For those of you who have failed Level I, read this. In August 2020 I signed up for the CFA Program and decided to do Level I in December of the same year. Covid cancellations started, so I chose to postpone my exam first until May, and then until July 2021. I signed up with a prep provider, but my study ethic wasn’t strong enough. Took several breaks throughout the program too. Unsurprisingly, I failed the first time. Second time comes around in late 2021 when I sign up for a date in mid/late 2022. I pay for a deferral because I didn’t study at all, and then my father passes away. I get another deferral to write in May 2023 and start preparing daily beginning from February 2023. No prep providers this time. I passed. Above the 90th percentile too. If I could do it under my circumstances, you certainly can too.
dont worry guys, there are people with below 2.75 GPA that managed to pass.....they said the key is to give yourself the time and the passion to study, other wise what Mark said is true....no passion, no time = no need to bother, go do something else.
I am preparing for Level 1 Exam and I would not have come so far without Dr. Mark. I have worked so hard! But at the end of road I am so proud of having gained so much knowledge and different skills. Cfa has made me stronger. I had to put in much more hours of work than any native speaker. I had to learn how to learn, to organize the content. It is a loser mentality of lazy people who expect to win the game without studying their ass off. This is not how the world works. Keep crying folks. In the meantime, I keep studying.
Agreed but eventually you need to be sincere with yourself and ask whether or not to continue. I sat 3 SOA exams, failed two, passed one, and when time allows me again and other priorities are taken cared off, I will give a final shot, I think I am capabl ehowever they are not easy at all
I failed last Dec., cuz I only took 2 months from zero, and I didn't have any financial background. Now I am following your advice and making the learning really solid. It is a great fun to read through the logic of the valuation instead of reciting only the equation. Thank you Mark.
I failed L1 the first time, the material was beyond what I did in undergrad so it just simply took more time to operate on a higher level with mathematics, all the financial terminology etc
Mark is the best. So glad I went with him. Has the intelligence, knowledge, and the experience to know how it is applied in the real world. Taking L1 March 1st.
Hey Mark, great content! Level III candidate writing in Dec 2020. I failed Level I the first time around as the content provided by CFAI was incredibly dry. I chose a prep provider and it's the best investment I've made as it saves candidates hundreds of hours in learning time and provides a better structure to studying. Passed both I & II in 90th percentile.
Level III completely agree with Cristobal. Coming from a Level I and II Kaplan alumni, super glad I'm going with Mark going into Level 3 in December. Not a major criticism against Kaplan - it's also good. I just think Mark is a cut above.
I failed level 1 in June 2019, and have stopped since. I’m the type of student who got straight C and D’s in university, so I guess prof Mark is right, I should quit this and divert my time on other stuffs - which I don’t know what yet.
Ranjeet Gopall personally I don’t think going for the letters is a strong enough motivation. You need to love it and more importantly, good at it. That’s the way to enjoy and finish the course. Sadly I can’t
@@Fred-mo3ey Ultimately it's your decision, but it gets much harder after L1. If you want it bad enough and you're capable of devoting higher than average time to the program, I truly believe that most things are possible. Just know it does not get any easier and will require an enormous time sacrifice.
To those CFA candidates who are based in London: i did try Kaplan, BPP and MM. In my view, MM is the best when we look at that from price-value-quality perspective. Main reason is that professor Mark teaches how is the knowledge applied in real life and he's got solid trading experience which is very different to other professors who are pure theoretic.
Hi Mark, hope you are well. This is a completely unrelated question but it is to do with level 1. In order to work out the PV of cashflows given an annual rate, I just use the NPV calc on the calculator (instead of finding the PV of each one and then summing it up) and get the right answer and that is fine with me, however, I tried to see if I could work backwards from a answer of a different question that I did to see if it could still be applied. So the question I tried checking it with originally asked to calculate the FV of a set of cashflows that were compounded semi-annually and that was fine. So I decided to check if I could use those FV values as the cashflows for each year and then use an EAR converted from the semiannual compounding for its annual rate in order to try get the sum of the initial PV values of the question using the NPV function. The answer was not the same or not even close (off by about $1700). in theory shouldn't it work or at least get a number closer to the original sum? This isn't a vital question to be honest but was just playing around for curiosity's sake. Thanks!
