CFA®+GMAT in 6 months?

The real answer is that it depends on how strong your background in the various topics is. If you have a BBA in finance and are good at standardized tests, you could knock both out in well under six months. If you a finance newb and think you will need to study a lot for the GMAT, six months will be enough but you might struggle. I did the 18 month CFA track with no background and jammed the GMAT and apps in between levels two and three. It was a shitload of work, but it's doable.

I don't think the CFA will help you in the apps, so the GMAT should be the priority depending on where you are at now. If I recall, you're going to be an older applicant, so your margin for error is basically zero on the GMAT -- that's worth considering. The CFA will still be there.

Dupe

What kind of finance experience / education do you have?

I assume you have your states and econ down given your work. If you know what most IBD analysts know in terms of financial statements analysis, basic accounting, equity valuation, you should have that down also. This is a big chunk of level I done already. Next topics would be basic fixed income and derivatives and CFA ethics.

I'd say go for it now if you want to do the CFA for your career. Commit to it. It's doable and you will have your results in time for you B-School apps.

Your life will not suck. You have already done the GMAT so know what to expect & what you have to do. If you take the CFA seriously you'll do fine. Just make sure that you have covered all of the other material. It really is broad.

I've passed level I, but had covered a bit of the curriculum in undergrad. You should still study the areas that you have covered in your work / "should have down" already.

CFA is in June. You'll have months to study again for the GMAT before Round 1 applications start.

if you can get your charter before you finish up your mba it might be worth it. i don't see "passed level 1 cfa exam" being a very compelling reason to hire you post-mba though.

I am in a similar although slightly worse situation then you are. Currently studying for CFA level 1 and planning to start GMAT prep afterwards with hopes of applications in for round 1 or round 2. However I have no background in finance (I work in biotech industry) and am not too familiar with GMAT so, fun times ahead.

I was a bit optimistic when deciding on this plan and a more conservative option would be to knock out the GMAT first and then go for CFA in December but hopefully I can accomplish both.

I know passing level 1 is not a huge accomplishment but was hoping it may lead to some opportunities breaking into ER. At the very least it should have some (although minimal as others have pointed out) benefit for MBA programs right, especially if one comes from a life science background as myself? Or perhaps just wishful thinking on my part.

I passed levelr 1, took a break then did the GMAT. I didn;t do too well and will retake. If I were you, I would focus on the GMAT, apply r1, then sign up for level 1 June 2013. But that's just me.

TOB2020, getting a high GMAT score is infinitely more important than the CFA level I for B-School apps. Brady has already sat the GMAT once so knows what he needs to do GMAT wise.

I would knock out the GMAT first and see how you do. If you need to retake again, don't bother with CFA, but if you are happy with the score and don't mind paying a little extra for late CFA registration then you might as well sign up. With your credentials I think you could knock out CFA 1 with 2 months of studying and it will be nice to have it done before B-school apps start up again. Another thing is that getting in study mode for the GMAT will make it easier to stay in study mode for CFA. Right now I'm struggling with the inertia of not having studied since June and finding it really difficult to get motivated for CFA 3.

I'm in a similar situation without the time crunch and my understanding is that it's not worth it. GMAT is a formal part of the admissions process, CFA falls under 'other' and we're talking very nominal return on time with that certification in the Bschool admission process unless you're at least a level II or above.

GMAT first, and THEN CFA. If you have time or want to study it to take a break from practice tests, go for it, but it's really not going to make a huge difference unless you're at level III.

I agree that the GMAT is more important unfortunately I've already signed up the CFA this June. An error on judgement on my part at the time, hopefully I can turn on beast mode and rock them both however if not then I guess I can push back GMAT/MBA application to either round 2 or the following year. Thanks for the input though, appreciate it., just wish I had known earlier.

I agree: GMAT is more important. I would start studying that first to get a sense of where you're scoring on the practice tests so you'll know how much of actual GMAT studying you'll need to crack 720 on the real exam. After that you can start studying the CFA and take level 1 in December 2012 and level 2 in June 2013 after passing level 1.

I took GMAT in January 2014, CFA Level II after, then GMAT again in August 2014. Yes, it blows, but I crushed both Level II and the second GMAT attempt so it goes down as one of the favorite years of my life. Just stay focused, if you're making that big of a sacrifice you don't want to blow it.