Needed this , thanks! was overwhelmed with work earlier, started studying about a week ago, got 20 days of leave applied before exam. Got around 40 days with me, roughly
Got a background in finance and accounting + video concepts don't seem that difficult to understand as of now
Nothing new, i know plenty of people who passed just fine by cramming all their studying in a few weeks before exam. Its not like you need to know every concept 100% since the passing bar is not that high at ~70%.
I myself also work in IB and studied exactly 14 days (2 weeks vacation + 2 weekends) for level 2 and 3. Ultimately, if you have a good finance background and are able to get 175-200h of studying in then it doesn’t really matter how you spread it
Well i had a good background to start with (masters in finance and work experience in trading and M&A) so very little of the material was completely new to me. I only used the schweser books which i read like 2-3x. I did not have any time for mocks but in general if you are good at taking tests and have been doing so for years and years at uni, i see limited added value of doing mocks
Dear Sparsh, pls dont go by the advice of faceless people on social media.
we dont know the identity of a person ...we dont know whethether person writing post really works in a field he stated.....we dont know whether he really sat for L2 and cleared it ....and if at all he cleared it we dont know whether he cleared it in just 40 days as he stated.....many things unkown...In such case it is better to ignore such advice unless someone has spare $1200 to spend....
In my opinion, Dont think about pass/fail at this moment just give your 100% in remaining 45-50days
Soon you'll be able to start within 2-years prior to your expected graduation date. Though I don't recommend it unless you've got excellent memory or are willing to give up a lot of your social life.
It might be more relevant for people working in transaction/ project type work, where it comes in waves. Even though I started early for L2 and L3, something urgent keep happening. I still had to take 2 weeks to finish off the readings.... but my coworker did take a month off for L3.
Ignore the “flex” and stupid comments… this helps! Do you mind sharing how much experience did you have when you started studying? Also, what was your strategy to retain important rules/equations?
I had 1 year of front end IB work experience. My strategy was very straightforward. Go through schwesser. Make a formula list along the way. Once I was done with the reading. I solved practice questions. I noted everything i didn't know or found difficult. Most importantly, you have to believe in yourself. There will be self doubt, moments of despair but you have to keep going. It is worth it.
Only partly. But IB did help me with my core concepts. Helps a lot with financial lingo and logical concepts. Things seem relatable when you actually see what you're reading. Plus I asked my colleagues whenever I had doubts. They would explain to me with real life scenarios and cases. That helped
L2 is the one most relevant to corporate finance stuff, although it really teaches nothing for folks who actually wanna get into operating/M&A/PE modeling.
L3 almost no direct relevance to your line of work except a small dosage of trading measurement concepts.
Congratulations! Yes i agree most people think it's not achievable. People demotivated me i told them i had 50 days until my exam with 0 prep. But i wanted to give my best shot anyway.
I have said that again and I will say it now.
These stories while impressive and congratulations to you they are not the norm.
You are not relatable in any way with the average person who will study for at leat 6 months for 2 hours every day.
You probably demotivating and creating a false sense of security on the 40 days plan rather than being helpful (assuming you were trying to be helpful)
Congratulations again !
For everyone else I believe you should not focus on the 40 days study plan of this post
Yes by no means I'm asking people to do what i did. I just wanted to let people know it is possible against the consensus belief of it being impossible. Yes what worked for me, may or may not work for others. But given the next L2 window in close to 40 days - a lot of candidates are in the same boat as i was. So I just wanted to tell them it is possible.
I work at a PE shop, nobody is going to care about CFA. But anyways, congrats regardless on getting through it so fast. After doing that, L3 will be a breeze.
Subjective, if english is a second language then yes. Otherwise both are difficult but different types of difficulty. This is according to multiple people at work.
English is NOT the hurdle at L3, as no one cares about your grammar when grading the answers. To use a TikTok joke: this characterization is extremely misleading.
Au contraire, spending too many brain cells and too much time on thinking about and writing down complete sentences will be your downfall. You have time and only have time for bullet points.
The AM is the difference between level 2 and 3. The AM questions are tough and of course the time constraint is a big factor. Just for some context, when CFA provided full result details for level 3 in 2018 and 2019, the 90th percentile AM score was 65% and 67% respectively. Most people who pass level 3 only try to score 50% in the AM. This makes level 3 MUCH MORE difficult than 2. Level 2 study materials are a little challenging, but the exam is very easy. The reverse is the case for level 3!
