A letter I sent to CFAI President

Hm… Guys… You won’t believe it… But I am still waiting to Paul Smith’s reply… And I think his silence would tell a lot to many potential Candidates / retakers…

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Keep some space for Paul Smith’s reply.

Their social media dept did not approved to be professional enough, judging as they tried to work through this discussion. Let them finish and give a stage to their PR and legal team.

Oh please! They’re going to see this letter for what it is: a disgruntled candidate upset with his recent failure, looking for someone or something else to blame for his poor result. The fact is, regardless of how fucked up the test was or how secretive the CFA institute is, 53%+ people wrote a better exam than you. I got band 3 last year, and it was a massive blow to my ego and made me question whether I had what it took to pass. I worked my ass off this year and managed to pass. If *I* can do it, most level III candidates can.

Cf-eh, not enough punitive, but that was a nice try. Tell them to unleash Itera… but wait… they already did it…

I guess it is time for you to take a break. maybe drop for a year and come back when you are ready. It is just a test,isn’t it? Dont let it ruin your life.

Dude, my letter has nothing to do with me. It’s all about the integrity of cfa exam . Let us wait and see what Paul Smith will say on the issue.

How many hours did you put in? don’t you agree that cfai must disclise that there is a full time study program here?

Open any of your CFAI issued books to the text immediately following the table of contents to the section titled “How to Use the CFA Program Curriculum.” Read it. Then read it again. That tells you just about everything you need to know, including how many hours SUCCESSFUL candidates report they put into preparation. This is found in the DESIGNING YOUR PERSONAL STUDY PROGRAM section. There it states “Successful candidates report an average of more than 300 hours preparing for each exam. YOUR PREPARATION TIME WILL VARY BASED ON YOUR PRIOR EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE. […] So, a good plan is to devote 15-20 hours per week for 18 weeks to study the material. Use the final four to six weeks for review.” You’re such a **** child. Get over it. You probably sucked on your mom’s *** through high school. You need CFAI to tell you to study full time for 450-500 hours? What a **** joke… The number of hours thing is a crock of *** to begin with. CFAI gives you a curriculum, they tell you the main points that can be tested, and you are expected to know the CBOK. You study as long as it takes to be able to understand the material. End of story.

This is how their system works. u defenitly have the option here: take it or quit. if you choose to stay, stop quesioning it and suck it up.

+1 WouldYouLook…

wait wait wait, so the whole purpose of this email is that you want them to tell you the exact amount of study time?

are you serious?

i thought it’s very well known already that an average study time is 300 hours for each level… but that’s just a guidance, you may need to study longer or shorter depending on your knowledge of the exam, if you think you’re not prepared yet, then study more… damn…

you can’t be serious, it’s like asking people to tell you how long does it take to reach an ideal weight of say 75 kg, some people may need longer (say those very fat ones) but some may need shorter (those who are already around 75 kg)… this is a madness!

The only way this argument makes any sense is if the pass rate is something awful like 10%. The fact that more than half pass… means it’s very do-able Yea compared to 20 years ago when L3 was an utter joke, today’s L3 is"unfair". But still more than half pass today.

Dude, try CA exams of ICAI institute in India, and you will know what is meant by unfair marking process

I found CFAI grading very very robust…

PS: Have a few beers and just make up your mind (CFA L3 = Worst enemy) and shoot it next year…

I totally agree with bertan . i was d**n sure this i will clear out but as if i havent attempted a single question in Essay as almost eight out of 11 sections were below 50.

At least CFA Institute should give the reappearing students in level 2 & 3 a second chance in december to sit for the exam as the CFA curriculum is fresh in our minds .

Dude, are you for real? Cfai must tell not me but to all potential candidates how much time the process might take before they decide if they can afford to study in terms of time. Cfai is not supposed to provide any study guide. What is not clear?

I refuse, buddy. If cfai is ethics based they must excersise their own values.

Let me add my 2c.

About the time assessment. I never actually cared to count my time investment but I have taken the test in different periods of time and I believe the CFA Institute assessment of time required to pass the exam is calculated under - lets call them - directly profiled - conditions.

What I mean by that?

  1. A person working in the industry at the respective level - PM for level 3, IB/PE/related for levels 1 and 2, etc.

  2. No major psychological stress.

Anything else, IMO, would be impossible to assess.

Clearly, a person in a relevant job with less time to prepare will still be more effective than a person stuck in a discouraging, dead-end position because the stress of not belonging to the club is eating up your energy resources. I had periods in my test preparation history to confirm that - when I hated the day at work it took me longer to switch off and study - I could not start at 7pm, sometimes I could not start at all, whereas I could very well study at 11 pm after a stressful yet productive day in a relevant role. Also, some people miss “how can I go out and apply it” When I was sitting for level 2 exam, the guy next to me asked me how it is like to work what we study… I was shocked yet I remembered his question during the level 3 preparation, where - with the exception of a few minor topics - I could not relate to practice and got discouraged.

I think demanding from the CFAI some detailed kind of time guidance for all occasions is odd.

Another point I want to stress is your attitude. Not yours per se, but as of any single candidate. A lot depends on what this level or the charter in general means to you. It is a matter of self-persuasion. If the CFA club is some type of an upper mark for you, the club of people you admire, the standard you trust (it is what you choose it to be), you will keep going. For years, the CFA exams were some kind of a guiding anchor for me - who knows maybe I will laugh at myself in a couple of years or any time soon, but what the doubts in the standards of exams is the last thing that is going to help you with the charter. If you doubt the standards, you feed your psychological discouragement monster and here we go again.

I put in around 330 the second time; but they were more “legit” hours as I did them at the library and left my phone at home. In addition to CFA, I work full time and have a kid, so I’m well aware of how much of a strain CFA is on one’s life. And NO, they don’t have to disclose that “it’s a full time study program”; for a few reasons: 1) They literally don’t have to. I don’t know of any program anywhere that says how many study hours are needed. There’s certainly no laws mandating it. 2) It’s not " full time" for most people; I don’t know anyone who does 40+ hours on CFA. I studied all day and evening Saturday and Tuesday and Thursday nights, I could have done more, but I chose to balance my family obligations. 3) By the time you hit level three you ought to have figured out how much time you need. In your case, after failing level II SIX times, you really should have known that 300 wouldn’t cut it for you. The letter is ALL about you, this “integrity of the exam” nonsense is such an obvious attempt to make it seem like your letter is based on your benovalance and not how you’re pissed that you failed. You think that letter is the first of it’s kind? With well over 100,000 people writing and more than half failing, it’s not unreasonable to assume that they get a small stack of butt hurt, whining letters from pissed off candidates.

I am - once again - is not talking about myself. I think cfai should give time assessment for potential candidates on each level. Why? As I told in the letter: if for pm is not ok to conceal the real return of portfolios on a certain mandate, the same way for cfai is not ok to conceal the amount of time for preparation.