CFA® L1 + GMAT in 5 months

impossible

clear the GMAT first. took mine in March and L1 in June. You need to start yesterday. full time. take a GMAT mock first to test your level, note that if your Bachelor's isn't quant based it'll be much much much harder. good luck tho!

not realistic

I disagree. It won't be easy, but it's possible. I took the GMAT in September and then passed L1 in December. L1 isn't all that bad assuming you are good about studying. A lot of what's on the exam you would have learned in undergrad too so hopefully a lot of it is review. It certainly won't be easy though.

Have you studied finance/econ/accounting before? L1 is mostly what you would have studied at college. L1 is easy tbh. Assuming you want to go to a top school, I would focus more on the GMAT and aim for a score higher than 710, which quite frankly, is below average at top schools. Don't be afraid of rewriting if you score is below 730.

I actually just did something very similar, took the GMAT in spring and CFA Level III in June. I started studying in December, so had about six months to study for both while working full time work (40-70 hour weeks--with about half of the study time working long hours, and the other half being relatively free). Jury is still out on the CFA (hoping I passed), but I managed a somewhat competitive score on the GMAT (read: above 730 but lower than I had wanted).

You'll need to learn to say no to going out, and will need to do a few practice problems every night even if you're exhausted. And you'll probably want to set aside at least two 4-hour blocks of alone time each weekend...if not more. I used Manhattan (very highly recommended) for GMAT, and of course, Schweser for CFA.

So yes, it is possible if you're willing to make the sacrifices. That said, you most likely won't be going to business school until you have about 2 years of experience anyway, so there's no point in rushing the GMAT. Unlike for CFA L1, what you learned in college won't really help you with the GMAT.

Possible but will be extremely difficult to accomplish. Too little time, and too many things to do.

what's your latest gmat score? everything is possible, but this one will be very difficult.

Did I misread the original post? I think the OP implies that he doesn't work full time. In this case, frankly I don't understand why this should be difficult at all. People typically study for their CFA on top of a demanding full-time job, so there should be PLENTY of time left to study for the GMAT. Plus indeed CFA level I is indeed easy with a bachelor in finance.

I took my GMATs during my final semester at university (March-ish) and CFA L1 in June the same year. Assuming that you are a native English speaker, paid at least a little attention during high school math, and were a finance undergraduate student, you'll be fine.

Not nearly impossible. L1 is a lot of msterial from college so depends on how removed you are from the material.

Level 1's a joke. You should be able to pass.

I can't speak for the GMAT, but CFA L1 is easily doable in that time frame. I passed L1 with about 6 weeks of studying - a lot of the material was familiar however since I majored in finance. I recommend that you outline a study plan for both and stick to it. So if 3 months of prep time is enough for GMAT studying I think you can do it. It definitely wont be easy as it will take lots of commitment and most of your free time, so don't plan on going out too often if you want to pull it off.

Did you do really well (Ivy League level) on the SAT? If so, the GMAT should take you 2-3 weeks. Spend the rest of the time on CFA and you'll be fine.

No idea about GMAT, but all CFA Levels can be done with 4 weeks of studying. Full-time studying that is, i.e. 12h+ days. Worked for me.

Depends on your current background. If you're from Wharton its easily doable.

If you're from a complete non finance background who isn't good at standardized testing, please reconsider.

What about you all stop wanking. It depends on the person, and no one knows you better than yourself. Some people score 800 on the GMAT with 1 week of studying, some pass the CFA with 2 weeks of studying. I took a lot longer to pass my CFA... Also why the fuck do you want to take your GMAT now - life changes and you might not need it in 2-3 years when you would have potentially gone into an MBA program.

This thread is ridiculous, and this question is dumb. Just fuking take a GMAT mock, see how you fare if you really want to take it, and you'll know how hard it is.