HOw many attempts are too many to pass level 1?
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challenger
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- Jun 18, 2026
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My advice is make your own decision. How CFA is important to you as your personal and professional achievement?
Failure is part of the road up to success. Learn from it, rethink your preparation strategy and study plan. Good luck
Failure is part of the road up to success. Learn from it, rethink your preparation strategy and study plan. Good luck
I don't think any one failing Level 1 twice will have enough confidence in him/her to go for it again. it will be a waste of very precious time. That does not mean that he/she cannot pursue any other designation or further studies. Its just that maybe CFA is not the thing, but maybe a PHD, CPA, CMA combo is. Now this is just for level 1. If you end up failing Level 2 twice, you might sit more times considering you have already worked hard and passed Level 1.
rayllionaire
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TWO attempts are too many for me for any given level. I am committed to dedicate 3 years of my life to pass all 3 exams but that's it. There are too many things in my life I don't want to ignore for more than 3 years. Genetic Algorithm is one. Finishing GEB is another. Finishing The Road To Reality is another.
There's just more to life than CFA.
- Ray
5 million. 10 years. http://blog.5m10y.com/
There's just more to life than CFA.
- Ray
5 million. 10 years. http://blog.5m10y.com/
UndergradCFA
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- Jun 18, 2026
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McLeod81 Wrote:
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> This is why they have implemented the failure
> band. If you really worked your a$$ off and ended
> up with a failure band 1 (bottom 10% of all
> failures), this probably isn't for you.
Do you think CFAI is actually honest with those bands? I don't think I've ever heard of someone getting lower than band 7 or 8 (admittedly, this could just be because people don't want to admit that they failed it that badly, but still). At the end of the day, this is a business. They know that nobody in band 1 would ever take it again. But if you tell them they were in band 8, then they'll throw another $1,000 down the drain to retake the test next time, in all likelihood. You gotta figure the marginal cost of a candidate is probably less than $50 to CFAI, so that's a lot of money to leave on the table. I mean, how do you think they pay for all of those advertisements?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Monday, December 15, 2008 at 02:36AM by UndergradCFA.
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is why they have implemented the failure
> band. If you really worked your a$$ off and ended
> up with a failure band 1 (bottom 10% of all
> failures), this probably isn't for you.
Do you think CFAI is actually honest with those bands? I don't think I've ever heard of someone getting lower than band 7 or 8 (admittedly, this could just be because people don't want to admit that they failed it that badly, but still). At the end of the day, this is a business. They know that nobody in band 1 would ever take it again. But if you tell them they were in band 8, then they'll throw another $1,000 down the drain to retake the test next time, in all likelihood. You gotta figure the marginal cost of a candidate is probably less than $50 to CFAI, so that's a lot of money to leave on the table. I mean, how do you think they pay for all of those advertisements?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Monday, December 15, 2008 at 02:36AM by UndergradCFA.
UndergradCFA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do you think CFAI is actually honest with those
> bands? I don't think I've ever heard of someone
> getting lower than band 7 or 8 (admittedly, this
> could just be because people don't want to admit
> that they failed it that badly, but still). At
> the end of the day, this is a business. They know
> that nobody in band 1 would ever take it again.
> But if you tell them they were in band 8, then
> they'll throw another $1,000 down the drain to
> retake the test next time, in all likelihood. You
> gotta figure the marginal cost of a candidate is
> probably less than $50 to CFAI, so that's a lot of
> money to leave on the table. I mean, how do you
> think they pay for all of those advertisements?
Yeah ok, and the moon landing in 69' was filmed in a studio right?
There is no way they rig the band system. The only reason you don't hear about people with the lower bands is because those are people who go to the exam without studying for a minute. Those people are also not likely to be posters on AF. Therefore, you never hear from them here.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do you think CFAI is actually honest with those
> bands? I don't think I've ever heard of someone
> getting lower than band 7 or 8 (admittedly, this
> could just be because people don't want to admit
> that they failed it that badly, but still). At
> the end of the day, this is a business. They know
> that nobody in band 1 would ever take it again.
> But if you tell them they were in band 8, then
> they'll throw another $1,000 down the drain to
> retake the test next time, in all likelihood. You
> gotta figure the marginal cost of a candidate is
> probably less than $50 to CFAI, so that's a lot of
> money to leave on the table. I mean, how do you
> think they pay for all of those advertisements?
Yeah ok, and the moon landing in 69' was filmed in a studio right?
There is no way they rig the band system. The only reason you don't hear about people with the lower bands is because those are people who go to the exam without studying for a minute. Those people are also not likely to be posters on AF. Therefore, you never hear from them here.
JoeyDVivre
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
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UndergradCFA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> McLeod81 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This is why they have implemented the failure
> > band. If you really worked your a$$ off and
> ended
> > up with a failure band 1 (bottom 10% of all
> > failures), this probably isn't for you.
>
>
> Do you think CFAI is actually honest with those
> bands? I don't think I've ever heard of someone
> getting lower than band 7 or 8 (admittedly, this
> could just be because people don't want to admit
> that they failed it that badly, but still). At
> the end of the day, this is a business. They know
> that nobody in band 1 would ever take it again.
> But if you tell them they were in band 8, then
> they'll throw another $1,000 down the drain to
> retake the test next time, in all likelihood. You
> gotta figure the marginal cost of a candidate is
> probably less than $50 to CFAI, so that's a lot of
> money to leave on the table. I mean, how do you
> think they pay for all of those advertisements?
At least two people on AF have reported band 1 failures. I've seen a band 3 and a band 4 failure. I would bet my life that CFAI tries to be honest about these (though I wouldn't bet my life that they don't a mistake or two about a number that is not especially important. I don't think, for example, that annybody challenges a band 5 failure to get a band 6).
