What it Takes to Pass the CFA Exams

[@soniyasuvarna1503]

Yes Thank you AJ, it took me 2months to understand how my brain worked and then continued studying. Love you and love from India♥️

[@keyethewizard]

This in my opinion your best video so far. Straight to the point, compact and solid. Keep it up! Resilience is key 🔑!

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Thank you for the feedback!

[@xiaojiehuang2322]

Disagree with you about the last point. I have couple friends they failed level two or level three many times but still get charter at the end. In my opinion, the most important thing is that people need to find out why they failed last time and learn from it. And lastly, never give up!

[@humayunkabir5837]

But its useless and also wasting lot of years in your life if u just study and fail and study again and retake exam etc. People do not live eternal life. Life is short you don't want to waste your half life studying for cfa program. Instead you could use those years to improve yourself on other areas. I believe if u can't pass the exam for each level on the first try then take it another time even if u can't pass on 2nd time then cfa is simple not for u and you should focus on other aspects of your career and life.

[@xiaojiehuang2322]

@@humayunkabir5837 If Canadiate decide to give up after 2nd, no problem at all since everyone is different and you know yourself better than anyone else. But my point here is don't give up easily. CFA is a commitment and we do need to sacrifice a lot to get charter. I don't want to have any regrets someday in the future

[@gregorybainathsah7284]

You sound so rational, I hope you consider doing a podcast. I hope you have enough time to even think about considering it

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I have never considered that. I think I like this format more but I'm not sure.

[@derekeano]

Originally while studying the CFA textbook pages/practice problems I would slowly read and highlight tons of info, then do the questions. Maybe like 70% reading/30% test questions. It was taking entirely too much time. I realized that I learn more from trial and error and just doing the practice problems more (now budgeting time for about 30% reading and 70% practice). Also my data got wiped and I lost all my progress, and anyway it's always best to reset the practice problems set and try again anyway. My goal is to be able to reset all practice problems and get 100% and then do some mock exams before I take the Level 1 exam this November.

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Yea that sounds like a good mix. Practice questions > reading more content.

[@ahrecrisyong4164]

Thank you for all the good advice really appreciate 👍🙏

[@starlord6088]

Officially registered for May. This is probably a good thing because I learned from you that level 1 is the most important exam because it lays the foundation for level 2 and 3. So I need to really know the material for 1 if I'm going to keep going and pass 2 and 3. Thank you.

[@jp55911]

Hey AJ, I know this is an old video and you may not see this comment but I feel as though people who do not go through the CFA program do not understand the grind it takes to complete. This is a problem and I feel the grind is not adequately represented by the low pass rate to the outside world and employers may not truly get what we all are going through. I passed level I in November and I’m taking level II next November ‘24. I’m thinking about doing a Timelapse for my next 500 hours. I would love to hear if you think is a good idea and I would love to email you the results at the end

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Hey man, You're right that nobody really knows the grind unless they do it themselves. I think a 500 hour time lapse would be awesome! Best of luck with your studies.

[@Game-yl2lh]

There are people out there who know how to learn for this type of exam and have - in most cases - a background of FRM oder CPA. They have alreaedy learned a lot of the material. For them it is an easy walk-through. Besides, there are a lot of candidates for the CPA exam who cannot even answer 20% of the questions. It is part of the learning process. Keep learning. I has not much to do with a high IQ. There are lot of nerds among these people collecting certificates.

[@jellalfernandes1309]

Yo thanks man

[@adityabhat7104]

Hey, the point on practicing questions. The method works really well for numerical type questions. But qualitative type questions require deeper theoretical understand than practice. Right now I'm prepping for frm part 2. My strategy is that I need to focus 80% of my time on re reading. One other reason is because from people's feedback I know that frm exams have only 2-3 questions that repeat. Would love to hear your opinion on this.🙂

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I have never taken the FRM myself, but I would never recommend someone spend more time on the readings than on practice questions. Practice makes perfect!

