Completing CFA® in Undergrad

It will burn up holiday time you should be enjoying and you'll be at a disadvantage as many concepts still be foreign to you, or at best academic only.

I would not be impressed by someone who had done CFA in their summer break who wanted a job in my team. I'd think they were too odd, too misguided, likely to burn out at 28 because they don't know how to relax.

If you use the basic standard of 300 hours of studying and practice necessary, then yes it would be possible and the fact that changes in the L1 curriculum aren't that major YoY will benefit you. However, you will still need a solid ~3 months of ass-to-the-grind studying and practice before taking the exam to review everything, learn the new stuff, and practice a lot.

If you have the time management skills then you can do it during school or during your analyst stint as some people do the whole program while working. Also the CFA and the MBA are not equal or mutually exclusive. The CFA is only useful for Asset Management, portfolio management, S&T, HF type jobs and will make you a better candidate for these but it does not have the broad scope full-on "career reset" function of an MBA. It is also a fraction of the cost and you don't have to stop working in order to do it.

Therefore depending on what you want to do, the CFA might not even make sense, or it might be a good way to boost your career prospects but it will not serve the same purpose as an MBA.

I thought you had to be a senior to take L1? I know you have to had graduated to take L2.

You need to be a senior to enrol

Do people study for GMAT? Assuming you've got a decent brain, you only need to spend 2-3 nights running through practice questions so you can understand the structure of the questions.

Join a volunteer organisation that is completely unrelated to finance. Or join some organisation that involves a project that is intensive work over a few weeks, followed by great parties.

Don't study. You have plenty of time for that in the rest of your life. The most critical skill you can get now is ability to work and play with people, particularly your contemporaries, and develop socialisation skills. Social skills are integral to networking and, regardless of whether you've already got a IB FT lined up or not, networking skills are integral to a rain making banking career. You can't learn those skills studying. Study skills will only progress your career until you get to 28 or so.

Societal skills will also, for most people, give you a stronger foundation for happiness in life. Even if you're an introvert who prefers your own company.

How does one show an interest in IB if his/her resume is filled with no finance achievements?

You can join a finance club during semester (for what little that's worth), rather than burning up your spare time geeking out.

Sonny:

yea...people study for the GMAT

Really? Ffffftt...

In my opinion, just do what you want to do. If you want to do the CFA exam (and assuming you can enroll as a sophomore), then enroll and commit to it. You know yourself best. Doing finance clubs and other things may also be useful, but these are not mutually exclusive things. I had plenty of time in college to do a lot of things. It's all about planning and prioritizing. How much time it will take depends on your specific circumstance, how much of the material you already know, how good of a test taker you are, and (I will say because there is no other way around it) how smart you are? Only you can really make that call.

Also, when people say they have no time because they work a lot, it is more likely an excuse and a lack of motivation than actually having no time. From my experience, even working crazy hours and having a family did not prevent me from getting my CFA Charter (the days were just a little longer and you don't party a lot). Many (if not most people) have done it while working. If you really want to do it, you will find time. The rest are just excuses.

If you take the CFA level I exam the December of your senior year, it should be a breeze. You have probably already learned half the material in class. Just make sure you don't let it get in the way of your job hunt. I studied three weeks before the exam, almost 6 hours a day, and passed. You don't even have to study all the material. The goal is to pass, not necessarily get the highest score. In the mean time, enjoy life at your age.

And you can only take Level I as an undergrad. I don't think they verify whether you are still one or not when you take level II.

-Slim

It's a good way to build a strong foundation - most university finance classes aren't focused on applying ideas to investing, and the CFA curriculum basically consolidates it all for you.

It also gives people a baseline of your knowledge level - passing CFA lvl 1 + proof of modeling skills would be a good signal that you can be useful as a rookie. Since you're at a non-target, it takes away some of the risk your employers might assume about you since you're a non-target

You can't take it until you're a senior, but you should just learn the stuff because it IS useful despite WSO trashing the CFA all the time. IMO, the people who say it's useless don't know how to apply the theory well enough.

Plus, the CFA sucks because you force yourself to learn all this stuff in a year - I read the books early on and "had fun" with it. Yeah accounting and taxes were frustrating at first (especially if you stick to the schweser), but once you get the logic and the reasoning behind everything it's kinda neat.

