furthermore, I would think this discussion of the inadequacy of my state degree only furthers the importance of my CFA charter. Gives an even playing field to prove my knowledge and acumen
I’m not going to dispute that people do really well getting degrees from Local colleges. This forum is devoted to finance though and specifically people with hard ons for portfolio management or equity research. For each person who can go out and accomplish great things in this field without going to elite colleges you will be hard pressed to not find a dozen others that went to an elite school. The Top 2 thing is a joke. It’s meant to poke fun at the elitism of the industry, but the foundation the joke is built on truly exists (like the guy who made the comment to me).
If you’re already finishing up your school then it doesn’t make sense to stop. You will still have a good career.
You can have all the knowledge and acumen in the world but without an opportunity to show others it won’t mean much. I am not trying to be negative just give honest advice. Top tier schools get you front of the right people and into the positions where you can prove your worth.
I can’t remember how many postings i saw with “Ph.D from Top school” from quant positions. Actually almost all quant positions have this line
I know when I was looking for jobs fresh out of undergrad I was seeing a lot of “High GPA From Top Tier University” lines.
Thanks man. All I can do is go out and give it my best. Ill be the flag carrier for those state university guys. All it takes is one opportunity. You can fail getting 1,000 jobs, but it just takes one to say yes. I am more interested in corporate financial strategy anyway than pure PM or ER anyway. I want the CFA more to prove to myself that I can do it and give myself the self confidence that my knowledge can go toe to toe with anyone. Because quite frankly, with my undegrad degrees in finance and economics and 18 hours of accounting, I feel knowledgable, but not knowledgable enough that I could walk into the room of a grizzled veteran of finance with 30 years experience and feel like i really know what im talking about and there is nothing he could ask me i wouldnt know. Plus, I have personally seen 3 job listings in the last two days for corporate finance roles that lists the CFA as a preferred qualification. So I think the notion that it is only valued in PM or ER might be somewhat going by the wayside.
crazy. haha when a firm wants a PhD for a role you know the job has gotta be rough in the fact that they must want you to sit in some dark corner somewhere and crunch numbers and never say a word to anyone because 90% of PhDs either hardly speak english or are some really wierd and often socially awkward people.
^ Disagree. What’s your undergrad Vandelay?
finance, economics, w/ minor in accounting
Apparently, all you need is a signed letter from a rabbi. I used to work with someone that gamed the system and got a rabbi to sign. I don’t know if I blame the Institute or the rabbi more.
I am definitely against any fraud, but maybe CFA grants exceptions for other reasons. Religious reasons cant be the only exception
thats the only reason I’ve ever heard. Has anyone else heard of any others? What if someone is legitimately in the hospital or has a parent die or something?
^ No way, the CFAI guys don’t care about that.
Can you attend the conference AND write the exam? It’s L1 right? I wrote that beast in 1.5 hours per session. maybe just sign in at the conference, pretend to go take a long dump, write the morning, come back, then tell the prof you’ve got the runs and go hit the afternoon session for a couple hours, then come back and close out the day.
BTW: You should read some of the stories told here. One lady was in active labour and still wrote the damn test, right to the hospital after turning in the paper. You better have something better than that to spark the sympathy of the CFAI overlords.
EDIT: This is Level 1 and you’re a finance undergrad. Throw your balls on the table, offer up a rusty hacksaw to the CFA gods and try your luck in June. Problem solved.
haha id love to take it this June but the deadline is passed. I think I could pass. I’ve been messing around on practice exams and getting a lot right
I once had my L1 exam delayed until the next day. One hour in at the morning session the power went off. We stayed in the dark for 45 minutes before the head procter said that we had 2 choices:
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Come in the next day (Sunday) and continue the exam. We would have 2 hours left for the morning session and the full 3 hours for the PM
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Take the exam the following June free of charge.
wow thats awesome. Maybe I should pay off an electrician to sabotage the power supply at the testing center then just mozy on in Sunday and take it
Remember, whether you do L1 in Dec and L2 in June, you need the 4 years of qualifying work experience. You won’t get the charter any faster…just an extra 1 year of being able to I passed X exam.
I understand that you want to get it out of the way, I would too, but realize that having to take it in June instead of December is likely to not have much if any impact on the job search.
Which option did you pick??