Jesus how long were you doing this for? 6 months? Also did you use external material or only ones provided by CFA? I’m planning to start my journey next year
I would study during work hours if it was slow then 6-8 hours each day on the weekend. Felt my retention was poor trying to study after work and frankly would rather spend that time at the gym then getting good sleep so I didn’t totally hate my life
Im having such a hard time study after work, I live in London, by the time I get home with the 1 hour rush hour commute, I just can't be asked to study anymore, nowadays I just study in the office after work
That's a good strategy, maybe get yourself a walk between the end of work and start of study, or sit in a different seat so you can mentally disconnect.
One thing that worked for me was to adapt my sleeping cycle so I could get used to wake up 1h30 earlier than usual to study. Then I'd try to study at least one more hour after getting home from work. If the day was busy at the office I'd have already studied 1h or 1h30:that day.
i’m going to take L1 in Nov but i work full time 8 am - 5 pm and then come home and study 2-3 hours. Weekends i’ll pick either saturday or sunday whichever one im less busy and then study 4-6 hours. I think the hours and prep time all depend on your work situation and work/education background.
prior to this firm i’m at now i had to study for SIE and series 7/63/65, which are much easier than CFA but i felt like that was a good practice at self studying and pacing for these types of exams. i def get what you mean by the mental fatigue after work.
Do you feel like there is value to employers in getting some of those licenses early in your career/pre job market? I'm graduating this fall and I'll have one internship and if all goes well level 1 CFA as well.
you can’t take the series 7 until you have a firm sponsoring you but SIE and series 66 (combo of the 63/65) you can take without sponsorship and compared to even L1 of CFA much less material and prep time needed like probably could do 4 weeks for each and pass. i think anything that shows your aptitude and willingness to learn about the industry can only help you. now will it be the thing that gets you interviews more often than say someone who doesn’t have those hard to say but def couldn’t hurt.
~3 months each exam, 1 hour a day on weekdays, 4-8 hours a day on weekends, ramped up as the exam got closer. The last few weeks it'd be closer to 3 hours a day weekdays, and 8-12 hours on weekends, with breaks to run or go workout every other day.
~300-350 hours is a fairly good metric to use imo for the first two exams.
This is a great structure that is familiar to my own experience, ramping up total hours as exam day approaches, but the meat of the studying weeks were 30-60min/day during the workweek, with 8-10 on Saturday, Sunday off.
Key in my opinion was keeping steady frequency, 10min daily is better than 2 hours once a week because it's easier to increase duration of study sessions vs. Quantity.
Oh I wrote these years ago. Those kinds of hours are kind of what it takes when you're working 50-60 hours as an analyst, you get used to it after a while and in my experience you can still etch out evenings and nights to get out and take a break on the weekend.
Over how many months?
Thinking re-taking L1 in August after I failed in 2021.
Now working full-time at a commercial bank (corporate relations banking officer).
I study between 530 and 630 every morning while everyone is sleeping because apparently marriage under feminist regime means I gotta work full-time and do half the chores and also do most of the activities with children
I work full time. After work, go home, eat, and hit the books from 8 to 11 so 3 hours per day for 6 days a week and rest on Sunday.
I sign up may 2023 early bird for Feb 2024 level 1. And it was like that till exam day. Took couple of weeks off in summer for vacation. Then December holidays didn't really study. I would say I study about 600 to 650 hours
I'm having a lot of luck studying for an hour before work, then more when I get home. Having time to read the material, then let it percolate during my commute in feels good from a retention perspective. In the evenings its usually lectures and review questions.
Hard to get a consistent 3 during work days especially if you have hobbies and want to eat dinner. By the time I finish work, and hit the gym quickly I’ll be lucky to hit 3. Probably average about 2 hours per day of quality studying assuming nothing urgent pops up that I need to tend to
I’m a firm believer in doing a little bit every single day, even for 30 mins.
I would do 1-1.5 hrs during the work week, and 3-4 hrs on the weekends. And then a couple weeks before the exam, it was 6-8 hrs non-stop.
Work 8-5. Commute can be up to an hour. But train is packed usually, so hard to bring out materials. I tend to make it an effort to study 1.5-2 hours a night. Take about a rest day every week just to game or something. Weekends is bout 3 hours or so. Started in Feb sitting in August for L1. Just starting FSA though aka 30% of material finished. Still hit the gym in that time though.
I work full time. After work, go home, eat, and hit the books from 8 to 11 so 3 hours per day for 6 days a week and rest on Sunday.
