Has anyone taken the CFA exams?

[Alexos]

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I am actually taking the exam in Dec this year. From what I have studied so far (almost done book 5 out of 6), most of the materials you should at least be familiar with if you have taken some finance and accounting courses, at least for me as a final year student who is double majoring in Finance and Accounting. I think the biggest trouble I will be having is with the Ethics part which some people say is a killer and you gotta memorize a lot of it. Can anyone confirm this?

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Confirmed. My friend has a ~4.0 GPA and did very well on the exam overall, but totally screwed up the ethics part as well...

[stinkypete]

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I think the biggest trouble I will be having is with the Ethics part which some people say is a killer and you gotta memorize a lot of it. Can anyone confirm this?

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i got the "full marks" (70%+) on the ethics part after watching a 2 hour review lecture (stalla) and doing some practice problems. once you know the basic ethics guidelines, the rest of it is just using your brain a bit and picking answers that make sense.

[dazraf69]

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Before heading down this track, I would think about the type of field you want to work in. Generally the CFA is important for research analysts and not much else.

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How about a foot in the door?

[dazraf69]

Could a CFA be viewed as an alternative route for getting into banking/investment rather than an MBA? With the high cost of an MBA wouldn't a CFA afford the opportunity to land a job that will likely pay for an MBA? Thoughts? (not trying to high jack this thread).