Heya peeps, I am new to this forum, though have been a long time lurker, finally decided to register and have Chad give me official entry to this invaluable pot of Gold. I am planning to pursue this CFA designation and have registered for my L1 in Dec-08. I will be extremely busy at work till early Nov this year, and plan to give L1 complete 1 month of preparation. Do you think I am putting in a little too much? I have heard legend’s here at this forum (like Belron) managed to clear L1 in 1 week’s time. Is that true? I personally believe 3 weeks should be enough to cover the material cover-to-cover and then 1 week of Q-Bank to get the rhythm going up until the exam… Please guide me!
i hope your kidding.
*head explodes*
Mate you are in for some bad bad spanking…
Really need some genuine and honest opinion, fellas!
… they are coming! **ducks down** — May your sole rest in peace. R.I.P.
Maybe it’s possible, but although knowing the subject matter is important, i think there is a technique understanding the way questions are asked and practice at getting through the 120 questions in 3 hours. They say you need 250 hours work to get through, i feel that is conservative and may well end up doing double that…Best of luck if you go for it.
Go away dude, don’t wanna waste my time. I heard the people where really helpful on this site. But looks like we have some D’bags to welcome me in! If you can’t help, just stay away… rather can you tell me what my screen-name reads? - *papa*
Thanks perdition for your honset and earnest reply. The above curveball was for that desi.
Have you seen the books…??
Nopes! but they where heavy when I picked them up from the UPS truck. I did open the carton, and all I read where those lovely postcards sent by CFAI to make fun of our hardwork.
okay, real advice. forget the cfa books, you don’t have time. Get schweser or stalla study guides - i’d suggest springing for overnight shipping. Then learn to function on very little sleep for the next 45 days. But hey i don’t know anything about your background, if you’ve worked in the industry or studied this kind of thing before it might be doable.
L2 Candidate Here. I had a prof tell me that he passed L1 after 1 month of preparation. Granted, he is a PHD in Fin & the semester was over. He told me that he lived in his office for that month with his wife bringing him meals. As he recalled, it was the most miserable experience of his life. Also, I’m pretty sure he gave himself extra time for the other 2 levels. Not sure what your job is, not sure what your background is, not sure what your time constraints are. HOWEVER, with 1 month of study prep, I hope you (a) don’t have anything else to do, (b) have a lot of experience, © have relatively no other time constraints, (d) are dedicated to do nothing but study for that time and (e) have a lot of luck on your side. No need to take other candidates comments personally. They aren’t trying to pick on you, they are being serious. The exam is a serious kick in the nuts (even for individuals like myself, who studied for 5 months and passed). My personal thoughts are that you will probably fail. That being said, I hope you prove me wrong. Good luck.
I agree with Jensen, nobody is trying to pick on you, we are just being realistic in our own twisted way you could say. That being said, you would be better off taking the exam in June 09. Don’t cram for the exam just to pass, take your time studying and internalizing the information as you will be using it for the rest of your career. Just my 2 cents…
>> newbie seeks guidance to nail this monster! don’t look for shortcuts.
it really depends on your background and how much effort you are willing to put. If your finance knowledge has become rusty you’ll have to rent some forsaken room, take 1 kg of coffee with you, some coca-cola, some more food and hope for the best. Just kidding, take schweser, study hard every day and you will succeed. 1 month is manageable.
Shit is gonna hit the ceiling
you guys are so funny. LOL
swaptiongamma Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- >rather can you tell me what my screen-name reads? I have a blog on swaptions and gamma’s… lol
Thanks junta, my work is nowhere related to finance. We observe a code freeze in the month of Nov and that’s when I can start my prep.