Does Anyone Actually Enjoy the CFA® Curriculum?

Like in the sense people enjoyed certain classes during college. I question my own sanity every time I give up a night with friends to study for the CFA®. And I'm only on Level 1.

7 Comments
 

No.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
Best Response

My answer is yes and no.

I'm doing L1 in December as well. I'm currently working as a B4 auditor and coming from a purely accounting background. However I've wanted out of auditing ever since I've started and I find finance a lot more interesting, I just never took any finance course in university apart from the 101 courses.

So pursuing the CFA was, to me, a way to gain an advanced understanding of finance without having to put in the money (and more importantly time) to do an MBA. So there are some areas that I'm learning for the first time and forcing myself to love it because it's what I want to pursue career wise.

But yes it sucks having to keep telling friends "I can't I have to study". evenutallly they just write you off and stop asking which sucks more.

T-minus 29 days.

 

It was somewhat interesting and gave me some interesting concepts, but the time spent/interesting concepts ratio was pretty low.

Most valuable piece of knowledge I've been able to deploy professionally is how valuation multiples are essentially an application of the Gordon growth model.

I recommend getting the Schweser (sp?) notes with mp3 files. I spent my time listening the notes while jogging, walking the dogs, catching public transport. The more way you can input the data, the more your brain gets familiar with the concepts.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 
"Colombianmonkey"But Damn it why do they have to focus so much pages on ethics and compliance in the first book.

Industry self-regulation is preferable to government regulation.

To avoid the latter, you need to make the former look credible.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

Saepe voluptas deleniti dolorum dolorum. Doloribus dolorem dolorem vel sit. Id aut quisquam suscipit eos omnis nemo laboriosam. Debitis fugit ad molestiae pariatur et. Fuga sint expedita dolorem repellendus. Dolore quo non non occaecati accusantium porro ut illum.

Officiis ad modi voluptatem molestiae est minima sunt. Amet cumque nesciunt sint est sunt accusantium dolor. Voluptatem omnis corrupti voluptate. Aliquam sit repudiandae explicabo aut rerum.

Repellendus voluptas qui ipsa fugiat delectus porro repellat. Quod mollitia occaecati ut voluptas ullam et.

Greed is Good!

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (72) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”