The CFA readings however won't completely build the theory which i think is too bad, because again, the logic behind it all is pretty cool. So they'll skip the calculus in econ and they really butcher statistics. FYI - most finance people have no idea how to properly fit a regression, they think it's a just best fit line rofl!

Kissinger you are such an amazing pot heads, I really wish I was as cool as you; when you'll get back from your radical trip maybe you can look a bit further into the requirements before asking questions that are very easily found on the CFA website.

You can't do the CFA now, so stop pissing around. You can do your level I in your senior year, and potentially your level II as someone said. Now go get laid, that's what you should be worrying about.

Study for the GMAT now? You've taken your SATs right? You study right before the test to get in the mood, not 6 years before hand especially with gmat scores expiring after 5 years.

Ssits, the INSEAD has much lower GMAT average than top schools in the US for acceptance rate. I've taken the GMAT in the past and it's an exam you study for and prepare so as to get above the 720 threshold. You don't study "3 days" before the test. The grammar part is extremely specific to the GMAT, and if you want to make no mistake you'll have to go over it.

If he wants to start his CFA after his freshmen year, its perfectly alright, it doesnt make him a finance geek. He is just being career oriented. However yes if you are no exceptionally good at finance, you would be allienated to certain topics of finance that you would be taught atleast when you are junior so there might be a issue with learning.

You can take L1 as a senior, you have to have graduated from college to even register for L2.

you aren't eligible to take the CFA. end of discussion; find another way to 'deplore conformists'.

As other commenters have mentioned, passing levels of the CFA exam is a good qualification if you are looking for some but not all finance-type jobs.

With a solid undergrad GPA in finance, it wouldn't differentiate you from other candidates for your dream job. Diminishing returns.

I'm don't recommend you relax, but you should aim to do something equally ambitious or interesting with your free time that gives you something to talk about besides finance. Start a business, go backpacking around the world, etc.

Disclosure: I took level 1 and level 2 of the CFA exam as a senior only because my major was not finance.

+1 for the name. Diplomacy is one of my favorite books.

edited.

I was told by the CFA institute that you cannot sit the CFA1 exam until your final year at university.

Henry Kissinger,

As stated above, you are not even eligible to sit for Level I until December of your senior year. So there's no point in studying until maybe August after Junior year. Having Level I completed before you graduate definitely gives you some credibility, BUT KNOW that a CFA Charter will not help you in IBD. The Corp Fin. material on Level I is about 8% of the entire test and covers basic stuff like WACC, DCF, DOL/DFL, etc. This is all useful, but you learn all this stuff in school or during your IBD SA positions. Point is is that the CFA designation really only applies to 2-3 types of finance careers. One is NOT IBD. This is primarily the case bcause portfolio management/research isn't applicable for transactional work that's done in IBD.

I think it's better explained here: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-careers/08/cfa-job-oppur…

Good luck.

OP, screw the haters. Some people take 6 months to prepare for L1, some require 3 years. I'd crack those books ASAP if I were you. "Every battle is won before it is ever fought"- Sun Tzu

Just a little advice from a person who was basically in your shoes. Forewarning this will be long. (Second and last paragraph are probably the most important ones.) First don't narrow yourself in college. People would rather hire and work with some one who is well rounded and very sociable. In the time it takes you to complete school you are going to be a completely different person.

I know this because of my history.I went to CU-Boulder, a non target. Don't say anything about GS recruiting from there, they only did it at the trail end of my college career. (Fun fact: Dick Fuld went to CU, no one ever talks about that). I originally wanted to be a lawyer and work for the ACLU or fighting against corporate greed. I entered into the philosophy and poly sci programs and joined all the clubs. Read all the books. I was pretty one dimensional. I realized my interests had changed and pursued a different major. Now I work at one of the premier E&P equity research teams in the country. I think I could not of ended up further from where I started.

You're a sophomore. Use the time you have in a more useful setting. Join the investment club. Join a frat. They are great for networking and alumni. Become social chair and alumni chair. Social chair you learn how to budget, promote events, and bargain. Plus you gain a valuable network from meeting sponsors. Most important, it teaches you how to drink and hold your shit together in a crisis situation. Try dealing with the cops when you are drunk once a fight breaks out or someone ends up in the hospital. If you can manage that you can deal with some MD bitching you out. Alumni chair puts you in direct contact with the alumni which allows you to set up a great network.

