Bank requires CFA level 1: need help preparing
Graduating at the end of this semester and starting FT at a BB investments division that is requiring us to pass CFA level 1 within a year of starting. The issue is my entire senior year is study abroad and I'm not registered for any serious/finance/business classes because I finished graduation requirements in junior year; I want to travel more than study. Add drop period is also closed. I start in August and return from abroad in the beginning of May so I estimate around 3-3.5 months before I start working since the exact date hasn't been relayed yet. I also need to go apartment hunting but that is the only other thing besides the CFA I'll need to be doing in those 3 months.
Can anyone advise on whether it is possible to get prepared in those 3 months or suggest a study plan? If it is unlikely I can pass level 1 in that time, has anyone successfully balanced working and studying?
3 months is plenty to prep for level 1. Get Schweser or something although the shortened prep books get a lot more hit or miss once you get to level 2 and beyond.
I had a bad experience with the CFA level 1. I didn't need it for my job but thought it would be useful to have for my career. I registered for it 6 months before the exam date and bought all the Kaplan Schweser study materials. I would wake up early to study before work and stay up late to study after work and study all day on weekends. I lasted in this routine for about 3 months and then just gave up. I wasn't doing well on the practice quizzes after each section and wasn't keeping on pace to finish all the material in time before the exam. Some people find all the CFA level 1 material pretty easy, but I struggled with remembering all of it.
So after 3 months of studying, I gave up and it was a waste of $2,000 dollars. 2 years later I got into my dream MBA program tho so that was nice.
Level 1 is pretty straight forward. Don't need to read the CFAI materials besides ethics. Read all the kaplan materials, supplement difficult sections (FI and Derivatives) with Mark Meldrum's videos. Hammer question banks and practice problems. Four months would be ideal but three months is plenty of time if you are studying a couple hours a day.
Thanks for the advice! I'll be spending several hours a day for those 3 months, and looking up Mark Meldrum now
mark meldrum. people swear by him
I absolutely love MM.
Incredible value. Absolutely no reason to spend 1500$ on kaplan, especially for L1
Definitely try to take it now. 3 months is plenty with a finance background, just grind the question banks.
Is there a reason why you can't study a little bit while you're abroad? Enjoy your senior year of course but I bet you can find ~10 hours a week just to get a good base level of knowledge so your summer can be mostly review / question bank prep, rather than starting from zero and cramming for 3 months.
If you fail you can try to take it while working, but that shouldn't be plan A. Investments won't be as crazy hours as IB, but studying is still a huge time suck and you want to spend year 1 doing well at your job rather than watching study videos.
Absolutely, no reason not to study while abroad, but I'm worried about being easily lured away or distracted with sightseeing and exploring and then deciding I'm too tired and blowing it off. Trying to figure out a plan for the worst case scenario where I leave all study for when I get back, just in case, but the videos will be great to chew up the time when traveling
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