Senior pursuing AM career - should I wait to begin CFA® process?
I will begin my senior year this fall and am pursuing a career in AM with the goal of becoming a PM. I was hoping to get some feedback on the importance of a CFA® for PMs and for rising within AM in general. I have gotten a lot of conflicting input on this topic as well as whether or not to begin studying for the exams while still in undergrad. I will have a moderately difficult course load this upcoming year but would be able to manage studying about 15 hours a week. Would completing the CFA® level 1 provide any leverage in FT interviews or would my time be better spent elsewhere as an undergrad?
A few thoughts:
Yes you should sign up for the exam next June. There is no reason to wait.
I would not begin seriously studying for the CFA exam until Spring semester of next year. There is no reason to risk your Fall semester grades. Whatever happens after Fall grade wise is basically meaningless as long as you pass; that's when you should study for the CFA exams.
Most employers will not give you much credit for being a level 1 candidate. Pretty much anyone can become a level 1 candidate by visiting the Institute website and paying the registration fee.
More important than any of the above is securing a good full time job. You didn't mention your status there, but absolute focus on that above all else.
Well as someone who passed level 1 December of his final year of college, I'd say point 3 is a strong argument for taking it this December. Interviewers in the AM space were definitely impressed that I passed level 1 when I was interviewing in the spring, and were willing to overlook my GPA (3.3) which was below cutoff for some positions.
What's your GPA presently?
At least when I graduated (granted that was 5+ years ago) almost all the offers for decent shops went out in the fall, so before the L1 exam much less results. The schedule might be different at a nontarget but I would definitely focus on interviewing and doing well in school in the fall.
If the OP thinks he/she can manage that plus studying for the exam then go for it. I forgot that they offer the L1 exam in December, so your comment isn't totally off base.
I currently have a 3.54 GPA
Yeah I should have qualified my post with the fact that I graduated from a non-target, and I wasn't applying to like BlackRock or anything, just smaller boutiques. But your GPA isn't going to move that much with one final term, I'd recommend just get B's and pass level 1 than do another term of all A's/B's.
I have some friends who did level 1 in their final year of undergrad and it definitely set them apart as 4/6 of them landed FT AM. But you should absolutely not do it if it will in any way threaten your GPA, if you are 100% sure that you can maintain a high GPA while doing L1 then there is no doubt that you should be doing it.
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