December Level I & June Level II Back-To-Back

Hi all, looking for some opinions based on feedback I have had from colleagues in work, as well a tuition provider. I am planning to sit Level I in December 2019, followed by Level II the following June.

Out of 20 CFA’s I work with, only 1 followed this approach, with the rest opting for consecutive June sittings. A reputed tuition provider also strongly advised against it. I can’t sit the June 2019 session due the family reasons, hence I want to take this approach.

Has anyone here done the December - June - June route before? If so, did you feel you were under a lot more pressure compared to if you had only taken the exams in June each time?

Thanks in advance.

a friend of mine did that…he passed L1 in dec and L2 in june and L3 the following june…All done with 3 exams in 1.5 years. He never paid the fees so he never used the letters haha.

he’s a bright guy…bright as in very good undergrad and great test taker with phenomenal memory.

I did (and passed) the December 2016, June 2017, and June 2018 L1,2, and 3 sequence. I know in the recent passing cohort of L3 in June 2018, there are several active people on AF that also started in December 2016.

Admittedly, the period from ~August 2016 through June 2017 was a lot of work. It felt like I studied for the exams around the clock.

If you’re committed to succeeding and can translate that into a great work ethic, it is 100% doable.

Best of luck!

I did Dec '17 L1 & June '18 LII.

It’s tough. I Started right when L1 results came out at the end of Jan, so about 5 months of study-time. You can’t really afford to ease into it as if you’d started in Oct/Nov…you need to go hard right away. I didn’t, and found myself pulling 14 hour study sessions every sat/sun throughout May and June. Literally didn’t go outside. But if you start in Jan/Feb and you’re actually diligent you’ll be fine; just don’t slack off at all.

No one has ever successfully done it. It’s technically possible but believed to be beyond the capacity of any human to actually accomplish.

Just kidding. I went that route while getting my MBA too. It’s not really harder. Just no down time. If you’re cool with that (and if you’re married you should talk it over with your wife or husband or whatever because it will stress them out too), you can definitely do it.

I did and liked it. Dec 15-Jun-16-Jun-17 - Game Over. If I was born again, I’d repeat the same path.

wish i had taken the Dec, June, June route. Finish the program in 1.5 years instead of 3. got my mba recently…i think i am done with school…maybe take a few coding classes but before i feel the need to do that, i hope to open up a fund of my own so i can focus on the big picture…

Great, thanks to you all for the feedback. Much appreciated.

what undergrad do you have? I think from a information retention perspective if there is a fundamental underlying knowledge base from your undergrad it will help.

BBA, finance major. The background helped a lot for L1, didn’t help much for L2 or 3, in my opinion.

wait, what?

Tried it…failed LVL2 with band 9.

But it’s doable but requires some work.

About 10 years after first considering it and 5 years after registering here, I finally sat L1 on Saturday. I had told myself pass or fail I would do L2 in June of 2020, but I’m now torn. If the prior 37 years of my decision making are any indication, I’ll get the passing score in late January, wait until the last minute to decide not to do L2 in 2019 and then pick back up in about 5 years.