-------------------------------------------------------
> McLeod81 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This is why they have implemented the failure
> > band. If you really worked your a$$ off and
> ended
> > up with a failure band 1 (bottom 10% of all
> > failures), this probably isn't for you.
>
>
> Do you think CFAI is actually honest with those
> bands? I don't think I've ever heard of someone
> getting lower than band 7 or 8 (admittedly, this
> could just be because people don't want to admit
> that they failed it that badly, but still). At
> the end of the day, this is a business. They know
> that nobody in band 1 would ever take it again.
> But if you tell them they were in band 8, then
> they'll throw another $1,000 down the drain to
> retake the test next time, in all likelihood. You
> gotta figure the marginal cost of a candidate is
> probably less than $50 to CFAI, so that's a lot of
> money to leave on the table. I mean, how do you
> think they pay for all of those advertisements?
At least two people on AF have reported band 1 failures. I've seen a band 3 and a band 4 failure. I would bet my life that CFAI tries to be honest about these (though I wouldn't bet my life that they don't a mistake or two about a number that is not especially important. I don't think, for example, that annybody challenges a band 5 failure to get a band 6).
rayllionaire
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
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UndergradCFA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do you think CFAI is actually honest with those
> bands? I don't think I've ever heard of someone
> getting lower than band 7 or 8 (admittedly, this
> could just be because people don't want to admit
> that they failed it that badly, but still). At
> the end of the day, this is a business. They know
> that nobody in band 1 would ever take it again.
> But if you tell them they were in band 8, then
> they'll throw another $1,000 down the drain to
> retake the test next time, in all likelihood. You
> gotta figure the marginal cost of a candidate is
> probably less than $50 to CFAI, so that's a lot of
> money to leave on the table. I mean, how do you
> think they pay for all of those advertisements?
That way lies madness. It's useless to speculate about conspiracy theories like this.
And I can't believe that somebody who has actually made the effort to go through all the CFAI books and the practice questions will be in band 1. This stuff is hard but it's surely not THAT hard!
Like king_kong said, those must be the guys who barely touched the materials, if at all.
- Ray
5 million. 10 years. http://blog.5m10y.com/
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do you think CFAI is actually honest with those
> bands? I don't think I've ever heard of someone
> getting lower than band 7 or 8 (admittedly, this
> could just be because people don't want to admit
> that they failed it that badly, but still). At
> the end of the day, this is a business. They know
> that nobody in band 1 would ever take it again.
> But if you tell them they were in band 8, then
> they'll throw another $1,000 down the drain to
> retake the test next time, in all likelihood. You
> gotta figure the marginal cost of a candidate is
> probably less than $50 to CFAI, so that's a lot of
> money to leave on the table. I mean, how do you
> think they pay for all of those advertisements?
That way lies madness. It's useless to speculate about conspiracy theories like this.
And I can't believe that somebody who has actually made the effort to go through all the CFAI books and the practice questions will be in band 1. This stuff is hard but it's surely not THAT hard!
Like king_kong said, those must be the guys who barely touched the materials, if at all.
- Ray
5 million. 10 years. http://blog.5m10y.com/
JoeyDVivre
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
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rayllionaire Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> And I can't believe that somebody who has actually
> made the effort to go through all the CFAI books
> and the practice questions will be in band 1. This
> stuff is hard but it's surely not THAT hard!
>
> Like king_kong said, those must be the guys who
> barely touched the materials, if at all.
Ray needs to try to teach this stuff. There are plenty of people as you describe. There are also some pretty dumb people out there...
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> And I can't believe that somebody who has actually
> made the effort to go through all the CFAI books
> and the practice questions will be in band 1. This
> stuff is hard but it's surely not THAT hard!
>
> Like king_kong said, those must be the guys who
> barely touched the materials, if at all.
Ray needs to try to teach this stuff. There are plenty of people as you describe. There are also some pretty dumb people out there...
supersharpshooter
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- Jun 18, 2026
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I would say if you fail several times over without improvement (i.e. same score band) it's probably time to call it quits. Otherwise keep at it.
Short answer is twice?
First time you have an exceuse, cuz you dont know what to expect. Not really a good excuse with mocks, and practice exams available.
Second time it's only about whether or not you spent enough time preparing. This is not GMAT or LSAT where you are trying to improve you score, and where tests are adaptive. This is pass/fail exam.
First time you have an exceuse, cuz you dont know what to expect. Not really a good excuse with mocks, and practice exams available.
Second time it's only about whether or not you spent enough time preparing. This is not GMAT or LSAT where you are trying to improve you score, and where tests are adaptive. This is pass/fail exam.
I will do it in June if I i fail. That would be my 3rd real attempt and 4th actual attempt.
In December 2007, I hardly studied and didn't know the material at all. I only went because I wanted to know how the CFAI tested people in comparison to what I've seen.
In June I studied very hard and hit band 10. I think I passed but I am not sure but one thing is for sure, I will do the exam in June if I don't pass this time around, but after that, it's over.
In December 2007, I hardly studied and didn't know the material at all. I only went because I wanted to know how the CFAI tested people in comparison to what I've seen.
In June I studied very hard and hit band 10. I think I passed but I am not sure but one thing is for sure, I will do the exam in June if I don't pass this time around, but after that, it's over.
rayllionaire
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
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JoeyDVivre Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ray needs to try to teach this stuff. There are
> plenty of people as you describe. There are also
> some pretty dumb people out there...
Fine... I may overestimate some people in that case.
- Ray
5 million. 10 years. http://blog.5m10y.com/
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ray needs to try to teach this stuff. There are
> plenty of people as you describe. There are also
> some pretty dumb people out there...
Fine... I may overestimate some people in that case.
- Ray
5 million. 10 years. http://blog.5m10y.com/