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  #11  
Old 11-28-2007, 04:36 PM
SenatorKevin SenatorKevin is offline
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Default Re: Countdown to CFA Level I

[ QUOTE ]
The tests from the CFA itself are $50 for 60 questions. The real test is 240 questions.

Don't think there are any free practice tests out there that are close to the real thing.

To someone who is so sick of practicing for this test, SenatorKevin, you sound crazy.

A Slew of Mice I agree completely.

[/ QUOTE ]

Crazy? Curious more than anything else. I've glanced over the Series7 as well. At some point I might move into the financial industry, not now. I enjoy investing too much. :-)
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  #12  
Old 11-28-2007, 05:17 PM
iambusto iambusto is offline
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Default Re: Countdown to CFA Level I

I have a few questions guys but I didnt want to start a new thread about it.

1) Do any of you have a background in finance/accounting (undergraduate or graduate degree). If not how difficult was it to go through the level 1 material.

2) Are you already employed in the financial services industry. if not what kind of opportunities are there for someone who has no background degree in finance/accounting but has passed level 1 (or say level 2 also) to get an entry level job.
---------
background:
I am planning to take Level 1 in June. But to find out if i could handle the material i ordered a pre CFA Level 1 prep book called CFA Fundamentals (by Schweiser). Just finished the Quantitative section of the book have 3/4 to go till end of the book. So far doesnt seem like something that i couldnt handle.

I am just worried about not having any degree in accounting/finance. I come from enggr./comp science background. trying to learn the basics of accounting from online tutorials, time value of money, basic stuff.
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  #13  
Old 11-28-2007, 11:30 PM
dazraf69 dazraf69 is offline
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Location: Bay Area
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Default Re: Countdown to CFA Level I

[ QUOTE ]
This Saturday. Good luck to me and anyone else taking it!

I wish I had given myself more than 2 months, but I think it will be a good experience and I should be in great shape when I retake it in 6 months. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Anybody else? How goes the studying?

[/ QUOTE ]

Spider,

Little background and reason (where do you hope it will lead you) for taking the exams? I am thinking about taking the exam and asses the benefits as far as career goes. TIA
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  #14  
Old 11-29-2007, 12:41 AM
PRE PRE is offline
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Council Bluffs
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Default Re: Countdown to CFA Level I

taking level 1 in june. gl to all.
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  #15  
Old 11-29-2007, 01:07 AM
SuperWhale SuperWhale is offline
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Default Re: Countdown to CFA Level I

To iambusto:

1) I have a BA in Psych but have always been interested in investing so it was not hard to pick up. For me the only hard part was the quantity of material for level I not the depth or math. Nothing was conceptually difficult.

2) Not sure about finding a job. An alumni of my school who trades bonds said he likes to hire comp sci/ eng people who have passed the CFA exams. This was about a year and a half ago, right now the job market seems tough.
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  #16  
Old 11-29-2007, 01:43 AM
a_slew_of_mice a_slew_of_mice is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 18
Default Re: Countdown to CFA Level I

[ QUOTE ]
I have a few questions guys but I didnt want to start a new thread about it.

1) Do any of you have a background in finance/accounting (undergraduate or graduate degree). If not how difficult was it to go through the level 1 material.

2) Are you already employed in the financial services industry. if not what kind of opportunities are there for someone who has no background degree in finance/accounting but has passed level 1 (or say level 2 also) to get an entry level job.
---------
background:
I am planning to take Level 1 in June. But to find out if i could handle the material i ordered a pre CFA Level 1 prep book called CFA Fundamentals (by Schweiser). Just finished the Quantitative section of the book have 3/4 to go till end of the book. So far doesnt seem like something that i couldnt handle.

I am just worried about not having any degree in accounting/finance. I come from enggr./comp science background. trying to learn the basics of accounting from online tutorials, time value of money, basic stuff.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm a recent graduate with a BS in Finance. I was a slacker in school and didn't really study to learn/retain anything from the classes I didn't like (Econ, Financial Statement Analysis, Fixed Income) so I've put in a lot of time re-learning those topics again. I would estimate that my undergrad studies covered about 80% of what is on the Level I test. The thing is, the topics tested aren't very complicated. The hard part is remembering the fine details for everything. Even though I was pretty familiar with most everything tested, I've still put a lot of effort into studying in order to retain everything (Do LOTS of practice problems as early and often as possible!!!). I'd liken it to taking a cumulative exam for every undergrad finance class at one time. I'm sure it's a lot easier for most finance majors, but this is the price I paid for being lazy in college.

The short-term job outlook is pretty bleak for the Finance industry. Obviously, passing Level I will help you stand out from most other applicants, but it will only really hold most of its weight in the buy-side of the industry. Also, I've heard that being passing Level II (even I for some cities) is more useful when applying to slightly smaller financial cities. It's unlikely to help you out in NYC - but you might have luck in Los Angeles or San Francisco, or even internationally.
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  #17  
Old 11-29-2007, 02:31 AM
stinkypete stinkypete is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2004
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Default Re: Countdown to CFA Level I

[ QUOTE ]
I'd liken it to taking a cumulative exam for every undergrad finance class at one time.

[/ QUOTE ]

if this is true, undergrad finance is pretty loltastic
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  #18  
Old 11-29-2007, 01:31 PM
EdmVan EdmVan is offline
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Default Re: Countdown to CFA Level I

Hey guys Im taking it this saturday as well! Man there are a lot of materials to remember. But luckily Im a finance/accounting 4th year and most of the stuffs have been covered before except for the ethics and GIPS part. From what I have heard from other people who have taken the exam before, a lot of them think ethics is the hardest part because a lot of times the answers are so similar and questions can be vague. I believe the passing % for the past few years were around 35-38%? And for those who were asking if there are any pracise exams out there, I actually got mine from Hong Kong and it is from Schweser. There are 6 exams in there and it costs like 150 HKD (like 20-25 USD). So I geuss I will have more practises than you guys.
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  #19  
Old 11-29-2007, 09:04 PM
Rotating Rabbit Rotating Rabbit is offline
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Default Re: Countdown to CFA Level I

My opinion on the ethics section (my only credentials are that i passed 1/2 first time so not that great) are that u shouldnt spend too much time revising it. % wise its only about 10% of the test, and moderate revision will get you 60% right on it. After that, its hard to get full marks because there will be a few questions that are SO hard/ambiguous/trick you that you're going to be lucky if you get them right. Or you could do insane amounts of practice and hope to see every trick. The point is that extra time is much better spent on practicing the numerical questions.
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  #20  
Old 11-29-2007, 09:14 PM
EdmVan EdmVan is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2006
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Default Re: Countdown to CFA Level I

But I thought the ethics part really count alot and one of my friend failed the exam because she did bad on ethics. I dont tihnk the weighting is all based on the number of questions.
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