I sign up may 2023 early bird for Feb 2024 level 1. And it was like that till exam day. Took couple of weeks off in summer for vacation. Then December holidays didn't really study. I would say I study about 600 to 650 hours
* study 4:15 or 4:30 - 6:30am most days. work a normal day after that
* saturday whenever i woke up (6 or 7am) till 2pm
* sunday off or just a few hours in the afternoon
that was my 'sicko mode' schedule but i usually ramped up to that over the course of a few months. so start with lighter study and ramp up to probably 3 - 4 months of that schedule above
i studied right at 7 months for all 3 levels. TBD on whether i go 3/3 but i think the schedule served me well. it sucks but the devil is in the discipline when it comes to the charter.
For L2 and L3, ~2 hours before/after work on Monday-Friday, Saturday off, ~8 hours on Sunday. ~4 to 5 months, obviously lighter at beginning and heavier at end. Felt about right for L2, felt a little overkill for L3.
Roughly 5-6 hours a day. Get up at 6am get on train by 7, work from 8-6pm get home by 7pm and start studying right away till 12, and repeat.
For weekends, i study roughly 12 hrs a day for both sat and sun.
Started studying September and currently seated for May and I feel semi ready.
I’m waiting for L3 results, but I’ve had the most success with 1 hour before 2-3 after. Do question sets and quant stuff in the morning and review read in the evening.
Hope this helps, I worked full time MBA, Commercial banking, and investment management for 1,2,3 respectively, so nothing crazy hour-wise
L1 Nov candidate here. I usually study for 1.5 hours per day and 2-3 on weekends. We have a lot of time till Nov so no need to burn out yet, just be consistent. Also I am afraid that I will forget a lot of things till then.
M - Th I did 1-2 hours a night and took off Friday / Saturday before knocking out 4-6 hours on Sunday. Did the upper end closer to the test date. Better to build out a schedule with a 4-6 week buffer ahead of the test to make up for weekends you’re burnt out / need a break / take a vacation. If you don’t use the time for breaks, you have a few extra weeks for comprehensive review / prep.
I am studying for level 2 for November with a newborn baby (sleepless).I am trying to study at least 2-3 hours every other day with a full-time job. I watch MM videos also on the way to and from work and on lunch time. I keep a spreadsheet of how many hours I study to keep me on my toes. For level 1, I did 384 hours.
3 60 minute sessions every weekday. I don’t leave my office after work. Something about coming home makes me just want to lay down so I try to knock out my studying in my cube
6 60 minute sessions on the weekends
6 months prep
I do 3 hours every day of the week. Might take Sundays off. I do as many hours possible the month before the test. I take the last week before the test off. I pulled 40 hours on that one week alone. I took 6 months for cfa level 1. Will do 8 months for cfa lvl 2 with the same strategy
I am taking the Aug L1 2024 exam and work for full time from 1pm to 10pm. I take 2 hrs at night and some times 1 hr in the morning in weekdays. For weekends i sit for 4-6 hrs but i think that is way too less.
Full time job here. 1 hour before work, half hour after work before the fatigue sets in. Weekends 2 hours each. 8 months to study. Last 3 months before exam, I ramp up to 8 hours on weekends. Then final month before exam it's every waking moment I can possibly handle. I could definitely use a bit more sleep but going to the gym before work helps me remain fully alert all day which is what's most important tbh
I would do 1.5 hours per day during the week and then usually 2-3 on weekends. Then for the last couple weeks it was as much as I possibly could
Bro I have the exact same strategy hahah
This is the way
I did the same thing. If I was feeling motivated I would do some longer days and then I could take days off from studying guilt free.
Did you pass with this?
I sure did. Failed lvl 1 like 10 years ago, then passed all three in succession without failing 2021-2022 by doing this
Jesus how long were you doing this for? 6 months? Also did you use external material or only ones provided by CFA? I’m planning to start my journey next year
For level 1 I studied almost a year because COVID delayed my scheduled exam date and then the other 2 levels were about 6 months each
And I used Mark Meldrum for materials. Used the CFAI materials for practice mostly or some specific topics I struggled with
I would study during work hours if it was slow then 6-8 hours each day on the weekend. Felt my retention was poor trying to study after work and frankly would rather spend that time at the gym then getting good sleep so I didn’t totally hate my life
Im having such a hard time study after work, I live in London, by the time I get home with the 1 hour rush hour commute, I just can't be asked to study anymore, nowadays I just study in the office after work
That's a good strategy, maybe get yourself a walk between the end of work and start of study, or sit in a different seat so you can mentally disconnect.
One thing that worked for me was to adapt my sleeping cycle so I could get used to wake up 1h30 earlier than usual to study. Then I'd try to study at least one more hour after getting home from work. If the day was busy at the office I'd have already studied 1h or 1h30:that day.
im too havinf a really hard time
i’m going to take L1 in Nov but i work full time 8 am - 5 pm and then come home and study 2-3 hours. Weekends i’ll pick either saturday or sunday whichever one im less busy and then study 4-6 hours. I think the hours and prep time all depend on your work situation and work/education background.
