Passed LI/How long it took/What is your background background

rosemary2011

Just looking to get a better idea of how long it took people to pass this monster. I have a fairly limited background in finance. I have my series 7 but do not have an in depth knowledge of accounting/stats/economics...etc I definitely do not have a math background but do use some key concepts at work in all categories mentioned. Would like to know about that much or more about others who have passed as well as the amount of study time per week and how many weeks people took.

joemoran

Passed L1 in June 2009
Studied for 8 weeks
Engineering background

I spent ~200 hrs on it, and it felt like a crunch. If I can do it all over again, I'd start much earlier so that I'd have more time to do problems in the end. A good lesson learned for L2.

Maddin

Thanks abhissri, thank you for the response, makes me feel better. I have started studying and think it is hard work that prevails not your background.

sdada

I started studying from the first week of Jan. Put in 2-3 hours every day. Used only CFAI texts and made sure I did all the questions at the end of each reading. Passed.

I must confess I totally messed up my time management. I couldn't even give a glance to Alternative Investments and Derivatives section. Used all my creativity to answer the questions. . But I was still confident because these sections do not carry much weightage in L1.

I am a computers guy and have no previous experience of fin.

dontknow1987

Wow Taniamadrid very impressive, it is amazing how different people learn in such different ways nice job...and Mona, you had me excited there for a minute, I was thinking that, that is definitely a doable time frame. Then I read on and saw your qualifications. Such is life . I appreciate all of the input so far. I am probably going to be at it for 250 plus.

I am thinking that I will study Schweser, Qbank 'till I puke and CFAI ethics

draz

Passed L1
Spent around 20weeks ( schweser only and CFAI for ethics only)
Weekdays around 3 to 5 hours
Weekends around 6 hours to 9 hours
No day off

B.S Accounting
MBA / Strategic Management
6 years work experiance in Asset Management ;)

Ionutzakis

i think you can absolutely pass if you put in aroudn 350 hours of solid study

1. read CFAI
2. do all CFAI questions
3. do QBANK REGULARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! do a 60 question practice exam every week that covers all the material you've read to date. That was my mistake the first time. I didnt utilize qbank.
4. do CFAI mocks.

I know for sure that i could have definantely passed the first time had I worked QBANK heavily (2000+ questions) and worked the CFAI mocks...that was the key for me the second time.

btcapital

Well best of luck anyway.

kamara5

As a matter of interest will you read the material for L2?

suyash1989

Thanks, Soddy 1979, it was kind of funny when I got the results, a little unfair I guess. But... I am hooked up for the 2nd level. May be that was the whole purpose of 46% rate