If you have time for the CFA, you have time for an internship. Arrange your schedule to so you have class only 2 days a week, go the other 3 days. Use this to get a better internship the following year.

Learn how to use excel like a ninja. Nothing is better when you show a superior a new trick in excel. Take Wall Street Prep classes and learn how to model.

If you still want to be in finance by the time your a senior then you can think about the CFA. But you need to know a path you're going to be taking. If you go to IBD why waste the time on the CFA its worthless. If you go to ER, then take it. Take it June of your senior year so you have a year to study for level 2 if you pass. You don't want to burn yourself out. If you really want to take a certification, look up the CAIA or CMT requirements. They are pretty easy, give you a little extra resume padding, and will increase your knowledge. Again, those are probably only good for portfolio management, trading, or research.

Learn how to correctly look things up. You could saved yourself a lot of grief and time by Googling when you can take the CFA exams. Worse you wasted other people's time. All your superiors are going to be pissed off when you do this. If you cannot succeed at a simple task as finding an answer on the internet why should they trust you with a deal or report?

Take the CFA in June right after you graduate senior year. As people have said, it probably doesn't help that much in terms of undergraduate recruiting, especially for IBD, so I don't think it is that worth it to try and pass L1 prior to then. If you did try and take it earlier, It might get you an interview against someone else all things equal, but once you're faced with technical questions it only matters that you know your stuff, it doesn't matter how you acquired it (classroom or CFA).

One advantage to taking the CFA right after graduation is you are still very close to having been in an academic setting, so in my opinion your ability to study and retain detailed points of information is at its peak, not to mention having learned things in the classroom that will apply and are fresh in your mind. Additionally, if you keep your resume as strong as you suggested, it's reasonable to expect that you would stand a good chance to have locked down a full time position either coming into your senior year or soon after. Thus, you can afford to get a little "senioritis" in your last semester, at least in regards to your GPA not being hugely critical. Thus, you can allocate more time to studying the CFA material rather than trying to split your time between your classroom work, preparing for interviews, studying for the CFA, etc.

I was in a similar position and started to study for the CFA lvl 1 after my second year. It's definitely possible and there wasn't that much theory which didn't already sound familiar. In fact, I was quiet shocked by how superficial you are tested on the exam. It definitely helped me land an internship at a value-investing oriented fund right after I finished the exam and I would definitely do it over again. There's plenty of time to "get social" , practice excel, network, lead that finance club...

You've gotta be kidding...

...///...///..//

Take Level 1 senior year in December. Pass. Take Level 2 in June right after you graduate. Pass. Take Level 3 a year later. Pass.

That's the fastest you can do it, per their rules.

If you have a good full-time job lined up, then study for it. Otherwise, get the job first.

So many haters in this forum. I think there is quite a bit of insecurity floating around. If you can squeeze it in WHILE getting the grades, work, social, travel and leadership experience, then I would commend you on that.

TooShort is right. It DEFINITELY doesn't hurt to have. What if you don't get IBD? What if you don't want to be in it after an SA gig? What if you do get it, but you get laid off? What if you want to work at a HF or MF? Well, you get it....

The CFA designation doesn't guarantee you a job, and although some may argue it's becoming more and more saturated (like the CPA), it's still prestigious and will set you apart AND confirm you're not an idiot. I'd consider it, just consider it in a year or so.

Your not an over achiever your a try hard. Go try and get laid or something.

Hi Kissinger; I was in a similar position as you. First off, you cannot take CFA level 1 until your final year of college. I was a double major (accounting/finance) and passed the December 2013 exam. I tried to take level 2 in June of 2014 but was denied the ability to register. You need to have your degree in hand or have 4 years of qualified work experience to sit for level 2.

I heard in some rare cases, schools will vouch for you and talk to the CFA institute. My school did not vouch for me because I was enrolled in a class that would finish off my accounting degree. I also had the finance department chairman contact the CFA institute but they still threw the book at me.

It seems the discussion is moving away from the feasibility of passing and going toward the utility of a CFA. I believe that you will get mixed calls on this one. Those who are enrolled or have passed the exams are going to encourage it while others may not see as much value in the program. I graduated from a non-target school with no investment banking internships, but passing the first exam is one of the strongest things on my resume. It allows you to at least be slightly competitive against other applicants. I've gotten interviews mainly because I passed that exam. I see no harm in trying to learn more and going through the program especially if you're trying to break-in from a non-target school.

