well if you had to put 600 hours to pass level 1 and if you are sure you wouldn’t have passed with putting less than 600 hours, then you should put more than 1200 hours. Remember 1199 hours will not guarantee a pass for you!
I don’t think people realize how large of a figure 600 hours of studying really is. I actually tracked study hours for every level because it gave me small victories along the way. It provided something more tangible to show I accomplished before the final results. If you honestly studied 600 hours you out prepared 99% of the other candidates and would know the material inside and out. Of course that’s if each hour was real actual focused studying as mine were and not a passive approach.
Did anyone else track their studying hours and can attest to their real amount?
I studied like a mad man for all levels progressively increasing prep time for each exam. Level II I had the quick turnaround after a Dec Level I pass. Level III I started early and often and really pushed as hard as I could the last 3 months. Still unsure on the results for Level III but it wasn’t for a lack of preparation.
Final results
Level I ~350
Level II 400 on the dot
Level III 485
Level I (2012) ~ 150 - Pass
Level II (2013) ~ 300 - 1st attempt: band 9
Level II (2014) ~ 425 - 2nd attempt: Pass
Level III (2015) ~ 400 - tomorrow’s D-Day.
300 hours is total BS. Most probably 600-800 hrs to have a solid chance of passing.
It took me 5 hours to study the material (from the book) for reading 10 (Managing individual investor portfolios/IPS) and another 3.5 hours to go through the EOC questions. Total 8.5hours. OK it is one of the most important, testable readings in the curriculum but so are the remaining 85%
haha yeah i always found 300 hr time to be overly optimistic. I am not the smartest in the room but I did ok in high school and college. Went to the so-called public ivy in CA but i put in way more than 300 hrs in each of the levels. Reading and doing sample problems in the book took me more than 150 hours. Then I had to do EOCs, revise, re-study chapters, practice exams, etc. I think the really smart ones do indeed study only 3 months and pass but these are rare species among cfa candidates. cfa candidate and even charterholder pool are not the smartest bunches in the finance sector.
I think the 300 hours is definitely doable if you have a solid background f.ex a balanced portfolio manager’s assistant or some other role where you have exposure to the different topics that the CFA program consists of.
Around 300 hours per level was fine for me. Just give yourself a full 2 weeks off before the exam. That is more important than anything in my view. The material comes together big time if you have a solid foundation at this point. For reference L3 I was above 90th percentile line.
I could have done more but really you need a balance. It is not sustainable to do a full time job, have a young family in my case and do 600 hours. Plus the material is not actually very deep, not like studying quantum mechanics.
Approx. 500-600h each level here but I like to be over-prepared. And I kind of like studying.
I am on the 18 month track. Over studied L1 with about 450 hours and did exceptionally well. For L2 I got about 400 hours and passed with OK margin. Planning to get over 400 just to be sure.
However, you really do not need that much but the key is to be consistent. I just want to make sure to pass because additional 100 hours now would be considerably less than doing additional 300 hours if I do not pass.
Amen. One and done with a little overpreparation is way better than having to redo a level.
How many hours would you say you studied for level 2?
All inclusive of the time I spent in the library texting chicks, and drinking beers, facebooking, MISC’ing, and chilling on analyst forum, probably about 1000 hours. Most likely about 200 hours of actual physical studying.
I’m not serious, I have NO idea how long I spent studying, all I know is 90%'er brah.
and when these letters follow after my surname in a few months a bish better recognize. . .
#getatme
For level 2 I studied around 750-850 hours. Disclosure: at the time I could study at work for a few hours every day so that helped me a lot. My goal isn’t just passing, though; I really want to understand what’s going on and I cover every topic from top to bottom.
300 hour average is a myth candidates need to stop perpetuating.
Feels like everyone wants to appear smarter (to who knows who) when they self-report the hours they studied.
e-peen status… “I only studied 90 hours… in my sleep”
This is so true.
When I was doing my due diligence whether CFA would be a right choice for me, I talked to a few Charterholders at my office and contacted a bunch over email to ask how much preparation would be required and how many hours they studied…aside from one exception…all the replies I got were like “skimmed through the curriculum few weeks before the exam”…“amount of hours required depends on your current level of knowledge…I personally studied 75h for each exam”…“didn’t study until lvl3”…“studied a bit for FRA but other than that, it was easy”.
And these people were not top-notch tier 1 finance bros with 20yr industry experience but the average dudes that you run into at every single office.
If lying regarding the hours spent studying for CFA exams would be an ethics violation, these dudes should be banned for life haha