mp3bu

I agree that the CFA material is not hugely complicated. What makes it difficult is that you need soak up all that material to sit 1 exam. If that material had been covered in a 3rd year undergrad degree, it would be 12 exams. So much crap I learnt in college I just memorized the night before the exam and then just regurgitated the next on the exam, then I had forgotten it within a week. You could easily get away with not really understanding stuff and still do well.
My approach to CFA is completely different
1) I actually want to know most of the material. College (undergrad and grad) was just about getting a piece of paper for me so that I could get a good job. The reason I’m doing this CFA business is because it frustrates me hearing people at work talking about stuff I don’t understand.
2) I can’t memorize the of volume of formulas required to pass the exam. My approach with all the formulas is to actually try to understand them (i.e. why is that in numerator/denominator, etc.). This is an approach that I rarely had in college. Just memorize the 12 formulas, take exam, forget.
The above basically explains why I don’t have much relative respect for MSs than I do for CFA titles.