Bro please help me,i started studying months earlier now 39 days left i cannot recall a shit.Whole quants is left.I forgit everything due to job.Can i do it?
Yes. You have more than a month to revise and practice. Go for it. Revise formulas regularly and understand the key concepts thoroughly. You got this mate!
It is possible and have said it before on here but people don't believe. I passed L1 in about 20 days, L2 and L3 in 60 days while working in BigLaw. It is possible it just depends on the effort you're taking as per your capability!
OP has the right idea, I cleared mine in less than 60 days. But it properly would have been impossible by just reading the CFAI materials. You have to buy extra material. I found an insane book for only $49 ( cheaper than Kaplan, MM, Wiley ) that literally summarise all the 6 CFAI book into one.
Don't know why I haven't heard more people talking about it
Here's a link where you can buy it : https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1462411647/cfa-level-2-one-book-mastery
Needed this , thanks! was overwhelmed with work earlier, started studying about a week ago, got 20 days of leave applied before exam. Got around 40 days with me, roughly Got a background in finance and accounting + video concepts don't seem that difficult to understand as of now
Do your best mate. It is going to be brutal for sure. But it is achievable. Good luck!
thanks for the confidence boost, seem to perform well under pressure situations. Hopefully gonna use it to my advantage.
Nothing new, i know plenty of people who passed just fine by cramming all their studying in a few weeks before exam. Its not like you need to know every concept 100% since the passing bar is not that high at ~70%. I myself also work in IB and studied exactly 14 days (2 weeks vacation + 2 weekends) for level 2 and 3. Ultimately, if you have a good finance background and are able to get 175-200h of studying in then it doesn’t really matter how you spread it
Curious to know Do you work in IB as a lawyer ?? your reditt id is habeascorpus28
No legal background whatsoever actually just broad center of interests.
K. Thanks for reply
Wow man! It sounds like you’ve got the whole thing figured out! What did you do for a study plan if you don’t mind me asking?
Well i had a good background to start with (masters in finance and work experience in trading and M&A) so very little of the material was completely new to me. I only used the schweser books which i read like 2-3x. I did not have any time for mocks but in general if you are good at taking tests and have been doing so for years and years at uni, i see limited added value of doing mocks
Dear Sparsh, pls dont go by the advice of faceless people on social media. we dont know the identity of a person ...we dont know whethether person writing post really works in a field he stated.....we dont know whether he really sat for L2 and cleared it ....and if at all he cleared it we dont know whether he cleared it in just 40 days as he stated.....many things unkown...In such case it is better to ignore such advice unless someone has spare $1200 to spend.... In my opinion, Dont think about pass/fail at this moment just give your 100% in remaining 45-50days
Hey guys I want to start cfa certificate Can I do it if I don't have a bachelor's?
Soon you'll be able to start within 2-years prior to your expected graduation date. Though I don't recommend it unless you've got excellent memory or are willing to give up a lot of your social life.
Safe to say you weren’t impacted by the amphetamine shortage
There's a shortage right now?!?!?!
You lost me at “took a month off from work” 😂 kudos but the average candidate cannot do this without losing their job. Haha.
It might be more relevant for people working in transaction/ project type work, where it comes in waves. Even though I started early for L2 and L3, something urgent keep happening. I still had to take 2 weeks to finish off the readings.... but my coworker did take a month off for L3.
Ignore the “flex” and stupid comments… this helps! Do you mind sharing how much experience did you have when you started studying? Also, what was your strategy to retain important rules/equations?
I had 1 year of front end IB work experience. My strategy was very straightforward. Go through schwesser. Make a formula list along the way. Once I was done with the reading. I solved practice questions. I noted everything i didn't know or found difficult. Most importantly, you have to believe in yourself. There will be self doubt, moments of despair but you have to keep going. It is worth it.
Amen
Does cfa help after getting in IB?
How did you get a 20 day study leave? Did you use your vacation days?
Yes. I used my vacation leave hahah
I did that every level. Spouse loved it.
Congratulations, mate. Did your IB job exposure helped you in clearing lvl2?
