# of recommended hours to study for Level 1 vs. Level 2 vs. Level 3

[STOCHTERMAN]

I am just beginning my CFA journey. Can you give me a recommendation re: the Number of Hours to study for each exam? How does this vary between exams, i.e. does one level require more study hours than another? If so, why? Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[Vandelay Industries]

I have not done it, but i think most people will tell you something along the lines of
L1- ~150 w/ finance undergrad/work exp. 300 w/ none
L2- 300-450
L3-450-600

 

[Sidtoaf]

Vandelay Industries wrote:
I have not done it, but i think most people will tell you something along the lines of
L1- ~150 w/ finance undergrad/work exp. 300 w/ none
L2- 300-450
L3-450-600

I agree, if you some prior Finance experience, you can easily discount the time by a decent percentage. I don’t really know about L3 though (still L2 candidate).

 

[swatbsba]

I did 300ish for L1 and 500ish to 600ish for L2 (no finance degree)

 

[JBrowntown]

I have Finance & Accounting majors for undergrad. Here’s my recommendation:
Level 1: 300 hrs
Level 2: 400 hrs
Level 3: 430 hrs
I passed each level in the first attempt.

 

[Greenman72]

^I have finance & accounting degrees, too. I’d say 200-400-500, personally.
If you don’t have finance & accounting degrees, you need at least 300 for L1.
One thing that I’m sure all charterholders will agree with–if you study as much for this level as you did for the last level, you are almost certain to fail.