Overstudy as much as you can.
i would be giving cfa l1 in december 2013,as i have cleared 2 levels of frm i would just read through uncomman portions like fra/equity/economics and it should take approx 50 hours …then i will practice scheweser question bank pro daily giving mock exams…and i think this should be enough!!!
how much to study is a very subjective question but some one with no exposure to finance should atleast study for 200 hrs and then practice mock exams/question bank as much as they can…
Overstudy as much as you can.
I probably put in 200-250 hours in 8 or so weeks before the exam. I studied way too much and the exam way much easier than I thought it would be. Level II is a different story, and doing them back to back is starting to kill me.
Level 1 is a walk in the park. L2 is different.
I didn’t really track hours studied, I gave myself 8 months as I don’t like to cram, just done as many questions as I could … I recommend overstudying, too expensive and time consuming to fail.
I opted out from doing it back to back as I again want to give myself the 8 months.
Good luck.
Itera posted this a while back. I thought it was relevant here.
Guide to Passing Level 1 in 3 Weeks:
Read Schweser
Do Practice Tests
Do More Practice Tests
Go Back and Do the First Practice Tests Again
Don’t Sleep In
I disagree. My goal for each level is/was to study as little as possible and still pass.
Level I: ~70 hours.
Level II: ~220 hours. I wanted to throw-up at this point lol.
Level III: Didn’t do a good job keeping track. At least 150 so far.
It might have worked for you, but not for most. To the OP, do at least 400 hours for every level. Don’t spend 10 years on this program when you can do it in 18 months.
^ Word. When the exam is only given once a year, overstudying is not a bad thing.
When you’re getting a promotion at work (longer hours, more headaches) and your wife is pregnant with your second, that increases to motivation to study as long and hard as you can (because you know this is your last chance–possibly forever).
ridiculous to count the hours. I can’t believe there is even a website on this 300hours.com. Silly. When you get the mateiral you get it, there are no rules on number of hours. I know people that passed studying for a month and people that needed 6 months.
Meh. There’s no “one size fits all” advice here. To me, living with no regrets means spending time with my wife and kid. Spending 400 hours studying for level 1 would have been such a collossal waste of my very limited free time.
I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 hours studying for L1 and passed comfortably. Spent a similar amount of time for L2 (sat on Saturday), and feel like I’m right on the cutline. If I don’t pass? Oh well, I’ll know where to focus my efforts next year.
400 hours is a lot of freaking hours. If that’s what it takes for you to learn the material, then that’s fine, but why spend the time if it isn’t needed? You don’t have anything better to do with your life?
Level 1 really depends on your undergraduate background. If you’re new to finace or have only an economics background, it will be more challenging.