How fast I could pass three exams?

Hey guys, I heard that we can pass three exams in 18 months. Do you know it is true and how it could be? Thanks.

CFAI has recently introduced a special category for people who are a cut above the rest - kind of like the express counter in supermarkets. From what i hear, you can write all three levels on the same day for a total of 18 hours. The catch is that there are no bathroom breaks - but who needs those right ?

Judging by your laziness, I’d say you’ll never pass…

write level 1 in Dec 07 level 2 in June 08 level 3 in June 09 =18 months. can be done easy in theory, in practice much harder.

I’m attemting it in June. That said, it’s somewhat rare, and I won’t be discouraged either way. First things first, you might want to look at what the pass rate is on these exams, and the difficulty inherent in them before you starting planning on 3/3 in 18 month. cheers

18 month is a stretch, since you need to give yourself some time to prepare for L1, but 22-24 month is a doable task, if you take L1 in December and pass all three levels on the first try

what others have said: the day you take l1 to the day you take l3 will be 18 mos. if you don’t need tostudy at all for l1, then you can do it in 18 mos. if you do need to study, then you’ll need to add the number of months to do that. your biggest obstacle will be l2. not only is that the hardest for a lot of people, but you really won’t get much of a mental break, if any, between l1 and l2. that is, if you have a job. if you’re unemployed, it shouldn’t be a problem. however, if you’re unemployed and plan on getting into the industry, you’ve got bigger fish to fry than the exams. most of the people who failed the exam could probably pass if they didn’t have to work full time.

i went dec05-jun07. level I i over prepared for but found overlap for level II and still fresh. Level III still gives me upset stomach.

I’m trying to do thw “18 month” plan, but That’s pretty far from reality since I started studying for LI in April of 2006. LIII is scaring me though…

If I pass level III next June, I will accomplish the “18 month feat”. I’m quite surprised that many people in the last few years have accomplished it, including at least a dozen on this board alone.

i’m an 18 monther (not counting studying for LI). LI Dec 04, LII June 05, LIII June 06. It’s doable if you can put the time in.

I’m going to the 3/3 in 18 months this June. Although it’ll really be about 24 months when I count L1 prep.

I had the same timetable as Big Nodge. I didn’t have to add much upfront because I’m a CPA and had alot of relevent work experience. As stated above it is do-able, but course of study in college/grad school, amount of relevent work expereince, ability to find time to study, etc,. all factor into probability of success.

ahahah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m trying to do thw “18 month” plan, but That’s > pretty far from reality since I started studying > for LI in April of 2006. LIII is scaring me > though… me too, so qualitative. Geesh, first we had 3/3 ers, now we have 18 monthers! It’s the CFA equivalent of a no-hitter! I guess a 18 monther with all 70%+ would be a perfect game??? I don’t really think we can compare some people’s (myself certaintly) exam performance to some other peoples. For starters I work in a BO, 45-50 hrs a week on avg, am fresh out of school, have no dependents and little responsibility. In short, I have nothing better to do with my time. Certaintly not the same circumstances

>For starters I work in a BO, 45-50 hrs a week on avg, am fresh out of school, have no >dependents and little responsibility. In short, I have nothing better to do with my time. I’d have thought that meant you had plenty to do with your time! John Betjeman was asked a year before he died, and was in a wheelchair - “Have you any regrets?” His answer: “Yes, I haven’t had enough sex.” Very important.

^^ couldn’t agree more. I’m constantly making the decision between having fun (party, holidays, anything) and studying. Right now the partying tends to have the upper hand but I’ll try and balance it out more and more towards June.

IMHO, you’re going to make the same work/life balance decision whether you’re taking the exams or not. The tough part is when work/grad school/other starts to eclipse the CFA in importance (in the “work” portion of the balance) and you really have to push yourself to stick with it…

mcpass Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ^^ couldn’t agree more. > > I’m constantly making the decision between having > fun (party, holidays, anything) and studying. > > Right now the partying tends to have the upper > hand but I’ll try and balance it out more and more > towards June. Absolutely, but we can delegate that accordingly. Someone with kids still needs to look after them all year, not just when he/she wants to because they don’t need to study. It’s a bit different