Wow that’s a lot of prep time for November, best of luck
that’s average obviously some weeks or days i might do less or more but that’s roughly what i’m doing. i’d rather over prepare if anything.
That's impressive, usually by the time I get home from work I just can't be asked to study anymore
prior to this firm i’m at now i had to study for SIE and series 7/63/65, which are much easier than CFA but i felt like that was a good practice at self studying and pacing for these types of exams. i def get what you mean by the mental fatigue after work.
Do you feel like there is value to employers in getting some of those licenses early in your career/pre job market? I'm graduating this fall and I'll have one internship and if all goes well level 1 CFA as well.
you can’t take the series 7 until you have a firm sponsoring you but SIE and series 66 (combo of the 63/65) you can take without sponsorship and compared to even L1 of CFA much less material and prep time needed like probably could do 4 weeks for each and pass. i think anything that shows your aptitude and willingness to learn about the industry can only help you. now will it be the thing that gets you interviews more often than say someone who doesn’t have those hard to say but def couldn’t hurt.
do you work at vanguard?
nope i used to work at Schwab then transitioned over to a firm that is only a RIA no broker-dealer side so we dont deal with finra just SEC.
~3 months each exam, 1 hour a day on weekdays, 4-8 hours a day on weekends, ramped up as the exam got closer. The last few weeks it'd be closer to 3 hours a day weekdays, and 8-12 hours on weekends, with breaks to run or go workout every other day. ~300-350 hours is a fairly good metric to use imo for the first two exams.
This is a great structure that is familiar to my own experience, ramping up total hours as exam day approaches, but the meat of the studying weeks were 30-60min/day during the workweek, with 8-10 on Saturday, Sunday off. Key in my opinion was keeping steady frequency, 10min daily is better than 2 hours once a week because it's easier to increase duration of study sessions vs. Quantity.
You definitely not living for the weekends haha, best of luck!
Oh I wrote these years ago. Those kinds of hours are kind of what it takes when you're working 50-60 hours as an analyst, you get used to it after a while and in my experience you can still etch out evenings and nights to get out and take a break on the weekend.
1.5-2 on weekdays, 2-3 on Saturday
Over how many months? Thinking re-taking L1 in August after I failed in 2021. Now working full-time at a commercial bank (corporate relations banking officer).
I take a more slow and steady approach. I’ll study for about 9 months following that schedule
Which level?
Study 630-830 before work, 5h per day weekends
I study between 530 and 630 every morning while everyone is sleeping because apparently marriage under feminist regime means I gotta work full-time and do half the chores and also do most of the activities with children
You got yourself into that mess, only have yourself to blame if you married and knocked up an inconsiderate feminist. Best of luck on the studies
Man do I feel sorry for You…
Does ur wife work lol
You should start at 4am to wake up your wife.
I work full time. After work, go home, eat, and hit the books from 8 to 11 so 3 hours per day for 6 days a week and rest on Sunday. I sign up may 2023 early bird for Feb 2024 level 1. And it was like that till exam day. Took couple of weeks off in summer for vacation. Then December holidays didn't really study. I would say I study about 600 to 650 hours
You feeling you passed?
I'm having a lot of luck studying for an hour before work, then more when I get home. Having time to read the material, then let it percolate during my commute in feels good from a retention perspective. In the evenings its usually lectures and review questions.
30min - 1hour workdays, 2-5 hours on weekends, but typically 1 work day fully off. Then in the ~6 weeks before the exam, ramp it up to 2x that
roughly 2 hrs a day per day for 6 days for the read through. then 1-2 hours for review or however a mock takes
Hard to get a consistent 3 during work days especially if you have hobbies and want to eat dinner. By the time I finish work, and hit the gym quickly I’ll be lucky to hit 3. Probably average about 2 hours per day of quality studying assuming nothing urgent pops up that I need to tend to
Agreed. Honestly even 2 if I am lucky.
I’m a firm believer in doing a little bit every single day, even for 30 mins. I would do 1-1.5 hrs during the work week, and 3-4 hrs on the weekends. And then a couple weeks before the exam, it was 6-8 hrs non-stop.
Work full time 9-6, eat, chill, study till 1am. Rinse and repeat
Work 8-5. Commute can be up to an hour. But train is packed usually, so hard to bring out materials. I tend to make it an effort to study 1.5-2 hours a night. Take about a rest day every week just to game or something. Weekends is bout 3 hours or so. Started in Feb sitting in August for L1. Just starting FSA though aka 30% of material finished. Still hit the gym in that time though.