Currently doing level 1 and I did the first 2 months on my own. While I was extremely disciplined the time it takes to grind through the material is very extensive when all you have is a text book. Buy Mark’s program. It accelerates you to the understanding phase of learning so you can get into reinforcement and actually start applying the material in the QBank. I am so glad I made that call with plenty of time to spare!!!!
I did level one with Mark's videos and tons of questions. Doing level two now, if anyone is looking for a prep provider, sign up with Mark. Great content, and the question bank is humbling
Taking the exam in August. I underestimated the amount of material and working full time and working two jobs. I will most likely fail this August, BUT if I choose to continue studying and working and taking the exams, then it is virtually impossible to fail within 6 tries, which I know it will likely take about 2 tries. If it takes me 2 times on average to finish all exams, I will STILL finish at or below the average time it takes to complete the program.
It also depends on your test results. I am taking the test on Aug 23, 2023. Based on my mock results from the CFA mocks issued from the CFA institute, I scored 54% correct as of Aug 18, 2023. This is because I just finished the curriculum , did 2 CFA mocks and the other from UWorld. I am prepared to fail and retake it and give myself enough time. 1 thing I do not agree with mark is about the B and C students. He needs to take in to account of grade inflation or deflation in some universities.
For me failing is not an option. The cost for the exam (Standard Registration + Enrollment Fee) is equivalent to 7 months of my salary (My country's currency is pretty weak) so yeah, I've been saving a shit ton.
Thanks for the great content, Mark. Quick question: I want to take the level 1 exam in 2021 - is the package on your website sufficient to pass or do I need additional materials?
Thank you, Mark. There's the third case you haven't mentioned. I got a diploma with honours from my university, my heart is into finance and I spent 350+ hours preparing for level one with video lectures from a third-party. I took it seriously and failed nonetheless. What should I do? Spend 800 hours and 6+ years? That's what stops me from trying again.
350 hours are nothing all my friends in India said they gave around 600 hours nobody did less than 600 hours so you might wanna recheck your strategy of studying just the hours are not enough retaining revision everything
@@shivanshshukla5883 well, then I should probably stop doing my business, eating, sleeping, going outside, talking to people etc. I should just learn and learn, 3-5 years in a row. Impossible for a grown up person. And with all due respect I don't think those three letters worth it. My portfolios definitely won't start growing faster. And I never had a prospect who told me he or she wouldn't work with me just because I didn't have CFA. Regular people don't even know what it is.
@@VladimirFinAdv I haven't started studying for any professional qualification myself I also agree though right now out of college I am networking aggressively and maybe If there is a situation that requires me to do the CFA I might pick it up but I don't have any plans to pick this qualification up.
Since mark rarely does self promotion in his vids, we as students shall do it for him. Seriously guys, subscribe to mark meldrum's courses and see the finance world changed for you. I was at the premium prep providers in level 1 and hated it before switching to mark at level 2. Im telling you, its like a breath of fresh air. And its more affordable too!
Hi I am attempting in Dec 2020 ....till today I used to study for 2 to 3 hours a day...what strategy I should follow to clear level 1.in 4 months....N let me know please about your studymaterial ...Thank you
Sir thanks for another video! I am a regular visitor of your channel. I will sit for Dec-level 1 exam But the thing is, it's not like i am not enjoying the content but I am quite afraid of whether I could memorize the content or not and that pushes me everytime to think I am going to fail definitely. And I get demotivated then. Is there any way to get rid of? Thanks !
