I’m about halfway through my B school program and wanted to follow it up with either a CAIA, CFA or both. Does anyone have advice on starting those tests while still in school? I’m concerned about the workload of doing both while working full time and trying to retain some semblance of a social life.
If I could go back in time, I would do CFA L1 after my first year of my MBA. I waited a few years, however, and then when I saw the material for L1, I kicked myself because it was mainly a repeat of everything I had learned (and had quickly forgetten from underuse) in my various finance and investments classes. Had I done this, I probably would have studied less than 100 hours compared with the 200 or so I did for L1.
Adding CFA studies to your daily load is actually easier when you are already busy with work and school. It seems counterintuitive but in my experience and from my observations, busy people usually find a way to get more and more done because they tend to be much more efficient.
If you’ve already studied some finance and investment topics in school, sign up for CFA L1 for December and put in about an hour per weekday and a few hours on the weekend. Just get up an hour earlier.
Good luck!
I agree with ATH.
I am just finishing up my econ undergrad and did L1 CFA in December and am writing L2 CAIA in September (while working in finance and having extra-curriculars).
Just don’t expect to have much of a social life outside of study groups and school. You can, however, have some great ‘built-in’ friends while studying for CFA/CAIA. The whole process can be a bit of a grind, but I recommend that you just take the plunge and go for it; I’m glad I did.