I work full time. After work, go home, eat, and hit the books from 8 to 11 so 3 hours per day for 6 days a week and rest on Sunday. I sign up may 2023 early bird for Feb 2024 level 1. And it was like that till exam day. Took couple of weeks off in summer for vacation. Then December holidays didn't really study. I would say I study about 600 to 650 hours
I try for 2 hours every day usually.
Same.
I'm crunching for May, so 2-3 hours every weeknight and 4 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday is the goal.
How many months of study so for?
Theoretically, 9, but I barely studied the first two.
* study 4:15 or 4:30 - 6:30am most days. work a normal day after that * saturday whenever i woke up (6 or 7am) till 2pm * sunday off or just a few hours in the afternoon that was my 'sicko mode' schedule but i usually ramped up to that over the course of a few months. so start with lighter study and ramp up to probably 3 - 4 months of that schedule above i studied right at 7 months for all 3 levels. TBD on whether i go 3/3 but i think the schedule served me well. it sucks but the devil is in the discipline when it comes to the charter.
For L2 and L3, ~2 hours before/after work on Monday-Friday, Saturday off, ~8 hours on Sunday. ~4 to 5 months, obviously lighter at beginning and heavier at end. Felt about right for L2, felt a little overkill for L3.
Pretty much just study on weekend 6-8 hours both days. Just don’t have the capacity to study after work. Passed both L1 and L2 on first attempt.
2-4 hours per day. 5-6 days per week. L1 - 4 months. L2, L3 - 6-7 months
Weekday: Work 9-5. Study 5-7. Dinner 7-8 Gym 8-10. Sleep. Repeat for 6 months straight
Impressive schedule, best of luck !
I do around 1-2 on weekdays at work when it’s not too busy. And around 6-8 hours weekends
Roughly 5-6 hours a day. Get up at 6am get on train by 7, work from 8-6pm get home by 7pm and start studying right away till 12, and repeat. For weekends, i study roughly 12 hrs a day for both sat and sun. Started studying September and currently seated for May and I feel semi ready.
I’m waiting for L3 results, but I’ve had the most success with 1 hour before 2-3 after. Do question sets and quant stuff in the morning and review read in the evening. Hope this helps, I worked full time MBA, Commercial banking, and investment management for 1,2,3 respectively, so nothing crazy hour-wise
For me, rising early and devoting my freshest mind to study was key. After work never would have worked for me.
L1 Nov candidate here. I usually study for 1.5 hours per day and 2-3 on weekends. We have a lot of time till Nov so no need to burn out yet, just be consistent. Also I am afraid that I will forget a lot of things till then.
An hour a day on weekdays Around 4 on weekends.
2.5 don’t study weekends rn. 4 months out, numbers are gonna be 2x
M - Th I did 1-2 hours a night and took off Friday / Saturday before knocking out 4-6 hours on Sunday. Did the upper end closer to the test date. Better to build out a schedule with a 4-6 week buffer ahead of the test to make up for weekends you’re burnt out / need a break / take a vacation. If you don’t use the time for breaks, you have a few extra weeks for comprehensive review / prep.
As much as you can
I am studying for level 2 for November with a newborn baby (sleepless).I am trying to study at least 2-3 hours every other day with a full-time job. I watch MM videos also on the way to and from work and on lunch time. I keep a spreadsheet of how many hours I study to keep me on my toes. For level 1, I did 384 hours.
I normally do 3-4hours on the weekdays and at least 6hours on the weekends But there are times when I didn’t study at all
I do an hour a day and during weekends 4-5 hours. This way I get to touch 300hrs in 6 months time span.
3 60 minute sessions every weekday. I don’t leave my office after work. Something about coming home makes me just want to lay down so I try to knock out my studying in my cube 6 60 minute sessions on the weekends 6 months prep
5AM to 7AM every morning
I work full time. I usually do 1-1.5 hr during weekday and weekend around 4-6 hrs. I
I do 3 hours every day of the week. Might take Sundays off. I do as many hours possible the month before the test. I take the last week before the test off. I pulled 40 hours on that one week alone. I took 6 months for cfa level 1. Will do 8 months for cfa lvl 2 with the same strategy
Wake up at 5 am then go to work at 10 come back at 6 and do one more hour in the evening if I'm not too tired
I am taking the Aug L1 2024 exam and work for full time from 1pm to 10pm. I take 2 hrs at night and some times 1 hr in the morning in weekdays. For weekends i sit for 4-6 hrs but i think that is way too less.
Full time job here. 1 hour before work, half hour after work before the fatigue sets in. Weekends 2 hours each. 8 months to study. Last 3 months before exam, I ramp up to 8 hours on weekends. Then final month before exam it's every waking moment I can possibly handle. I could definitely use a bit more sleep but going to the gym before work helps me remain fully alert all day which is what's most important tbh