Thoughts on my viability of attaining the Charter - Reality Check

FinanceAspire

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Hello Folks,
Just need a reality check and some words of advice for those with similar backgrounds and/or experiences. I took level 1 in December 2015 and awaiting results. I would like to take level 2 in June 2016. I work as a CPA for a global Fund shop, and can dedicate 20 hours a week to my studies. I aiming for 450 hours come June 2016.
I also attempted a PhD program in Economics at a top 50 American Research University for a quarter, but the math was much too intense and I quit after that. I’m worried that my lack of quant skills will prove detrimental – econometrics, and the intro quant courses were too advanced based on my inadequate undergraduate studies.
I scored 1520/1600 (88th percentile math, 99th+ percentile verbal, and 99th percentile total) on the GRE (graduate record examination) back in 2008 directly after my undergraduate studies. I attended a non- competitive State College and earned a 4.0 GPA in Business with a Finance concentration. My overall GPA was only a 3.5 because I was on academic probation my first two years for inadequate grades.
I also averaged a 90% on the 4 parts of my CPA exams back in 2011 when I was working for a Big 4 audit firm. However, I had 3 months of study only time between my graduate degree in Accounting (3.5 GPA) and when I started working in audit.
Given my lack of true Finance experience, what are my chances on level 2 and 3? Again, not sure how level 1 went but was averaging 77% accross all 7 mocks I took so feel pretty good there.
Multiple Regression is already kicking my butt and wondering if I should just cut my losses now and focus on being a good accountant.
Thanks for reading!
 
I wouldn’t worry about “a lack of finance experience” before taking L2. It’s def harder than L1, but study well and you’ll pass. It seems like you have solid study/taking exams experience, so you should be ok
 
The math is well below PhD Economics level. It’s not that hard really, just put in the work and you’ll be fine.
 
You have a luxury that many of us do not have - the ability to study 20 hours a week. You should more than ace the CFA exams with that amount of study time.
 
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