How did you spend your CFA gap year?
Hi,
Quick question to anyone who has re-taken any level of the CFA. A little background first. I signed up for the program a while back when my goal was an industry that "kind of" respected it (ie. not AM, ER, etc.). I have since shifted to an industry that it is a pinch above complete irrelevance. The reason i say this, is that the sign-up price hike is about 5 days away. Due to the change of industry, part of me says fuck it. However, the other (more rational, perhaps) part of me says I'm $700 away from $1500 and 300 hours NOT being a complete waste. So yea, I'm on the fence w/out a whole lot of time to decide.
Onto the question. What were your guys' game plans in the time between? I'm thinking secret sauce and 5 or 6 practice tests in the month or 2 prior should suffice? Did you find you recalled a lot or was re-clocking the 300 neccesary? Any other thoughts on how you prepared "again"? Like I said, due to the industry change- if I find that the consenus is the same effort was necessary again, I'm going to have a lot of trouble convincing myself it's worth it.
Much love,
GBS
had to retake L2, and the 1st time I just used schweser, the 2nd time i went and read the accounting/derivatives portions in the actual CFAI books and did as many EOC / Blue Box questions from all the CFAI books...so not necessarily re-clocking 300, but rather shifting focus/strategy...which inevitably involved learning things i didnt learn properly before but the skeleton of knowledge was already in place and the expectations of content covered were already set
true. I figure it's all up in there still but I'm worried about the whole "you don't use it, you lose it" thing. Bond yield convexity and distribution kurtosis are not exactly things I've been using since, lol. I'm thinking taking a 100% cold practice test before that deadline might be a good idea to test the water. Thanks for the response
It does depend on what level it is... If it's Level 3 and a charter, then I say go for it. But if it's Level 2, what's the point? What are the odds you'll have the drive to do level 3 once (or even twice, potentially)?
CFA Level X Candidate may look good for a relevant industry (ER/AM/etc.), but outside of that, it'll be pointless. John Smith, CFA has an impact - even in industries where it's less relevant.
Can I ask what completely irrelevant industry you're in now? Curious because I just passed L3, am in ER, and I'm strongly considering trying to move into a completely irrelevant industry, ie. corp strategy in the sector I cover. Part of what's holding me back is that I'd have wasted all this time on this damn test.
I guess it's good knowing that the CFA would help if I ever wanted to bounce back into AM/ER after trying out corporate, so if you see yourself in a similar position (even if it's just a somewhat relevant part of finance) then it might be worth it, but probably only if you're talking about L3.
Oh and my girlfriend failed L2, put in another 300 hours, failed again. And she's not dumb. But I think it's on a brain by brain basis...some people are much better at retaining than others.
my condolences...that is one beast of an exam
Can I ask you how was the week of the results when you found out you passed and she failed? I want to know what kind of impact that had on your relationship (I'm in a similar situation)
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