24 days to prepare CFA level 1
Background: PhD student in Chemistry. Zero knowledge in finance. Was working prior to starting my PhD programme, enrolled in the CFA programme right before I quit my job as I was very bored in a small town. Then a Professor I know got some funding and asked me to go back to the uni to do a PhD with him. Did not revise because I was too busy with uni work, like working 14-16 hours a day. I am also a non-native English speaker.
Now I have 3 weeks off, gonna use the next 24 days to start from zero and see how far I can go. Will update the post every now and again about the progress. I know most people spend 3+ months to prepare so I do not expect to pass anyway, I am genuinely doing it for fun. Any advice is also appreciated. Let's start!
30th night update (18 days left, exam on 19th MAY):
QM: 5/7
Econ:1/7
Financial statement:1/12
Corp Fin:5/6
Equity:0/6
Fixed income:3/6
Derivativs and Alt.Inv: 1/3
Ethics: 1/5
All topics that I have covered got 80%+ correct in schweser qbank (closed book). For Qbank if there are more than 50 questions I will do 50 and check if I have 85%+, will move on to next topic if I do.
I internationally not finish 1 big topic at once, keep myself less bored. Every time I move on to next chapter of a big topic I quickly go through the Schweser summary of the previous chapters, kind of refreshing those concepts again.
Comments (48)
My study plan is: watch analyst prep free videos on YouTube to get a brief understanding -> Schweser notes -> Schweser qbank.
Will do end of chapter exercises and maybe a mock or two before actual exam.
It is almost 4am in the UK, cannot fall asleep, so just went through Chapter 39/40 (first two chapter of fixed income) and completed the qbank.
You're better off doing CFAI Qbank if you're only going to do one Qbank
Big balls on you, my man. Also respects for going the usual Chemistry PhD -> CFA career path. Hopefully you pass with flying colors, even if only out of pure luck.
Thanks man! It is not really for my career, it is more for fun lol! But we never know where we end up, maybe one day I will work in corp fin and that pass actually helps!
Let's see if studying 10 hours a day x 24 days works!
Oh dude you have 10hrs x 24 you'll be fine. Take breaks, study efficiently, and hit up the gym 1-2 times per day. Don't underestimate the difficulty of the questions. It's only 3 choices, but they are very crafty. Study Ethics everyday.
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
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Learn moreGood luck! If you pass, you're a genius, but if you have some background knowledge, I'd actually imagine it's not impossible. If you're learning everything from scratch, that's going to be really tough. Nonetheless, put the time in and see what happens
Get Q bank, take practice tests as the exam date gets closer. Do 1/2 to full mock exams.
https://www.schweser.com/cfa/level-1/study-materials/qbank?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ks_sem_gsa_con_ecomm_br_cfa_general_ext_nam&utm_content=qbank&gclid=CjwKCAjwjZmTBhB4EiwAynRmD3eDgNSy5jEoDOkyS6i5Qa4tPOJUUW5GK5nLTduSrj5UXbc02a3Q5xoCkWAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
Hey Isaiah! Thanks for the comment, yes, I do have Schweser qbank, I'm going through the Schweser notes then the qbank. Do not expect to pass but it is good to put myself under pressure to learn some new stuff!
Hey man good luck with this - you will probably fail, just do a lot of questions. You're probably going to have to do a quick skim of the material before the questions though.
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
Something happened in the lab so went to uni today and did not get much done.
Still, went through four easy chapters and done Qbank for them today: 54 Technical Analysis, 55 Fintech and the first 2 chapters of corp fin… See if I can get chapter 41 fixed income valuation done before sleep!
Unlike Isiah, I'm not a big Schwesser fan. Do you think you can read the CFAi material thru once in this time? If so, do it.
my biggest fuck-up was relying on them my first go-around for lvl 3.
I am not a native English speaker so I think it will be more manageable for me to read Schweser. I will still go back to CFAi materials to do the EOC questions though!
Honestly you should move the exam. Use those days off to travel and enjoy your life. Do you not have anything better to do with your time? MBAs have had trouble with cfa level 1, the exam is no joke.
I know that the exam is not easy, in terms of the volume of materials. I am not aiming to pass anyway so I am not really bothered if I fail.
This is the wrong strategy and mindset to have. You are going to pass and you will pass.
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
Godspeed brother- let us know how it goes and what works well/doesn't work well to help you grind that much. Should learn a lot about how to learn if nothing else.
