. I can’t imagine any MBA program so hard that over 80% of the people who enroll don’t graduate, despite typically doing hard studying.
My MBA is from a top program.