I know this question has been asked on several occassions, but since the day I regeistered for the CFA level 1 exam, I was notified of the low pass rate and people’s horror stories in failing the exam on their 3rd, or 4th attempt, I would like to know from your own perspective the reason you failed the CFA level 1 exam. I am already stressed and have trouble sleeping at night, since there seem to be a high number of people who fail this exam.
Please be brutally honest, as your experience will be a lesson for others. Is it due to not putting enough effort and not having practiced as much as you should have, or was it due to the very difficult format of the questions on exam the day? Or even perhaps due to panic, stress and lack of rest?
Dude, it is freaking August. If you’re already stressing out and having trouble sleeping now, you’ll probably be dead long before the exam.
Most of the people who fail L1 did not put in the required effort, period. I’m sure there are a small number of outliers who fail because of extraneous reasons such as mental / physical breakdowns and whatnot, and stressing out three months before the exam is an excellent way to fall into that bucket.
Calm down, relax, and prepare. If you can consistently score 75~80% on your mocks, you are most likely going to pass comfortably.
Here’s me being brutally honest: Ask anyone on the L3 forums and they’ll tell you L1 is nothing more than a screening exam. You’re only learning the basics of econ / accounting / TVM etc. Most of it is undergraduate-level material. It’s not even “Finance.” If you can’t get past L1, you probably have no business going after the CFA designation. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work in finance per se, it just means you don’t have the studying skills (yet) to pass all three exams in a reasonable amount of time and with a reasonable amount of money.
“Here’s me being brutally honest: Ask anyone on the L3 forums and they’ll tell you L1 is nothing more than a screening exam. You’re only learning the basics of econ / accounting / TVM etc. Most of it is undergraduate-level material. It’s not even “Finance.” If you can’t get past L1, you probably have no business going after the CFA designation. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work in finance per se, it just means you don’t have the studying skills (yet) to pass all three exams in a reasonable amount of time and with a reasonable amount of money.”
I agree. If you went to school for business/finance/accounting/economics, most of this stuff should be review. Not to add any unnecessary pressure but, if you study for level 1, you should pass. Level 2 & 3 you can study your ass off and still fail because of the way the CFAI tests. However, with Level 1, they ask so many questions that it has less to do with luck and more to do with the amount of material you’ve learned. If you master ethics and accounting, you have a pretty good shot of passing.
CFA = simple concepts, tons of information, obscure concepts, and formulas, and time constrain.
For the most part, those who failed, specially on L1/L2 are those who underestimate the time and effort you need to put to prepare yourself. As long as you put the time…you will succeed.
Rergadless of professional background, IQ, or degree…you still need to cover thousands of pages…that takes time and effort…
thanks everyone. Well I have a finance background as I graduated in accounting and finance. I am also going to be a postgraduate student again from october doing a masters degree in International Financial Analysis. So I have plenty of time on my hand to cover all the subjects. So far I have studied around 100 hours and planning on studying non stop till the point I am confident I will pass.
First of all, don’t be stressed months before the exam or you are over determined to fail. Yes, the exam is hard and you need to study a lot, but it is the same for everybody. Don’t forget it! The exam is not hard only for you, but also for everybody else.
I passed the exam this June on my first attempt and I think that I did not study harder than other candidates. I think that I was successful because I have good university background and also good relevant work experience which was good for me as a base, so I did not have to study so hard. Further, I focused especially on the most important topics of the exam and understood them well (Financial Analysis, Ethics, Corporate Finance, Quantitative methods). Moreover, I was not afraid to fail and was not nervous. I say to myself that to fail in this exam is not a shame, because it is hard, and I believed in myself that I am good enough to pass it.
If you want read more about how I passed the Level I, I wrote it to my blog:
I failed the CFA Level 1 the _ first _ time because I didn’t put in enough hours to pass the exam.
I failed the CFA Level 1 the _ second _ time for pretending Accounting, Economics and Derivatives didn’t exist because they were too hard.
I _ passed _ the CFA Level 1 for finally accepting that I have to study harder and read every section as if it could be on the exam and if I have to give up my social life to pass - so be it because accomplishing this goal in my life is worth the sacrifice.