CFA Level 1 while in first year

Question

I'm a first year full-time MBA student and considering taking L1 this June.

Anybody with experience in this want to chime in?

During your free time, how much time was spent on school-work study and cfa study?

How many hours a week did you dedicate to the cfa study while you were going to school? How many hours to actual school work?

3underscore · Answer

See how it goes. I know a bunch of people who did this and it worked out OK (well, not without a lot of study). Though two thoughts are:

1. The only exam in Dec is the level 1 so there needn't be a hurry, as you have to wait for June for Level 2 anyway
2. It duplicates a lot of the work you do in classes on Finance at school. So waiting to Dec may make it less study

nink · Answer

My roommate passed CFA L1 this past year and is currently prepping for L2.
He worked about 60 hrs a week from Mon to Fri and spent about 15 hrs studying each weekend. He did this for about 4 months before the exam date.

However, do you really want to allocate your precious time to study CFA rather than fully concentrating on your school work and interviews? Not to mention, you would be doing an internship in June. You worked so hard to get into a MBA program. Why risk it now? There's always time to take CFA later on.

3underscore · Answer

For Finance you should be done with interviews (if things go well) by the end of January, perfectly in time for the L1 to study alongside classes.

Internships for Banks start in June, but by that point you should be pretty much set up in your study. And the CFA will compliment a lot of your study at school if you head into this field, plus without interviews or recruiting, school does not take 60 hours a week!

It certainly isn't for everyone, but one of my better friends who is one of the most social at school (and I think does well grade wise) took it alongside everything in his first year and hardly missed a night at the bar.

ozzie123 · Answer

Let's say that I will enroll Fall '09. Can't I just study for the materials now and take the exam on June? I mean, the heat of applying to b-school has subsided (unfortunately that's not the case for me as I apply mostly on R2) and the stress of work wouldn't bother you that much (you will resign in a couple of month anyway). Wouldn't that be a prime time to study for CFA? (or other certification that you want)

chimaki · Answer

it would be prime time, but honestly there is so much overlap w/ 1st year materials, i think its beneficial to wait. you can even cater your schedule to mirror most of the subjects, provided you were going to take them anyways. the material overlap is fairly substantial and definitely eases the study load for level I.

falibay · Answer

hey, I am a CFA Charterholder and I would suggest you focus on something else while at school. Especially if you are attending a top school, you will have better things to do. There is a lot of overlap between Level I and 1st year of B-School, so it would be easier but you still have to practice for speed. Kind of like the GMAT, the content is simple but you have to practice.

Focus on your CFA when you graduate, your company will probably pay for the fees and books... my 2 cents.

Focus on your CFA when you graduate, your company will probably pay for the fees and books... my 2 cents.

CFA Level 1 while in first year

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