2000 pages for the whole program. if my memory proves correct, there are about ~3300 mandatory pages in the cirriculum. so 2000 x 3 for the whole program. and yes, my wife is a freak.
Dude there is about that volume of reading at each level; no wonder your claims are so implausible. And even discounting your claims about you wife by a similar amount (~70%), I still don’t believe what you say about her - not even close.
MattLikesAnalysis Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 2000 pages for the whole program. if my memory > proves correct, there are about ~3300 mandatory > pages in the cirriculum. so 2000 x 3 for the whole > program. and yes, my wife is a freak. I will go on record then, and state I would wager any dollar amount that your wife could not pass all 3 exams with 11 hours of preparation (3300 pages / your absurd 300 pages per hour with comprehension assertion). I will agree, however, that she is a freak. She’s as freaky as they come.
haha. oh yeah. 3000 per level. geez its been a while. i got a little mixed up in my writing as i’m working simultaneously. 3 mins per page cirriculum wide based on 2000 pages per level. i only went over the readings once but scanned notes i made myself twice but that only takes maybe 5 hrs per exam. so when its written as 3 mins per page, it doesn’t seem so crazy. there are plenty of pages that are examples or graphs that require no attention. the 300 pgs/hr is for a normal book. she is not a CFAI member/candidate.
the bottom line is that everybody’s required study time to pass/understand the content will be different based on a number of factors. some might say i was taking a chance by skipping sections, examples, questions, charts, tables but as long as i understood the reading part, there was no point in looking at the examples, questions, charts and tables. and yeah, now that i think about it seriously, i’m sure the actual manditory text area less a few understood sections is more like 1500 per exam, not 2000 due to the vast number of question pages, examples, etc. so call it 4 mins per text page only.
I’m not ashamed to say I studied approx. 500 hours for L1, 750 hours for L2 and 1000 hours for L3. For L3, I started in September. I also took 2 weeks from my own vacation time before the exam to prepare. I’d rather overstudy and pass. The strategy worked for me.
former trader Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- I’d rather overstudy and pass. The > strategy worked for me. +1 indeed.
former trader Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m not ashamed to say I studied approx. 500 hours > for L1, 750 hours for L2 and 1000 hours for L3. > For L3, I started in September. I also took 2 > weeks from my own vacation time before the exam to > prepare. I’d rather overstudy and pass. The > strategy worked for me. Why would you rather study anymore than the minimum necessary to pass?
That’s ridiculous. I don’t understand people like you. I hope to get through Level 1 at a pace of 3-4 minutes per page myself. former trader Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m not ashamed to say I studied approx. 500 hours > for L1, 750 hours for L2 and 1000 hours for L3. > For L3, I started in September. I also took 2 > weeks from my own vacation time before the exam to > prepare. I’d rather overstudy and pass. The > strategy worked for me.
jcole21 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > former trader Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I’m not ashamed to say I studied approx. 500 > hours > > for L1, 750 hours for L2 and 1000 hours for L3. > > > For L3, I started in September. I also took 2 > > weeks from my own vacation time before the exam > to > > prepare. I’d rather overstudy and pass. The > > strategy worked for me. > > > Why would you rather study anymore than the > minimum necessary to pass? How do you know what that minimum is? It’s not like I planned to study a specific number of hours. I studied the most I could so I had no regrets going in.
Push it to the limit Karate Boy
I don’t mean to come off in any negative way but 500 hours of “study time” would span close to 1 year for me. A study time of 1000 hours for level 3 would mean I have I’d have to sign up for the 2013 exam. That’s mind boggling. wake2000 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Push it to the limit Karate Boy
We push and we push. Ride and we ride
KarateBoy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don’t mean to come off in any negative way but > 500 hours of “study time” would span close to 1 > year for me. > > A study time of 1000 hours for level 3 would mean > I have I’d have to sign up for the 2013 exam. > > That’s mind boggling. > > wake2000 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Push it to the limit Karate Boy That’s what I did. Maybe I didn’t need all that study time as I passed relatively easily. The reason I studied so much is because I know many people that I respect who have failed the exams. That was a wake up call for me. Others here have passed with half that time. I just like being well prepared. I started many months early too, so it’s not like I crammed everything in 2 months.
I’m studying for the June level 1 exam. So, I too am starting months in advance. But I work full-time so I’ll be lucky if I can study 10 hours a week. Did you really study 500 hours? That just seems like such overkill; no marginal benefit for a lot of cost.
KarateBoy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m studying for the June level 1 exam. So, I too > am starting months in advance. But I work > full-time so I’ll be lucky if I can study 10 hours > a week. > > Did you really study 500 hours? That just seems > like such overkill; no marginal benefit for a lot > of cost. I agree for Level 1. I found the exam extremely easy. But not so for L2 and L3. Don’t underestimate these exams.
http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprogram/process/enter/Pages/index.aspx Prepare for your exam: Successful candidates report spending an average of 300 hours preparing for each exam (we have plenty of tools to help you prepare). If you have already studied some aspects of the charter, you will obviously require less time and effort. MLA studied a BBA in Finance and thinks he ‘may’ have had an advantage. Not may. You did have an advantage. Others are not able to skip new topics and have to correspondingly compress more information into a finite time span. Factors that influence the length of time to study: - length of time since you left college and did an exam - number of kids / kids on the way - language barriers - previous education - work hours and intensity - partner demands - proximity to library - access to tuition and so on. Non workers have a big advantage with the hours they can commit to study. If I had the opportunity I would have committed as many hours that I could to get over the line first time round. I have colleagues who are stuck on level 2 and have more or less given up now. They had weekly courses and a week off to study. They also had a demanding workload and a commute to get to the study venue after work. They were probably a bit burnt out with all these pressures.
muddahadda: BBA in Finance definitely helped and I wrote L1 while in school. so good points on why i was able to log fewer hours. another aspect of it is the level of preparedness you’re comfortable with, something that FT was commenting on. I’ve always been a test-taker and prefer to take a test under extreme stress as it almost always provides me with the best results. i’m not good at working as a database, pulling from past question experience or text. i’d rather build a broad base of knowledge, with obvious focus on my weak areas, quant, FSA, and work on questions bottom up. i find my retention of information is much better when its less regurgitation and more interpretation.
former trader Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m not ashamed to say I studied approx. 500 hours > for L1, 750 hours for L2 and 1000 hours for L3. > For L3, I started in September. I also took 2 > weeks from my own vacation time before the exam to > prepare. I’d rather overstudy and pass. The > strategy worked for me. I understudied and confidently passed the first two levels on the second try, looking to do it again for three. Viewing the first sitting as a trial run kept me from killing myself due to social isolation.
As I stated before, I probably hit 1500 hours for all 3 combined, but it was condensed studying, so that doesn’t necissarily take years as someone else said. I did l1 in 6 weeks, December exam, then started for l2 in February for the June exam, and did l3 in 4 weeks using cfai materials. L3 I was full time studying though as I had just come out of grad school, but the other two I was full time working when I sat them. I’m just pointing out that a lot of hours doesn’t necessarily mean a long time period. For me, I had a light background and was trying to move to a more analytical role, so I didn’t want to push back my planned time line by risking a fail. Plus, I enjoyed the material.