I was working through the fixed income section earlier today and I had some serious doubts about passing L1. I took a break and got back at it. I’m following your order of sections. Any other sections that will kick my behind? 😂
Sir I have at B average in my undergrads and I passed cfa level 1 the first time close to 90th percentile, will level 2 be exponentially difficult or comparatively difficult
I have cleared the level 2 exam(not 90th percentile) in November 2022, and level 1 (90th percentile) in May 2021. It doesn't matter at all what grades you got in undergrad. If you are able to hit high with the CFA level 1, you can work extra hard for the level 2. Take a year to prepare for it. Level 2 is much harder far more tougher concepts and heavy math involved. You can't skip anything and must understand the basics. You get item sets where each answer could depend on the previous answer, ie calculate Re and use it to value a company. Study hard, practice the problems proactively and do the blue boxes, eocs and the practice questions in the LMS as a part of your regular study sessions and you should be in a good position.
Can I start my preparation from today ie, 17 aug for Dec 2020, if yes how many hours should I study.. I'm not on job and can study as much as I can... Please suggest Mark..this would be really helpful
Only you can answer that. Nobody here knows anything about you, you ability, or your willingness to put in the time. Any answer would be a guess based on the person’s own assessment of whether they can do it, not you.
There are increasing number of people talking about how very possible CFA exams will not be held in December 2020 and therefore would be postponed again to June 2021, do you think it would happen, Dr Meldrum?
Hi Mark, I’m taking level 1 in December and am interested in your prep course on your site. Can you give me some info on the mock exams in your $280 CAD package? There’s no info on your site for them and I’m interested in knowing how many mock exams there are/if they’re the same length as the CFA1. Thanks
I don't know how many mocks there are. We use an exam generator that draws from a pool of questions. Each exam is unique, and can make exams as long as there are questions left. Since we keep adding questions to the exam bank, I have lost count of how many can be made. At least 4 full. Yes, 240 questions - same length as CFAI.
"You're not stupid, it's the process that is at fault" This sounds like a liberal way to deflect blame from the failed student. Boo hoo! If you failed CFA level 1, you either don't get it (not likely) or you were not motivated enough.
For those of you who have failed Level I, read this.
In August 2020 I signed up for the CFA Program and decided to do Level I in December of the same year. Covid cancellations started, so I chose to postpone my exam first until May, and then until July 2021. I signed up with a prep provider, but my study ethic wasn’t strong enough. Took several breaks throughout the program too. Unsurprisingly, I failed the first time.
Second time comes around in late 2021 when I sign up for a date in mid/late 2022. I pay for a deferral because I didn’t study at all, and then my father passes away. I get another deferral to write in May 2023 and start preparing daily beginning from February 2023.
No prep providers this time.
I passed. Above the 90th percentile too.
If I could do it under my circumstances, you certainly can too.
Hey...what material did you refer? CFA institute books or schweser?
Official curriculum only@@shreyarhode
Level II Candidate here. Mark Meldrum the best in the game. Hands down.
I want to pass Level II :)
Same here. Mark is my guy.
Did you pass?
dont worry guys, there are people with below 2.75 GPA that managed to pass.....they said the key is to give yourself the time and the passion to study, other wise what Mark said is true....no passion, no time = no need to bother, go do something else.
True, I know people who really didn’t have good marks manage to get through them all
I am preparing for Level 1 Exam and I would not have come so far without Dr. Mark. I have worked so hard! But at the end of road I am so proud of having gained so much knowledge and different skills. Cfa has made me stronger. I had to put in much more hours of work than any native speaker. I had to learn how to learn, to organize the content. It is a loser mentality of lazy people who expect to win the game without studying their ass off. This is not how the world works. Keep crying folks. In the meantime, I keep studying.
If you failed at first time you definitely should try again. It’s how life works - you failed, get up and move on, try again until you succeed
Agreed
Agreed but eventually you need to be sincere with yourself and ask whether or not to continue. I sat 3 SOA exams, failed two, passed one, and when time allows me again and other priorities are taken cared off, I will give a final shot, I think I am capabl ehowever they are not easy at all
@@junal27 You have six attempts at each exam. Its nearly impossible NOT to attain the charter with that amount of leeway.
