Possible to pass CFA Level 1 between now and June

hi all, I’m a medical doctor, so finance experience whatsoever. Due to start MBA in Autumn at top 10 school. So have got a couple of months to fill up. I got the next 5 months off. Want to do pharma equity research post MBA. Do you guys think that if I start working for Level 1 next week, I can pass it in June. My understanding being that level 1 will help me to secure equity research post MBA. Please be realistic as if I have minimal chance I dont want to study hard and waste time that I can otherwise use for travelling. I was thinking of doing an Kaplan or BPP full time course, which is basically 2 days per week 9-5 until end of May. Thanks for your help. Very much appreciated.

you should still be in pretty good shape. Being a medical doctor, you probably have mastered the ability to study well and given your experience and soon to be enrolled in top 10 biz school, passing Level I will complement you well. Goodluck.

Did you not like the responses in the General Discussion? http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?1,665047

No chance. Much of the material assumes a post grad understanding in the curriculum. You have not one thing working in your favor experiencewise and your trying to do it in 3 months. You have to realize that this is essentially the capstone academic achievement for many in the finance community and you’re coming in cold. But if you want to use the time between now and autumn, enroll in the Dec 07 and cram through august then review in your spare hours through the fall. That would be realistic and help you brush up your knowledge base going into your first semester. Where are enrolled?

just quit CFA

If you can put 500 hours, it does not matter if you have a year, 5 months or 3 months. I would suggest go for it. Nothing to loose.

Yes you can! I started for L1 late september and passed it comfortably in December… To estimate the number of hours I put in, I would say 200 or less including practics exams(3) and qbank questions(~500)…I studied exclusively from schweser and scored >70% on all except FSA…I graduated last September from UC Davis with a Bachelors in Economics and Applied Mathematics…So my background did help for the Economics and the Quant section but rest was pretty much all new stuff… You just have to believe, and whats the worst case scenario - you lose $688 for taking the test again but the upside potential is you pass and move to L2 next June, plus you get another shot in December if you fail L1 in June… Go for it!

Hmm would you guys say you had a finance background? Key point.

Since you’ve been looking at taking the level 1 for 3 years now and haven’t jumped in, it doesn’t sound like you would stand a chance with less than 100 days left. You may need a full year of studies. Time would probably be better spent on your travels.

you don’t need a CFA with an MBA from Top 10 to get into a good bank.

It’s not impossible, it’s improbable (thank you to captain Jack Sparrow for the quote)…

possible and probable if you put enough hours

Someone found him asking similar question for 3 years. Lol. This is really weird. http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?1,665047

your a medical docotr…and your going to degrade yourself and your degree with an MBA? come the fuc.k on man

I think it’s kinda of arrogant or naive personally to think he’s going to walk in with 100 days left with no experience and hang with CFA candidates who have years of finance background and have made a wallstreet career their life goal because he has a medical doctorate. I have known some pretty slow doctors in my time.

Actually you should go ahead and sign up for it. I’ll look forward to see your next thread in July. “What study materials should I use for the second try”, or “Should I use the Schweser or Stalla L1 question bank.”