Study Plan HELP!! Failed June, Retake December

CFA Level I
#1

Hey guys, I failed Band 7 in June and I am registered to take it again in December. I am having a bit of an issue getting back into the study process and I am seeking a bit of help here. I am going to give you all a bit of background of myself, my experience with CFA, and my plan moving forward… please give me some advice!

First of all, here are my results from June:

Alt Inv: <50%

Corp Fin: 51-70%

Deriv: 51-70%

Econ: 51-70%

Equity: 51-70%

Ethics: 51-70%

FRA: 51-70%

Fixed Inc: 51-70%

Portfolio Man: < 50%

Quant: 51-70%

My background:

I am a political science major who is not necessarily looking to get into Finance. I have zero experience in the field and when I started studying for level one I was literally starting form zero knowledge. Using only Schweser, I put in about 300-400 hours of study from December - June in order to hit band 7. My tests started in the 30% range and I raised myself to a 70% right before the test. I am confident that with the right studying schedule starting in September, and with 1 week off work right before the test, that I have a really good chance of doing it this time.

I am interested in CFA for a couple of reasons. One reason is that I find it genuinly interesting. Another is that I see it as just another short term goal to work on and improve myself. And, finally, I would really like to get an MBA from a good university one day but my GPA was quite low so I am hoping a CFA level one will improve my chances of getting into a good school by a lot when I decide to apply in a year or two.

Actually, I have a good job right now as the marketing director for a small company in Shenzhen, China and I see marketing as my probable career path in the future. Even if you guys think this is a waste of time now, I am so happy to try and do it because I love the challenege and the opportunity to improve myself, even if it is for no direct benefits.

Down to business…

Like I said, from zero knowlegde, it took me about 4.5 months and 350 hours of study to hit Band 7 in June.

My basic idea right now is to start in September and go over 1 three hour test every week until mid-november. I am hoping to get through 7-8 tests total (Schweser practice tests + 2 CFAI1 tests - last junes and the new one for december) by test date.

I want to simply ignore the readings totally this time and ONLY do the tests. I feel that this was the most important part of my study process last time and so maybe this is all I need to throw me over the top this time. Do you guys agree? Is there any other advice for me?

Sorry for the long winded post!

#2

Hi GarretL,

From your scores its very clear that:

  1. You do not have a strong point, you have got 50-70 in all the subjects.

  2. But again 50-70 is a huge band, so if possible identify yourself which ones you think you just missed 70, or you just reached above 50.

After having done that, you should concentrate on Big 3 first and push yourself to 70. They are nothing but Ethics, Equity and FRA. Once you are confident in these, then you should concentrate on Corp Fin, Quants and Fixed Income and push them above 70… Portfolio and AI should be your last push to cross 70…

Taking tests is really good. But spend enough time to understand what went right and what went wrong in each of the tests and NOTE THEM DOWN. CFA as an exam IMHO is all about testing how you are improving yourself. So this analysis on what went right or wrong is extremely important if not more important than taking the test itself.

I am not qualified unfortunately to let you know whether your work and CFA are related. They are unrelated in my case as well, being an IT programmer, but I am studying this course to improve myself and my knowledge just like you!

#3

Thanks for the feedback sooraj!

#4

my own personal opinion and i havent even taken level 1 yet so take it for what its worth…

if your number 1 reason for doing this is because you genuinely enjoy it and want to learn and can see yourself using this to make personal investment decisions later in life, which truthfully will probably only be applicable if you get through level 2 at a minimum, then you should continue.

if you are disguising it by saying that you really enjoy it, but your true reason is to try to help get you into a good MBA program or if that is a very close 2nd, then this is not the best use of your time.

the time you are putting into this study you could apply to a number of different things that will pay you better dividends while reaching your long term goal of getting into a good MBA program and sticking with marketing…these are things like extra-curriculars, interesting hobbies, community involvement, learning a language, and deep and advanced studying for the GMAT or whatever other entry exam is required in the country you’re planning to attend school. i just cant possibly see putting this much time in if you’re not intending to use it while at the same time you’re trying to advance your career.

there are plenty of older people who are deep in their careers who want to learn about investing and choose to do this as a hobby for their own personal gain and i think that is plausible, but thats different then when you’re in the building stages of your career and it doesnt involve finance/you dont want it to.

just my two cents…