Hey guys,
Well, this year was my seventh attempt and I passed. For me it’s still a victory, but it’s kindda a sad one.
To all the multiple retakers here I can tell one simple thing: it’s all about the learning the material and learning the material is all about the time and conditions for studying. In other words, if you can afford 5 hours every day in the library that is totally fine and you could pass, if you are studying 35 minutes in a suburb train - well, you’ll need much more luck than other candidates.
Last year I asked myself the 5 questions: http://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-level-ii-forum/91334718
I understood that if I still keep my ‘super back office and even almost middle office’ job I could put in not more than 400 hours, given my own reading speed that would mean the fail, perhaps band 6 (last year I was on band 4 after 341 hours).
So I had a chat with my boss who explained me that there is no real chance for promotion on my job, if even I could pass the Level II and Level III, ‘the situation in the economy cannot help that making’ as he put it.
So I quit. The job and the finance field at all. My new role was a freelance spreadsheets expert - all the VBA macros, accounting tables, automatic reporting, inventory spreadheets, you name it.
Result:
1. CFAI Reading - done, 380 hours.
2. CFAI Readings First Review - done, 200 hours.
3. CFAI Readings Third Review - done, 142 hours.
4. Flashcards wrote - 2673 (time logged together with Readings logs).
5.Flashcards Review - did it on the run, did not log that time as study time, my guess is about 80 hours.
6. Q-banks of Finquiz - 3000 questions - done (time logged together with Readings Review logs).
7. 5 Moch exams - done, 60 hours.
Can anyone afford it while holding a ‘normal’ job?
So I did it. And the question is if it worth for me to move to Level III, given the fact that Level III would require even more effort…
Well, this year was my seventh attempt and I passed. For me it’s still a victory, but it’s kindda a sad one.
To all the multiple retakers here I can tell one simple thing: it’s all about the learning the material and learning the material is all about the time and conditions for studying. In other words, if you can afford 5 hours every day in the library that is totally fine and you could pass, if you are studying 35 minutes in a suburb train - well, you’ll need much more luck than other candidates.
Last year I asked myself the 5 questions: http://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-level-ii-forum/91334718
I understood that if I still keep my ‘super back office and even almost middle office’ job I could put in not more than 400 hours, given my own reading speed that would mean the fail, perhaps band 6 (last year I was on band 4 after 341 hours).
So I had a chat with my boss who explained me that there is no real chance for promotion on my job, if even I could pass the Level II and Level III, ‘the situation in the economy cannot help that making’ as he put it.
So I quit. The job and the finance field at all. My new role was a freelance spreadsheets expert - all the VBA macros, accounting tables, automatic reporting, inventory spreadheets, you name it.
Result:
1. CFAI Reading - done, 380 hours.
2. CFAI Readings First Review - done, 200 hours.
3. CFAI Readings Third Review - done, 142 hours.
4. Flashcards wrote - 2673 (time logged together with Readings logs).
5.Flashcards Review - did it on the run, did not log that time as study time, my guess is about 80 hours.
6. Q-banks of Finquiz - 3000 questions - done (time logged together with Readings Review logs).
7. 5 Moch exams - done, 60 hours.
Can anyone afford it while holding a ‘normal’ job?
So I did it. And the question is if it worth for me to move to Level III, given the fact that Level III would require even more effort…