howardforever wrote:
everyone please help me on this
what are your thoughts on following
1 currently i am in my freshman year. if i opted for taking level 1 during final year of the undergraduate program (as it is allowed by the CFA) and the next two years i devote myself for the level 2 and 3 and do full time job as well (say in investment management) .will this route will be suitable ? my thought on this are i will be in better postion to apply for the graduate buisness school after getting some expereince.
2 will it better for me to apply for the GBS for mba without having any exams cleared (i will surely be doing job in any firm to fulfill my experience requirement after my undergraduate program before i apply to graduate buisness school so i thought why shouldn't i complete my CFA before i apply for the GBS)
My thoughts on your situation:
1) The earliest you should take Level I is senior year of college - PERIOD. Let's say you can clear Level III by the time you graduate, well - you're going to have to wait
FOUR years before you will ever be able to call yourself a CFA Charterholder. Additionally, the CFA is not just about passing tests (although some people would like to think so). It's about distinguishing yourself in the investment management community based on education and work experience. The CFA Institute extended the work experience requirements in the last year from three years to four years. They believe that work experience is just as important as the education. Firms that hire people (including new grads) are also interested in experience. Despite how passionate I am about the CFA designation, as a general rule, I firmly believe that a company will take somebody with 5 years experience any day over a Level II Candidate (or Level III Candidate) with 0-2 years of work experience.
2) Additionally, many things may happen over the course of the next few years. a) You may decide that you want nothing to do with investment management. b) Even if you are interested in IM, you may not be able to get a job that qualifies as the appropriate work experience. And then what, you wait even longer...
3) The CFA designation is VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY specific. It is for investment management (and peripheral) related job functions. Again, you want to make sure that this is the route you want to go. You may meet a cute girl in your biology class and end up going pre-med. Much crazier things have happened.
4) Based on my experience of having just applied to b-school (and also the second hand experience of my friend who is a Level III Candidate, taking the exam in 2 weeks, and also just got in at Duke), once you get past Level II, there is probably not much differentiation of candidates for business school at all. As a CFA Charterholder it pains me to say this, but in general, I don't think b-schools really get what the CFA is all about. I can go into this point later on for those that are interested.
As an additional note, a previous poster made a comment about getting the work experience doing anything in finance. WRONG!
The CFA Institute is extremely particular on what counts and in recent years has become meticulous on looking at work experience and what qualifies.
I don't want to deter you from your goals. I think that it is phenomenal that you are looking so far out in the future. My advice is for right now to simply focus on your grades while in school. A GPA >3.5 will be helpful in getting into a top school. Take the CFA Level I in your senior year (at the earliest!). Get your work experience. Some firms will even pay for your materials/exams. After all, you are going to need to have ~3+ years of work experience to get into a top b-school anyway.
Cheers,
RG