havent started yet

I like the idea of creating structured products, Black Swan! That’d be fun!

Time is wood, heart is the spark. You can’t start a fire without either…

your desire and motivation and your use of intelligence to do any task - the unthinkable can be thought… I challenge you I(and a lot of others) can pass any level of the CFA with 1 month of studying with a full time job…So why am I not doing it? Because 2 months is better…But If I had to- I would, and its not about proving anyone else wrong that would bring motivation but the fulfillment of satisfaction from within is a feeling that can’t be described…Bottom line - When you have decided to take the exam, think less about if you’ll be able to pass and do more towards passing it…and ofcourse not listening to some people who discourage you would help but that depends on your inner strngth to avoide negative things in life…Good luck! Giddy up horrsseey!

Yeah, that would explain why the pass rate is 40% preetch, what you fail to see is that every year very qualified individuals who studied very hard for up to a year fail for no other reason than the test is hard. As a finance professional I highly recommend you start thinking with your head (probabilities) and not your “heart” (possibilties) or you’ll quickly find out why great firms go belly up. The reason is that the CFA determines the pass rate and tends to hold it close to 40% give or take a minor deviation. As a result, the game becomes competitive (top 40% of candidates, not necessarily 70% correct answers) and now you are suggesting that you will either study harder or are smarter than people who put in the time legitimately over the past several months to a year, neither of which I am willing to grant anybody who waited until 2 months before without a good reason for it. Additionally there becomes the other reason I dislike those that just study to scrape by or pass. The CFA designation is about leadership and developing a strong knowledge base in the material, neither of which is adequately done in 2 months. Thus, you may scrape by and pass, but only to dilude the value of the CFA and harm those that really took the time know the material. Maritkus, I’d love to build those derivatives, but too much counterparty credit risk.

^ Black Swan… perfectly said.

does it count if you studied quite diligently for the test for 4 months in 2007?

Swan, A pass rate of 40% means these 60%people could not achieve their goal because a)did not put in enough effort, b) use their intelligence to study and what I mean by that is not getting stuck on a certain section for days but rather addressing it with someone or this forum and then coming back to it…Things like that…Ofcourse natural intelligence also plays a factor… But I personally know a lot of those 60%ers and they lacked the effort because of their full time job and some had poor strategy…If you have the will with 2 months left, its so doable…Theres a way but you have to see it… You seem like a person who only follows “head” and “logic”, perhaps thats why you cant connect to yourself and see your “possibilities”… I am not telling anyone to be blind here either, one should analyze the possibilites but not get stuck… Instead of motivating people at this juncture, you sort of try to discourage them with your “logic”…Also, if you deflated your ego a little, you’ll understand yourself a bit better, you seem to be insecure from some competitionor perhaps some other sort of insecurity you have within you, I dont think it takes a genius to tell that… All I ask is that you keep your pessimism to yourself…Hope you understand the usefulness of the heart as well, someday at the very least…

Preetchawla, truthfully I don’t agree with Black Swan on many of his points, but you’re not helping your case with the tree-hugger new age nonsense that you’re spewing. You think you can do it, more power to you; don’t tell me what the Ouija board says the result is going to be.

I disagree to one point made above. There is nothign wrong with scraping by and passing. Honestly even when you go all out and know the material you may end up just scraping by anways. If you use the material throughout your career you will no doubt remember it and master it. If you do not use part of the material then you will not remember it. Maybe not right away but trying asking FSA questions to a quant analyst who gained his charter 10 or even 5 years ago.

Seriously, I’m waiting for Deepak Chopra to jump into this convo…“do you know a weeping river?..have you seen a happy mountain?”…WTF?"

Dapper, I’ll concede that. Preetch, maybe you should take your analysis of the people who failed and run it by some of the very intelligent repeaters who have a past history of successful test preparation (including L1) and on this forum and get their thoughts on it. …As to your other points, I admit I’ve seen the error in my ways and from this day forward I’m going to follow my heart , and not my head or logic, to see the possibilities in this new world you’ve opened up to me. For the record I can’t even type that with a straight face, hahahaha, do you drive a volkswagon van by any chance?

Damn it, I’m craving a fortune cookie now.