Just curious, how many hours have you studied? Despite logging 450 hours, there are still areas of the curriculum that I have not fully grasped. There is just so much material.
it feels like 1 million bro, this old dog is tired
you can’t grasp it all, it’s impossible.
I didn’t count, but definitely exceeded the 300 hours
definitely didn’t count but feel like I am upwards of 600-700. Honestly I have just put all my energy to this, but like most everyone, I don’t know it all. I will surely mess up some calcs and make stupid mistakes, but hopefully I’m at a point that even with messing up, I’ll get over this bad boy.
I don’t think it’s possible to conquer everything unless you teach this stuff on a regular basis…
I’m at about 415 and FEEL like I know it all, which surely isn’t the case
I think you can say studying is positively correlated with passing. I just don’t know if hours are a good measure, but I’ll give it a shot:
Read CFAI books very carefully (incl redoing all blue box/EOCs- Nov-Feb) 190 hours
Skimmed Schweser books (fast reading Mar) 50 hours
Watched all videos (Apr) : 45 hours
Read Secret Sauce (Apr): 20 hours
Other problems/practice exams (Apr-May): 60 hours
Re-reading Secret Sauce (Now): 15 hours
All in 380 hours.
As you may remember I’m the guy who finally passed Level II on the 5th try (but truthfully 2 attempts were with less than 50 hours studying and one was going in cold). I’m really going for a one and done on this one. This is most time I’ve ever put in, partly because I’m worried about the format change. I don’t know what more I can do, except probably more problems which I’ll do tommorow (Thurs). Thinking about taking Friday off but if I don’t pass, an it’s close, I’ll never forgive myself.
200 hours, stopped studying a few days ago even though I am off from work, all i need is enough to pass and I feel like I have that. I score in high 80’s on PM’s and max of 65-70 on AM.
I doubt I will fail, CFA is too easy, I just hope people who are are hiring think much of it.
All in all I have been very cocky with this Level. Everyone tells me not to take it lightly, but having done 12 mocks I am still not seeing the big deal with this Level.
Seeing that some people studied 600 hours gets me thinking, but then again back in high school I used to compete against African American kids who would walk into the weight room and lift more weight than I could on their first day, and at the time weight lifting was my life for four years already.
Point is, people have different abilities, I walked out of football with a herniated disc, tendonitis, hernia, bad knees, I was not cut out for it. Maybe CFA is my football.
Did around 200 hour till April end, took 20 days off in May with a plan to do 200 more, but barely did a 100. Hope it is enough, AM is in 70s, PM i am stuck in mid 60ies. its a coin toss at the moment.
Did around 200 hour till April end, took 20 days off in May with a plan to do 200 more, but barely did a 100. Hope it is enough, AM is in 70s, PM i am stuck in mid 60ies. its a coin toss at the moment.
I like the high school analogy except you didn’t succeed at football, so how is CFA like that? Sounds like you’re doing fine with those upper 80s pm scores. I was never the most talented baseball player or student, but I could outwork anybody on the field. CFA is like sports in many ways. Yes, there will be talented people that just succeed and roll straight through all three levels with minimal effort… just like the high schooler going straight to the pros. For the rest of us, it’s all about hard work and that’s what I like about the program. To succeed you can either be extremely talented or you just flat out work your butt off… not bad qualities either way.
+1 my friend.
I did around 500 hours the last time I attempted L3, but failed it. This time I have around 250 hours, not very sure what to draw out of it!
450+. 100 were half ass in bed before I went to sleep though. Did 3 weeks on level 1 and passed. Thought I could do it on level 2 and learned my lesson. Passed it after I put in the time. I put in the time again on this one the first time.
CFA has taught me more about hard work, not procrastinating, and dedication than any other test by far. Hopefully the 400+ pay off. Like you guys said, we obviously can’t know it all, but I think a lot of us have most of it down. I wish I would have known about AF for the first two levels. It is nice to have a community to share with and people who know what it is like to go through. Good luck everyone! One more day and then Friday is quick flash cards, workout, massage, some golf, and relax for the big day!
As in this time I will be the African American kid. I worked harder than anybody in sports but I just did not get anywhere due to my genetics ( father and mother around 5 feet tall, gives you an idea).
I have the feeling that this time I get to work very little and I will make it. Everyone has something they are good at. I cant pick up a chick to save my life, I cant play sports, but I think I can take Level III .
Good luck!
thanks dude, in 95 days we find out if i had enough brains to back my ba**s. Or more ba**s than brains. I will let you know, no shame.
good luck to all, esp the hardworkers who really want this
Do you guys feel given what you know now, that it’ll at least take the pressure off next year if one isn’t successful?
Yup, if I fail it would probably be a band 9. I would learn my lesson and start studying 3 months before doing 2 hours a day and that should be a 99% pass.
My career is not going to skyrocket if I pass Level III now, at this point of my career I just need experience. So there is 0 harm if I redo Level III next year, except for the hassel and the wasted time.
A friend of mine was registered to do Level III and he was motivated to do it cause he wanted to switch jobs. He started sending out CV’s that say passed CFA Level III before he took the exam just to see if anyone takes interest in him (a viloation, but he was not planning on responding if the contacted him).
It did not generate any interest, so he decided to focus on his work cause the job market is so dry.
until 30th april - 15
May - 350
How much can you guys remember after one time reading of the CFAI book?
for me, less than 30%.