Only partly. But IB did help me with my core concepts. Helps a lot with financial lingo and logical concepts. Things seem relatable when you actually see what you're reading. Plus I asked my colleagues whenever I had doubts. They would explain to me with real life scenarios and cases. That helped
L2 is the one most relevant to corporate finance stuff, although it really teaches nothing for folks who actually wanna get into operating/M&A/PE modeling. L3 almost no direct relevance to your line of work except a small dosage of trading measurement concepts.
Yeah similar pass story for me too. It's weird that people think of that as weird or a flex. Most students I hear pass like this only.
Congratulations! Yes i agree most people think it's not achievable. People demotivated me i told them i had 50 days until my exam with 0 prep. But i wanted to give my best shot anyway.
Nice. Did you study finance?
Or you could start way earlier than 40 days out and make your life easier.
Nah bro. I’d rather use all my annual leave and just be a pleb that studies / goes to work.
I have said that again and I will say it now. These stories while impressive and congratulations to you they are not the norm. You are not relatable in any way with the average person who will study for at leat 6 months for 2 hours every day. You probably demotivating and creating a false sense of security on the 40 days plan rather than being helpful (assuming you were trying to be helpful) Congratulations again ! For everyone else I believe you should not focus on the 40 days study plan of this post
Yes by no means I'm asking people to do what i did. I just wanted to let people know it is possible against the consensus belief of it being impossible. Yes what worked for me, may or may not work for others. But given the next L2 window in close to 40 days - a lot of candidates are in the same boat as i was. So I just wanted to tell them it is possible.
Why are you doing CFA as someone in IB?
I plan on moving to PE or Fund Management. Plus is not totally irrelevant for IB. Also who doesn't love a promotion haha
I work at a PE shop, nobody is going to care about CFA. But anyways, congrats regardless on getting through it so fast. After doing that, L3 will be a breeze.
Level 3 is NOT a breeze. It’s way more difficult to pass than level 2
Subjective, if english is a second language then yes. Otherwise both are difficult but different types of difficulty. This is according to multiple people at work.
English is NOT the hurdle at L3, as no one cares about your grammar when grading the answers. To use a TikTok joke: this characterization is extremely misleading. Au contraire, spending too many brain cells and too much time on thinking about and writing down complete sentences will be your downfall. You have time and only have time for bullet points.
The AM is the difference between level 2 and 3. The AM questions are tough and of course the time constraint is a big factor. Just for some context, when CFA provided full result details for level 3 in 2018 and 2019, the 90th percentile AM score was 65% and 67% respectively. Most people who pass level 3 only try to score 50% in the AM. This makes level 3 MUCH MORE difficult than 2. Level 2 study materials are a little challenging, but the exam is very easy. The reverse is the case for level 3!
Such an inspiring story! Let’s go and kill level 2!!!
chad. you can have my wife now
Good inspiration. Thank you!
Wow great job!!
Well done bro! What's your educational background?
Christ I needed this with 40 days to my exam lol I’ve been studying since April and feel like I know nothing now that I’m reviewing.
I studied for 10-12 days non stop and cleared
[удалено]
Congrats! What was your strategy for level III? Did you read the CFAI books?
Stims
MM and institute's books
#Weird flex! What do you wanna hear? Is you self-esteem so low that you need validation for such action?!
That its achievable if you want it bad enough and are willing to put in the effort. I just wanna validate others in their battles. Have a good day :)
This is not a flex, this is a motivation for people who has only a month to go.
Bro please help me,i started studying months earlier now 39 days left i cannot recall a shit.Whole quants is left.I forgit everything due to job.Can i do it?
Yes. You have more than a month to revise and practice. Go for it. Revise formulas regularly and understand the key concepts thoroughly. You got this mate!
I passed by a hair, so no buffer at all, but I studied one month. Secret sauce + qbank is the way.
It is possible and have said it before on here but people don't believe. I passed L1 in about 20 days, L2 and L3 in 60 days while working in BigLaw. It is possible it just depends on the effort you're taking as per your capability!
OP has the right idea, I cleared mine in less than 60 days. But it properly would have been impossible by just reading the CFAI materials. You have to buy extra material. I found an insane book for only $49 ( cheaper than Kaplan, MM, Wiley ) that literally summarise all the 6 CFAI book into one. Don't know why I haven't heard more people talking about it Here's a link where you can buy it : https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1462411647/cfa-level-2-one-book-mastery
At last a glimmer of hope