Dec L1 >> Jun L2: Realistic or Realistically Impossible?

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ABh555

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Repost of something I asked on the CFA L2 Board. Just re-posting to see if anyone in the General Board has any comment. Thanks again in advance....

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> Just something I was wondering about. I'm
> planning on studying for and passing L1 in Dec
> 2009, so I think I have plenty of time to really
> study my @$$ off and just knock it out of the
> park. It seems like most of the material is stuff
> I've seen in finance / econ courses in undergrad
> before, so I'm confident that from now until then
> I'll have enough time to get through everything
> and then some.
>
> My plans were to immediately shift to L2 after Dec
> 5th so I could get an early start and not delay
> another 1.5 yrs before taking L2. But I've also
> seen plenty of posts saying "L2 is much harder,"
> "You need at least a year," or "That's just
> impossible." I thought that if I really did well
> on L1, that would be a great way to segway into L2
> with quite a bit of overlap (just more advanced
> applications).
>
> What do you guys think? Is it doable or foolhardy
> to even try? Would I be seamlessly upgrading or
> miss the boat?
>
> Any and all constructive thoughts are welcome.
> Thanks in advance!
 
I passed Level I 12/07 and Level II 6/08, so did a lot of other people in the Level III forum.
 
no its never been successfully done before. i think you'll be the first to try it and you'll probably get a trophy from cfa institute or something. please make more threads about this very exciting and unique situation to keep us up to date. also, don't even worry about passing level 1 first.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 08:53PM by supersharpshooter.
 
Like Bankin', I passed Level I 12/07 and Level II 6/08. I started studying near the beginning of February and walked out of the test knowing I passed. However, I had exposure to all of the concepts in grad school so nothing was too new to me. If you're starting from scratch it may be tougher, but it's certainly doable.
 
Anyone who doesn't go 3/3 in 18 months doesn't have a pair.

And the word you're looking for is "segue."
 
frisian Wrote:
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> Anyone who doesn't go 3/3 in 18 months doesn't
> have a pair.
>
> And the word you're looking for is "segue."

3/3 >70% is where it's at.
 
Dec L1, June L2 is now very common.

Of course it's doable, esp with a background in finance / econ. The only tough part may be accounting if you don't have a strong background in it. Nonetheless, 6 months is WAY MORE than enough time for L2. Starting studying 6 mos before the exam is a waste of time in IMO.
 
sublimity Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> frisian Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Anyone who doesn't go 3/3 in 18 months doesn't
> > have a pair.
> >
> > And the word you're looking for is "segue."
>
> 3/3 >70% is where it's at.


Nah, 3/3 > 70% in 18 months, plus your mom, is where it's at.
 
LOL, how can you pass all 3 in 18 mos?? You have to start studying for Dec L2 4-6 mos beforehand. Then 6 mos to L2 (that makes 10-12 mos total). Then 1 yr to L3 (that makes 22-24 mos).

frisian: thanks for the correction regarding spelling. But CFAI doesn't care. Try working on your quant first....
 
in answer to your questions:
yes, yes, maybe, no, yes, of course, never, yes and no.
(not necessarily in that order)
 
ABh555 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> LOL, how can you pass all 3 in 18 mos?? You have
> to start studying for Dec L2 4-6 mos beforehand.
> Then 6 mos to L2 (that makes 10-12 mos total).
> Then 1 yr to L3 (that makes 22-24 mos).
>
> frisian: thanks for the correction regarding
> spelling. But CFAI doesn't care. Try working on
> your quant first....


L1 in December to L3 the following June is 18 months. The preceding study time isn't included, because, of course, everyone would start at different times. And I already worked on my quant in the course of passing the exams. Please let everyone here know when you've registered for L1, ok?

Seriously, if you have an academic background in finance, you should be fine at L1 if you put in the hours. There are no shortcuts on these exams. The difficult thing is having the short break between L1 in December and starting to study for L2 in late January or whatever. If your personal situation allows that kind of effort, go for it. It was a very cool feeling going from starting up on L1 in August and getting the pass on L2 the following August, I promise you.
 
I've done it, definitely doable. With a finance/econ background from undergrad level 1 should be pretty easy and won't require a lot of time studying. L2 was definitely more challenging (and interesting, at least for me).
 
Thanks for all the comments everyone >> definitely helpful!

frisian: already registered. It's awesome that you've passed it all (mad props). Have a background in econ / finance, so I'm hoping I can focus on questions more than review for a lot of it. I definitely will start immediately after 12/5 :-).
 
ABh555 Wrote:
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> I definitely will start immediately after
> 12/5 :-).

Don't do that- its not necessary- you'll just burn out. No studying until results are out. Then set start date by your result- meaning the more you have over 70% the more time you can take. I started in mid Feb and was fine. You are better off building up a solid base in level one, taking a decent break and picking up again a bit later IMHO.
 
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