That's pretty much what I thought! After going through 6 chapters my feeling is that it is quite a bit easier than those chem courses I took at uni but there are so much to memorise for CFA! Will keep updating the post and let you guys know!
Hell yeah man- I wish you the best of luck!
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Will do official qbank, doing Schweser one first coz i can do it by chapter. Once I finish a whole topic I'll do the official one.
I would say you threw that money down the drain. Did 285h (this was over 6.5 months), didn't use any material outside of CFA Institute and barely passed. Note: I have a BA in Econ and an MA in Quant Econ, so I wasn't going in with empty hands.
I hope you make it though, cause that would be a VERY impressive feat.
Respect your determination. I will be graduated from my undergraduate program in May and I also planned to take a CFA level 1 test during summer vacation. I think it would be quite helpful for a career in asset management and my study in MSF program. If you passed the test, please share some of the insight on how you rush through it!
I also wonder if you tend to do some investment research or equity research on chemical industry in the future. I know many people who do well in mutual funds by using their grad school education.(Macroeconomics, Engineering, Biology, Biochemistry, etc.)
If it gives you any hope, I consider myself to be of average intelligence and an extreme procrastinator (as opposed to your hard working nature). I have to confess that I did have an undergraduate degree in accounting but thats about it. I literally spent a sum total of 3 hours "studying" for the CFA L1 exam one night before and still passed it. This was back in Dec 2013 for context. I am sure a person of your caliber and hard working nature would pass the exam provided you stick to your plan despite not having any background in finance. Wish you all the very best!!
I hope you realised that you're actually super smart if you manage to pass with minimal study. I'm 8 chapters in and already starting to forget what I have learnt 2 days ago.
But yeah, I think it's nice that I posted here. It is like now people are watching and I cannot let myself fail. Also thanks for all the insights!
lol and I am jesus christ
Revision progress updated. A bit slower than planned.
Ethics. Every. Day.
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
I just had a quick look at the ethics portion. It is HUGE... gonna cover the first topic before I sleep.
Thanks for telling me in advance Isaiah, would have been totally fucked if I was not told...
Only on WSO is a 10-hour study day considered vacation and light hours compared to a regular work week.
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i personally find it more daunting than standing in front of a fume hood for 16 hours continuously.
it is a bit frustrating to learn new stuff I guess…
But I do think it is generally easier than you folks dealing with spreadsheet and powerpoints working 100 hour week, you guys have my respect lol.
Do you guys find it easier to do ethics with Schweser or official curriculum? I got a feeling Schweser is not enough for ethics.
Dude you're fucked lmfao
Progress updated. Went to uni today to see my Prof to discuss the preparation for my first year viva, did not get much time revising but still got a few chapters done.
I'm not sure of the Schweser QBank, so take my advice with a grain of salt. The CFAI QBank is split by the different sections of each reading. For instance, if there are 100 Questions for Economics 1, then the later sections of the Reading aren't tested til the 75th question. The order is not randomized, it's chronologically progressing across the content. So if you stopped at the 50th question, then you wouldn't be tested on the later stages of the readings.
Schweser Qbank is good, it is classified by each chapter and is randomised within each topic. Yeah, I will do CFAI Qbank later on so thanks for letting me know!
That's how it should be though. You should see what those peanuts at the CFA Institute do. You'll be solving the material on LES (which is their online learning ecosystem or something among those lines) and they'll be asking you questions about the topic which comes literally right after the previous one. It's like they reordered the contents and forgot to reorder the questions with them.
Enrolling in the CFA program for fun? Keep in mind that to be awarded the CFA charter, there is a work experience requirement.
Updated my progress, a bit behind schedule because things happened in uni (work-related), but I am damn sure no body will bother me in the next 2 and a half weeks.
Will try to get 1/2 more chapters done before the end of today.
Currently living with my ex's sister, she is sweet and know that I am doing this. She will start cooking me food etc till after my exam so only thing I need to do is to shower and study.
Wow dude that's insane. I hope you make it tbh.
I suggest hammering the questions on the ecosystem. I did all the questions twice in the month leading up to the exam and scored in the 90th percentile. Idk if you're really that smart but again hope you pass. If you don't, dont beat yourself up.
Thanks bro! Of course I will try my best in the exam, but I'm just aiming to learn as much as I could. If I manage to pass that is a nice bonus.
After going through around 20 chapters I think I understand the society I am in a lot more, maybe it is an overstatement but I guess you all get what I mean.
any updates on your progress? When's your test date?
19 May test date
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
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"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
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