For People Who Failed

How many hours did you study? I studied 650 hours and still wasn’t completely confident that I passed (which I did). I think aiming for 300 or 350 isn’t enough for some people. I would recommend 600+ hours with actual CFA material.

600 is way too much. If it takes you that long, you’re not studying efficiently.

I studied for about 430 hours last year and failed in 2016, Band 8. For 2017, I put in over 475 hours and passed. For first timers, I strongly suggest aiming for 500+ hours. Biggest change I made this year was that I finished my first read through (Schweser Notes) and began revision even earlier, by Mid March. Started Mocks by beginning of April and hammered CFAI online topic tests (many 2 or 3 times each) and did every CFAI curriculum EOC. Schweser Q Bank and practice tests alone is not enough IMO.

I did every past exam back to 2010, did all 6 full Schweser practice exams, did the Boston CFA Society Exam (sucked), and did the official mock.

In level 3 you are studying for 2 different tests, treat it that was and prepare / practice for both.

I don’t think that’s necessarily true. Some, myself included, would prefer to overstudy than face the prospect of cutting it too close and potentially having to go through it again the following year. Did I need a second pass through the Topic Tests or EOC practice, or third review of the 2016 AM paper? No, probably not, but I did, and those additional hours may have made sure I had plenty of breathing room above the MPS. If not, the extra work certainly didn’t hurt my chances.

In my opinion, candidates should put in as many hours as they’re able within the confines of their life/work/family balance that allows for as much mastery of the material as possible.

I studied probably ~350 hrs and was pretty confident (definitely not 100%, but honestly who is?) based on my conservative, self-grading of AMs (did 4 CFAI x2 (2012, 2014-2016) and 3 KS AM’s and PM Mocks (70+ both in CFAI exams).

Would have done more past CFAI mocks, but I wasn’t able to find them anywhere

I didn’t read CFAI books at all though; i did the EOC questions and TT’s and read KS notes.

Let me rephrase this, if you are concerned about tracking hours you actually studied you are not studying efficiently. Period. I’ve never understood, through any level, what purpose it serves other than the fact people like to have a dick measuring contest about how many hours it took…some see it as a badge of honor. I’m sure someone will come on here and say they tracked hours to see where they were focusing their time and what areas needed improvement.

Question: do you know how to do that efficiently?

Answer: take practice exams or EOC. an excel spreadsheet isn’t going to tell you anything different than the conclusion practice exams or EOC will. Energy spent creating a log is inefficient, end of story.

And, I’m sorry JayWill there is a difference between over studying and 600+ hours. Night and day difference.

Lets say you’re putting in 20 hours a week, that means that you would require 30 weeks to prepare, again I think this is a highly inflated, bullshit number. But if you require 600+ hours, better get started soon.

Hey Mitch, shut up. Period.

People track all kinds of things. Steps, calories, ect… Not sure why Mitch is so passionately against tracking study hours which has a direct correlation with the passing.

As long as you can get value even after reading 20 min…do it !

also for retakers only: once you gone the road things are more familiar and you spend less time on somth you know or you think you know…that at times could be a trap…

I agree with Mich…its not the quantity but the quality… for some it takes 600 and for others it takes half that but who cares at the end of the day the test doesn’t measure you in a way by asking how many hours you spent( which in my opinion could be very subjective) the better question to ask is how many concepts have you mastered? and know inside out? and who cares how long it took you, and studying efficiently applies to those who are good academically and are strong at performing at standardized tests.for those that have been out of school and were so so in school studying efficiently is not something that they can switch on to… anyway point is people learn differently

Have to also agree with Mitch. It’s not necessarily a bad idea to have a baseline idea of how many hours people in the past have put in, just so you know the effort that goes into studying for the exam. However, I think it’s a waste of time to actually track hours for yourself to guage your progress. Just study as much as you can within the constraints of your family / personal life, etc, and focus on learning the material. If that’s 200 hours, great, if it’s 600 hours, great as well, but the hours put in shouldn’t be your focus.

I’ve helped a lot of candidates who failed Level III. In my experience, it’s generally not a matter of how many hours you study. It’s more a matter of how you handle the morning session, which isn’t remotely similar to the exams you’ve taken previously.

Yeah let’s track hours. Hey if I practice serves for 600 hrs I’m gonna beat roger Federer.amirite?

This ‘hours’ thing is ridiculous. What do you count - ‘gross’ (the overall time you spend at the desk) or ‘net’ (you are close-to-100% focused)? The difference can be easily 50% or even more.

350 ‘net’ hours should be more than enough to review the material 2 times, do the topic tests and 8-11 mocks.

Get to studying, pal!

I studied 60 not so powerful hours in total, 120 normal hours and 190 intensive hours in the last…all over just three months. 8AM exams and 5PM mocks, should have passed but failed band 8. Hours are just an indication of how much you’re putting in as I maintain a cfa calendar and track hours to keep myself disciplined but overall it all depends on how many hours you need to understand “and master” the material…and that will be different for every individual. However, I do not believe that average hours required to pass CFA L3 or even L2 is 300+ … average IMO would be at least 400.

I’m not passionately against tracking hours, just confused what benefit tracking hours provides?

Tracking steps and calories are completely different… you acutally have a reason to track those.

Sorry to ruffle your feathers, I can tell you’re really passionate about stating you need 650+ hours. Not sure you’re going to be able to readjust to society, I bet you’ll find something else to study for now.