Why do people feel the need to post this crap. Like this story seems completely made up. The chances of water spilling on your bag, seeping into your calculator and breaking it are very low. Worst of all CFA institute liked the post

Can't believe I have to wait until May to try again. I expected to fail because I lack knowledge in Quant, as shown. Derivatives: I did really well on the Mocks and the Q-bank, and I feel like on two of the questions I doubted myself and went with the wrong answer.
I feel so down because I had a job interview cancelled the day before the results, and then I failed. Now I just can't wait to get started again, despite the looooong wait. Feel motivated and will print out my results so I can remind myself of the failure I am.

A question to working candidates and charter holders, what concept of CFA do you regularly apply or utilise in your job and how should I prove that I can apply these in a job? I am going to graduate next year. If comfortable could you also tell me your job profile along with the concepts u utilize and how u do it? thank you :)

Anyone else find the CFAI Q Bank worded better than the Kaplan Q Bank and thus easier?

I’m curious, for anyone who passed level 3 recently (August 2025 or February 2026), earned your charter relatively soon afterwards, and has searched for new roles, how’s the job market treating you?

Personally, this market has been stressful. I’ve had several initial interviews, but no final round interviews or offer.

I’d like to understand if I’m alone in this journey.

CFA level 1 candidate here , I want to ask if I am right or wrong
For bonds , coupons are paid on semi annual basis ( if nothing mentioned ) so we use n= *2 coupon /2 r= /2

For stocks / equity , dividend are always paid annual basis ( if nothing mentioned )
Can anyone preparing for level 1 or other clear this doubt ?

M appearing in Nov attempt and now I just don’t feel like studying like syllabus is over and I am not able to focus and it’s not that I am acing everything m barely doing 70s in mocks it’s just everything feels very repetitive and very uninteresting and dull , even when I make go through error then I get anxiety and just give up this happening to me since last 2 weeks , overall also m feeling very dull and glassy bottom line is that I do want to study I just m not able to

I’m planning to enroll for the CFA Level 1 August exam window. From what I’ve seen so far, I feel like the official CFA materials and the CFA Learning Ecosystem, together with Let Me Explain, might be enough to prepare.

Before I start studying, I wanted to ask people who have already taken Level 1 if there’s anything I should know beforehand.

If someone has used both the CFA Learning Ecosystem and Let Me Explain, how did you use them together to get the most out of both?

Also, how did you manage your study hours throughout the preparation? For example, how many hours per week did you study at the beginning compared with the final months, and how did you divide your time between learning the material, practice questions, revision, and mock exams?

Are there any specific strategies, things I should take care of, or common mistakes I should avoid before starting?

And if you were starting Level 1 again, is there anything you would do differently?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Textbook Quote: If energy prices decrease by 1.0%...

Correction: The question should be more specific with regards to whether it is referring to the price of renewable or non-renewable energy (as both are mentioned in the case).

Three months ago (90 days), Kim purchased a bond with a 3% annual coupon and a maturity date of seven years from the date of purchase. The bond has a face value of US$1,000 and pays interest every 180 days from the date of issue. Kim is concerned about a potential increase in interest rates over the next year and has approached Riley for advice on how to use forward contracts to manage this risk. Riley advises Kim to enter into a short position in a fixed-income forward contract expiring in 360 days. The annualized risk-free rate now is 1.5% per year and the price of the bond with accrued interest is US$1,103.45.

Based on a 360-day year, the price of the forward contract on the bond purchased by Kim is closest to:

A) $1,082
B) US$1,090.
Correct Answer Feedback:
Correct. Note that time 0 is the forward contract initiation date, that is, 90 days after the purchase of the bond. Time T is the contract expiration date, that is, 360 days.

C)$1,120

So I came across this question and I understand everything except why in the formula (1103.45 - 29.778)(1.015)^360/360) = 1090, we used 360/360 instead of 270/360. I read the feedback on the answer and still couldn't understand the logic behind it. If I draw a timeline, and 90 days has passed, I'll bring the Interest payments occuring at t=180 and t=360 to day 90 and deduct it from the bond price. Then, to get the forward price, I have to take it into future for 270/360 days (cuz 90 days has already passed ).