I failed last Dec., cuz I only took 2 months from zero, and I didn't have any financial background. Now I am following your advice and making the learning really solid. It is a great fun to read through the logic of the valuation instead of reciting only the equation. Thank you Mark.
@Mohammed passed in this Jan.
@@ggwh3art796 No financial background and within 1 year you passed CFA level 1. WOW WOW well done.
@@dawoodwaris 1 year is a long time brother and ideal time to pass....anyone can pass it in one year mostly who are motivated.
I’ve been watching your 2017 videos but I never knew you sold your sections individually! I will very likely purchase some
I failed L1 the first time, the material was beyond what I did in undergrad so it just simply took more time to operate on a higher level with mathematics, all the financial terminology etc
Mark is the best. So glad I went with him. Has the intelligence, knowledge, and the experience to know how it is applied in the real world. Taking L1 March 1st.
Just passed L1 first time around with Mark Meldrum, he was great! Full disclosure though, I probably studied 500 hours thanks to quarantine
Question, did you read all L1 books or have you only used MM online materials (quiz, lecture and etc..)?
@@woosungx01 Didn't do any reading, 97% of my studying was MM, 2% investopedia, and before the exam i also used CFA provided practice exams
@@brandonkoolhaas7367 appreciate the quick response.
Hey Mark, great content! Level III candidate writing in Dec 2020. I failed Level I the first time around as the content provided by CFAI was incredibly dry. I chose a prep provider and it's the best investment I've made as it saves candidates hundreds of hours in learning time and provides a better structure to studying. Passed both I & II in 90th percentile.
So you used MM and Cfai curriculum for all levels?
Which prep provider?
Yeah what prep provider?
Www.markmeldrum.com
Level III completely agree with Cristobal. Coming from a Level I and II Kaplan alumni, super glad I'm going with Mark going into Level 3 in December. Not a major criticism against Kaplan - it's also good. I just think Mark is a cut above.
I failed level 1 in June 2019, and have stopped since. I’m the type of student who got straight C and D’s in university, so I guess prof Mark is right, I should quit this and divert my time on other stuffs - which I don’t know what yet.
if you want the letters go for it.if not stop here. ps failed level 1 twice n am an average student
Ranjeet Gopall personally I don’t think going for the letters is a strong enough motivation. You need to love it and more importantly, good at it. That’s the way to enjoy and finish the course. Sadly I can’t
@@Fred-mo3ey Ultimately it's your decision, but it gets much harder after L1. If you want it bad enough and you're capable of devoting higher than average time to the program, I truly believe that most things are possible. Just know it does not get any easier and will require an enormous time sacrifice.
@@ranjeetfrcongrats, true its more about how badly you want it. Did you complete all 3 levels?
To those CFA candidates who are based in London: i did try Kaplan, BPP and MM.
In my view, MM is the best when we look at that from price-value-quality perspective. Main reason is that professor Mark teaches how is the knowledge applied in real life and he's got solid trading experience which is very different to other professors who are pure theoretic.
For CFA exam all is about time. Give your self time to study.
I agree nothing in the entire curriculum is rocket science
Charterholder here: MM is worth it. Hands down best prep provider. By the time you get to Level III, his insight will be priceless.
Best advice/part for most of us begins at 10:20. This part of the video helped me save thousands.
Hi Mark, hope you are well. This is a completely unrelated question but it is to do with level 1. In order to work out the PV of cashflows given an annual rate, I just use the NPV calc on the calculator (instead of finding the PV of each one and then summing it up) and get the right answer and that is fine with me, however, I tried to see if I could work backwards from a answer of a different question that I did to see if it could still be applied. So the question I tried checking it with originally asked to calculate the FV of a set of cashflows that were compounded semi-annually and that was fine. So I decided to check if I could use those FV values as the cashflows for each year and then use an EAR converted from the semiannual compounding for its annual rate in order to try get the sum of the initial PV values of the question using the NPV function. The answer was not the same or not even close (off by about $1700). in theory shouldn't it work or at least get a number closer to the original sum? This isn't a vital question to be honest but was just playing around for curiosity's sake. Thanks!