[@viktor519]

Hey AJ, I'm hoping to take the CFA next year and go by a similar 6-month plan as you did. I'm curious as to how you were able to maintain a work-life balance, are there any methods you can recommend?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I don’t think there is a great way to “balance” this with your life. I just brought all my study material with me to any events my wife wanted us to attend.

[@Justin-ul6fb]

I’m studying for the May level 2 exam and really lacking motivation since I can just take it again later in the year.

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

If you're serious about passing, pass it the first time.

[@mergo10]

Hey AJ, can you recommend a website for some mock exams for level 1 ? Thank you for the content.

[@darkfeeels]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. I actually wanted to ask you something, you mentioned studying from 7-10pm and I was wondering how did you get that time being an analyst? I started working as a research analyst in October 1st and my work hours are 8am to almost 8-9pm. I come home around 9-10pm and after that its just so much exhaustion that I don't have the energy to study for CFA level II. If I do study I don't get enough sleep to function for my job properly. So what does a guy like me do in this situation? I don't see myself getting time besides weekends

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I'm not an analyst, I usually work 40-50 hours. I think that people who work long hours typically have to study all weekend.

[@darkfeeels]

@@straighttalks-ajsrmek323 welp no life for me for 2 years I guess.

[@y5jeyfuyf]

gets worse, if you try to study after 10pm (after long days work) for a month of so, you will get sick of exhausation

[@darkfeeels]

@@y5jeyfuyf I agree, that's exactly what happened and I got sick plus a bad burnout

[@i123456987654]

i love real talk

[@humayunkabir5837]

Straight talks can you help me where did you practise questions for cfa level 1. Is it enough to practise only from cfa end of the chapters questions from both cfa curriculum books and third person provider book like schweser. But I have a feeling I might require more practise outside of this books to make myself well equipped for the exam.

[@Littlewoman988]

Thanks AJ

[@i123456987654]

what do we need to score on the CFA exam to pass?

[@darkfeeels]

Everytime you ask us what's up, today I will ask you. What's up AJ?

[@gregorybainathsah7284]

THE TABLES HAVE TURNED

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Just got done with this video, so now I'm playing league lol.

[@darkfeeels]

@@straighttalks-ajsrmek323 I see you're a man of gaming community as well. Have fun!

[@RichardxRunit]

My level 1 exam isn’t until August 26th. Is it okay to start studying 1hr/day from now or should I wait until March to study 2hrs/day? I don’t know if studying earlier would be bad in terms of learnt material fading away from memory?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I would start now!

[@1live2your3life]

CFA is the second? What is the most difficult academic program in the world?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Might be GATE in India

[@starlord6088]

@@straighttalks-ajsrmek323 What about the Actuary program. I think there are like 10+ exams.

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

@@starlord6088 Yes, that would be up there as well.

[@shivanshmohan1663]

What are resources to check out to learn the functioning of human brain?

[@carlolaput2597]

This is what I was looking for in the comments, can we get an answer for this?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

@@carlolaput2597 This isn't the exact article i had seen before but this is close. www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brain-learns-in-unexpected-ways/

[@edf6082]

What study program did you use?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Wiley

[@travisweirich3431]

How soon after writing an exam do you find out whether you passed and can move to the next exam?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

8-10 weeks depending on the level.

[@travisweirich3431]

Straight Talks thank you. At what point do you decide to register for next exam and begin studying? Do you wait for confirmation that you passed or hedge and try to get a start on studying if you feel you passed?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

@@travisweirich3431 Its up to you! Under the old schedule it almost always made sense to just wait to see your result. But now, you could try to take the next level just 4-6 months after the last. So in that case you would likely need to start studying right away.

[@travisweirich3431]

@@straighttalks-ajsrmek323 Thank you. Although I do not believe you can immediately take the next exam (4-6 months). I think you have to wait an exam window. www.cfainstitute.org/en/programs/cfa/exam/exam-cycle-options

[@starlord6088]

@@travisweirich3431 Good link. Thanks.

[@starlord6088]

The more you use your brain, the better it gets.

[@DiegoRevilla1605]

Could you say it takes at least college level intelligence?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Yes definitely.

[@jacybabi]

1st