How many hours would it take for a finance newbie to study for cfa level 1?

[Yayyywork]

There is no set amount. Depends on your general intelligence, how efficiently you study, how committed you are during your study hours etc.
300 hours is the “avg amount studied” and ~42% of people pass so the average candidate fails. I was a finance major and L1 was mostly a review. I put in somewhere between 250-350 hours and passed more than comfortable. You may run through the material and understand it in less, it may take you 500. There is no magic number that assures you will pass.

 

[Harrogath]

If you want to prepare for L1 without any knowledge in finance, then it is a heavy task. Maybe 1 year of preparation to succesfully pass the exam. Also consider what Yayyywork says, “it depends on”

 

[cdealbuquerque]

Yayywork and Harrogath are right. There is no magic number.
It depends on your background. FRA and economy are better understood by someone who has taken undergraduate courses. The rest of the material can be understood by someone willing to give it a very serious try,
If Economy and financial accounting are new to you, get a few books on the subject or better a few courses before attempting preparation.
Third-party review is probably not an option for you. You will have to use CFAI books from cover to back at first, at least for your first review.
Good luck.

 

[KMeriwetherD]

I am the extremely unusual case of ZERO background. Never worked in finance or business. Never took accounting. Never took economics. Never took anything even remotely related to finance in school (except was heavy in the mathematics). I basically started retail trading on my own last fall and decided I wanted to get into the industry,
I have put in 1000 hours for level 1!! I know, I kept track. I got band 8 in June…. I really hope I can pass on Saturday!

 

[S2000magician]

At least 10 hours.

 

[h21]

I have taken finance accounting grad courses working in econ consulting, I have put in 500 plus hours. and funny I find the econ part the hardest during studying, the test itself on econ is surprisingly easy but the material was nightmare to me

 

[CFready]

That 300 hours yada yada is bs. I clocked well over 400 hours and I still dont feel 100% confident. Wish I had an extra week..

 

[h21]

CFready wrote:
That 300 hours yada yada is bs. I clocked well over 400 hours and I still dont feel 100% confident. Wish I had an extra week..

agreed, i do knnow people did it in short period but again they major in account or finance