I have listened some of your videos over five time. Very useful.
Dear MM: thanks for all the guidance and more importantly your time.
Currently doing level 1 and I did the first 2 months on my own. While I was extremely disciplined the time it takes to grind through the material is very extensive when all you have is a text book.
Buy Mark’s program. It accelerates you to the understanding phase of learning so you can get into reinforcement and actually start applying the material in the QBank. I am so glad I made that call with plenty of time to spare!!!!
Well that did help at first, last sentence was not that helpful for some people who try to get better
Level 3 candidate here. Mark is worth the money.
Thanks for your valuable contribution and wisdom, appreciated
I did level one with Mark's videos and tons of questions. Doing level two now, if anyone is looking for a prep provider, sign up with Mark.
Great content, and the question bank is humbling
How to do that?
Question, while you were studying level one, did you use CFA prep books or just materials from Mark's?
@@woosungx01 just Mark's material. I was strapped for time so gotta do what I could
@@SmilingassasinandD have you passed level two with MM only?
@@woosungx01 unfortunately did not, I did do more than MM for l2
Taking the exam in August. I underestimated the amount of material and working full time and working two jobs. I will most likely fail this August, BUT if I choose to continue studying and working and taking the exams, then it is virtually impossible to fail within 6 tries, which I know it will likely take about 2 tries. If it takes me 2 times on average to finish all exams, I will STILL finish at or below the average time it takes to complete the program.
It also depends on your test results. I am taking the test on Aug 23, 2023. Based on my mock results from the CFA mocks issued from the CFA institute, I scored 54% correct as of Aug 18, 2023. This is because I just finished the curriculum , did 2 CFA mocks and the other from UWorld. I am prepared to fail and retake it and give myself enough time. 1 thing I do not agree with mark is about the B and C students. He needs to take in to account of grade inflation or deflation in some universities.
For me failing is not an option. The cost for the exam (Standard Registration + Enrollment Fee) is equivalent to 7 months of my salary (My country's currency is pretty weak) so yeah, I've been saving a shit ton.
Good luck!
access scholarships would be helpful
Thanks for the great content, Mark. Quick question:
I want to take the level 1 exam in 2021 - is the package on your website sufficient to pass or do I need additional materials?
It should do, along with the CFAI books.
I used schweser for years then I used MM video. OMG I should have used MM from day one.
Thank you, Mark. There's the third case you haven't mentioned. I got a diploma with honours from my university, my heart is into finance and I spent 350+ hours preparing for level one with video lectures from a third-party. I took it seriously and failed nonetheless. What should I do? Spend 800 hours and 6+ years? That's what stops me from trying again.
350 hours are nothing all my friends in India said they gave around 600 hours nobody did less than 600 hours so you might wanna recheck your strategy of studying just the hours are not enough retaining revision everything
@@shivanshshukla5883 well, then I should probably stop doing my business, eating, sleeping, going outside, talking to people etc. I should just learn and learn, 3-5 years in a row. Impossible for a grown up person. And with all due respect I don't think those three letters worth it. My portfolios definitely won't start growing faster. And I never had a prospect who told me he or she wouldn't work with me just because I didn't have CFA. Regular people don't even know what it is.
@@VladimirFinAdv I haven't started studying for any professional qualification myself I also agree though right now out of college I am networking aggressively and maybe If there is a situation that requires me to do the CFA I might pick it up but I don't have any plans to pick this qualification up.
Since mark rarely does self promotion in his vids, we as students shall do it for him. Seriously guys, subscribe to mark meldrum's courses and see the finance world changed for you. I was at the premium prep providers in level 1 and hated it before switching to mark at level 2. Im telling you, its like a breath of fresh air. And its more affordable too!
Failed level 1 with band 10 twice with a bad process some years ago. Considering going back using your material to finish the program
www.markmeldrum.com
Hi I am attempting in Dec 2020 ....till today I used to study for 2 to 3 hours a day...what strategy I should follow to clear level 1.in 4 months....N let me know please about your studymaterial ...Thank you
Sir thanks for another video!
