I’m a CFP and have an MBA and boy this CFA level material 1 is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be for me. I’m using Schweser. For those that have used schweser/kaplan and took the level 1 exam, does this program just go way overboard to over prepare you and increase your chances of success or should I really expect it to be this difficult? Always heard level 2 was super difficult and level 1 wasn’t too bad, but sure doesn’t seem that way to me.

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I also used Schweser and passed all 3 levels consecutively. However, to make sure I didn’t have to repeat any levels, starting 6 months before the exam, I studied 3 hours a day weekdays and 10-12 hours a day on weekends. I also made notecards and took practice tests where I made sure I scored at least 80%. It’s a lot of material and required, at least for me, a ton of repetition. Other people I know didn’t study as much.

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I felt the same way but prepped with Schweser all the way. Didn’t have a study buddy not a tutor. Passed with barely below 10percent tile. I say just keep pushing! Clearly with MBA and CFP you are dedicated and many topics gotta be familiar

Oh yeah everything is familiar, just never went that deep into the technicals and having to memorize calculations like apparently you have to for this exam.

F

Yeah that’s not feasible for me to study that much while working full time. Sounds like you studied 3x the average. Happy you passed though, but that might be a little overkill for me, I’m a CFP and I have an MBA so a lot of overlap with the CFA topics so it’s all stuff I’m already fairly familiar with. I mean 100 hours a month for 6 months for level 2 maybe more understandable because I heard it’s a lot harder than level 1, but for level 1 I’d assume that’s a little overkill for me. I’m keeping it at 10-15 hours a week for 6 months.

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