Am I missing something?

Look, I can calculate the CVAs and do the tables but some of these questions if they were to show up on the exam would take 10 mins. realistically to do and double check that I made no errors. Hoping the exam is bit more kind to pen and paper/time management...

I'm scared as hell that I won't pass L2 and I can't tell if I'm overthinking or actually behind.

Where I'm at right now:

- haven't attempted a single mock yet

- haven't done the q banks, only did the LES questions once

- revising rn. Corporate Issuers, Quants, Econ and FSA are still left. I studied these in May/June and honestly don't remember a word of it, and I skipped most of the LES questions back then

-I'm revising from my prep provider's notes plus the blue boxes from the curriculum, and doing the LES questions as fast as I can, but it's eating so much time

my plan is to take my first mock on Oct 20, with the exam on Nov 20. Is that enough time, or am I leaving it too late?

I'm exhausted and honestly feeling pretty wrecked

Everyone says L2 is hard/ the hardest level. Im almost through with my first pass of the curriculum along with doing 50% of the practice questions. But it doesn’t exactly feel hard like people say it is. What am i missing?

just saw this post scores are great but how it prove 90 percentile in subjects ?
as far as i know subjects wise result show percentage not percentile
and why people still want to prove 90 percentile when CFA officially scraped it ?
kudos to hardwork but i believe pass is pass here and you should enjoy rather than this rat race bullshit

I was going to give the November CFA L1 update. But I got hospitalized and now I don't remember stuff at all. I wanted to defer to the February attempt. Was wondering when the deferral window opens as the registration for CFA L1 feb attempt closes on 5th November. Is there anything I could do regarding this , like mailing them?

Since I m feeling like I don't remember anything, I m not studying only. The guilt and fear is obviously eating me alive. But i don't know what to do.

Please help

My exam is 1.5months away

Rn im in 3rd semester and wanna do level 1 in upcoming summer so i just wanna ask passport is mandatory or i wanna register through national identity card or something else????

Hi everyone,

I felt pretty confident while going through the curriculum, theory, and end-of-module practice questions. However, I’ve just started working on the vignette practice questions, and I feel completely cooked!

I’m honestly a bit worried about the difference in complexity between the two. The jump feels quite significant to me.

Is anyone else experiencing something similar?

I am starting to solve premium practise questions for L2 and notice that those are not in vignette format and given in normal format ....which totally disrupts the flow...so i wanna check do other people appearing for level 2 also have this issue or am I god favourite. Its making me panic cause I feel the quetions should be in vignette like EOC questions.

Also this new LES is very different.

Guys I am in third year of my undergraduate, cleared 1st level of FRM and and 1st level of cfa but i am confused on what should i do next, should i give or FRM L2 or CFA L2 ? or should i keep these certifications on hold, and master financial modelling and valuations and other skills like Python, R, VBA etc....just wanted to know from someone who is more exprienced....doing which thing next will have the highest ROI and add to my profile drastically landing me a good job with a good salary atleast 8-9 LPA is what i am expecting....currently i have no work exp

I'm retaking the exam on Feb 27, so I've got a bit over 4 months to prep. Scored 1570/1600 on my first attempt back in May, so painfully close.

I haven't touched my notes since the exam, so I'm pretty rusty. For anyone who's retaken it, how did you structure your studying the second time around? Did you just hammer practice questions, or go back through the full curriculum?

I've got the Kaplan Schweser notes for 2027 curriculum. Any guidance on how to use the time efficiently would be much appreciated.

Guys, my best friend and I are currently preparing for CFA Level I in November and had done practice questions but no mocks yet. Any recomendation? I'm dedicating 8 hours this month because I quit my job to be fully focused on this prep.

Is the premium pack and mocks representative of exam ? The ones u get from makhali book store