I am a regular visitor of your channel.
I will sit for Dec-level 1 exam
But the thing is, it's not like i am not enjoying the content but I am quite afraid of whether I could memorize the content or not and that pushes me everytime to think I am going to fail definitely.
And I get demotivated then.
Is there any way to get rid of?
Thanks !
I was working through the fixed income section earlier today and I had some serious doubts about passing L1. I took a break and got back at it. I’m following your order of sections. Any other sections that will kick my behind? 😂
Hey man! Keep with the study! Consistency is the key! I discovered that and its so important in our long Journey! Best wishes form Brazil!
Financial Analysis. Don't underestimate it. Huge section, and you must know enough to pass that section at a reasonable level.
can we buy one of those shirts?
Sir I have at B average in my undergrads and I passed cfa level 1 the first time close to 90th percentile, will level 2 be exponentially difficult or comparatively difficult
I have cleared the level 2 exam(not 90th percentile) in November 2022, and level 1 (90th percentile) in May 2021. It doesn't matter at all what grades you got in undergrad.
If you are able to hit high with the CFA level 1, you can work extra hard for the level 2. Take a year to prepare for it. Level 2 is much harder far more tougher concepts and heavy math involved. You can't skip anything and must understand the basics. You get item sets where each answer could depend on the previous answer, ie calculate Re and use it to value a company.
Study hard, practice the problems proactively and do the blue boxes, eocs and the practice questions in the LMS as a part of your regular study sessions and you should be in a good position.
@@vasanthpragash854 bro this was ten months ago, I cleared level 2 in the 90th percentile
I felt like it just tooooo true
Just got my cfa wooooohouuuu!,!!
Working in consulting and failed level 1 twice. This time really by a hair . Used CFA platform only. Should I try for the third time?
Yes, and try www.markmeldrum.com
Can I start my preparation from today ie, 17 aug for Dec 2020, if yes how many hours should I study.. I'm not on job and can study as much as I can... Please suggest Mark..this would be really helpful
Only you can answer that. Nobody here knows anything about you, you ability, or your willingness to put in the time. Any answer would be a guess based on the person’s own assessment of whether they can do it, not you.
Level 1 candidate here sir. I was going through free trial content and it reflected 2017 content or it's updated with the curriculum?
2017 only.
@@MarkMeldrum I'll be giving my exam in 2023 August so I can refer to 2017 ?
There are increasing number of people talking about how very possible CFA exams will not be held in December 2020 and therefore would be postponed again to June 2021, do you think it would happen, Dr Meldrum?
The exams will happen - they will just have heightened safety measures - a longer check-in period, masks perhaps - until you are seated at least, etc.
i only have 2.5 gpa in university am i smart enough to even pass CFA level 1?
I studied non stop for 30 days.. Paased
Lol 40 days😂 6 months minimum of ain't easy
@@shivanshshukla5883 actually.. I passed with 30 days of studying.. 6 months seem overkill... Let me know if you want my study plan
Please help me Siddharth. Only 38 days for my exam and I have completed only one subject. Please share your study plan
Hi Mark, I’m taking level 1 in December and am interested in your prep course on your site. Can you give me some info on the mock exams in your $280 CAD package? There’s no info on your site for them and I’m interested in knowing how many mock exams there are/if they’re the same length as the CFA1. Thanks
I don't know how many mocks there are. We use an exam generator that draws from a pool of questions. Each exam is unique, and can make exams as long as there are questions left. Since we keep adding questions to the exam bank, I have lost count of how many can be made. At least 4 full. Yes, 240 questions - same length as CFAI.
Mark Meldrum thanks!
"You're not stupid, it's the process that is at fault" This sounds like a liberal way to deflect blame from the failed student. Boo hoo!
If you failed CFA level 1, you either don't get it (not likely) or you were not motivated enough.
Sounds like we have a failure right here! I am sorry for your anger.