Definitely do it. Also it will supplement all of your finance classes etc. You won't be able to get the charter without work exp, but having passed lvl 1, 2 or 3 will certainly bolster a resume in just about any area of finance.

You'll get mixed opinions.

On one hand, you don't really need the CFA to be a good stock picker. On the other hand, having the CFA, or being in the process of getting it as a candidate, shows employers you A) are actually interested in seriously perusing Security Analysis, and B) have a clue about what you're taking about. In the same vein as you don't need an MBA to know how to operate a business, but having one gives you instant credibility.

Really just depends on where you're interviewing. I've talked to places that couldn't care less about the CFA, and others who told me that they don't hire anyone out of UG who isn't at least a L1 candidate. Most of the time you won't find it a requirement for an entry level ER position, but you may find yourself jobless if you aren't perusing it within 3 or 4 years.

The CFA is also a good way to differentiate yourself amongst dozens of other business majors, and can really set you ahead of the pack if you're a liberal arts major.

Great input, I'll look into becoming a L1 candidate thanks guys.

yes, the sooner the better. Once you start slowing down, you have no chance.

I'm currently an undergrad who has already accepted my full-time BB ER offer. Would it be helpful for someone in my position to start L1? Or is it unnecessary since I already have my foot in the door?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated~

I'm considering signing up to take CFA Level 1 in December (senior year), and my biggest worry is being able to balance higher level finance courses, extra curriculars, and studying 10-20 hrs a week for the CFA.

Do you guys have any tips or advice on how I would manage that time from when you took it during senior year? I'm guessing no social life whatsoever?

I graduated in December and took Level I in the preceding June. It was perhaps the smartest thing I had done in college. I didn't have the 3.5+ GPA that a lot of banks were looking for due to having to work nearly full-time to pay for college and being really involved on campus, but the having "Passed CFA Level I" on my resume validated a few facts for the banks that saw my resume: 1. I was smart enough to pass what is commonly known as the hardest exam on the Street that 60%+ of people fail. Some people will say "Oh it's not THAT hard", which is partially right, because it isn't rocket science, but it is difficult to grasp and retain the unreal number of concepts and formulas that are tossed at you. 2. I had the work ethic to be able to grind out a couple hundred hours of studying, which is a characteristic you'll need to be in equity research / banking where 12-14 hour days are the minimum. The exam is a matter of putting in the hours; you have to be disciplined. 3. I knew enough about the industry to recognize that studying for the CFA exams was important / I wanted to learn more about some advanced finance concepts

I did not have another solid brand name banking / ER internship, nor did I have a 3.5+ GPA, but I believe having passed the first level gave HR/interviewing analysts the notion that I would potentially be worth interviewing in a phone screen and all I needed was that one opportunity. Once I had my foot in the door, I was able to get an offer through honing in my interviewing skills.

Also I'm taking Level II this June while working full-time at a bank and I WISH I had as much free time as I did in college when I was a full-time student and worked a lot. You don't realize how much free time you had in college until you get your first real gig out of college.

I would recommend you try to take Level I and knock it out. Depending on what you want to get into, you'll likely have to take it anyway. Get it done while academic financial concepts and formulas are fresh in your head.

Thanks for the advice, I needed that motivation. I do want to get into equity research so I think it'll be important (assuming I pass). Also true that I don't realize how much free time I have compared to someone working 60+ hours a weeks who is still studying for it.

I guess I was worried because I've had trouble with time management in the past

Taking it in December hopefully joining the BROTHA HOOD

Is it reasonable to take the Level I exam in December of my sophomore year? I have more than three months to prepare for it during my freshman summer.

You have to be in your senior year in order to take Level I.

I think it's worth it, I am in my fourth year, taking the exam this june. The amount of information that i am learning from the curriculum might be immense, but if it is filling up my knowledge gap as well. Also it looks good on your resume. Gives credibility to the employers when you network with them.

I am planning on doing level 1 in december then level 2 in june. it will add some extra work to school but a lot of the things on level 1 are related to concepts from school so its a good move

I was thinking about doing this in college also. Do you guys know any good study websites and/or books?