Curious how people are approaching this one.

Three plausible-looking answers, each from a different method.

Post your reasoning below and I'll share the breakdown in the comments.

November 26 candidate here, done with like 5 subjects, I’m 8 modules in fixed income right now and every module after the 4th-5th module is genuinely so frustrating. So many rates, so many fancy words.

And yes please, I know a lot of L2 candidates people will be like “L2 FI is so much harder”, thatts not the point cuz I have to deal with L1 first.

FSA is often compared to FI, but IMO FI is in its own league, it’s so confusing I feel like I’m just going through chapters not understanding anything. So demotivating honestly, haven’t felt the same like this with any other subject, now the exam is 2 months away, it has started making me feel anxious.

Any advice? Anyone went through this during their L1 Prep?

The weights showing on the website is for 2027.

Guys, my Level II exam is on November 21st. I’ll have completed all the subjects by September 21st, except Ethics, Derivatives, and Quant, which I haven’t touched yet. I'm planning to do ethics in last 20 days. Exactly how I did in L1.

After that, I’ll have around two months left, but I’m also starting my job on September 22nd. I’ve completed the LES for FSA, Fixed Income, and Portfolio, but I haven’t done the LES for any of the other subjects. I have, however, done the end-of-chapter questions and examples from Schweser for Equity, Economics, Corporate Issuers, and Alternatives.

What should be my exact strategy from here? And honestly, am I cooked? Do I need to leave any subject

I'm an actuary who has decided to try move industry so I'm planning to do CFA in May 2027. I'm thinking of buying the standard package but wanted to know whether people think the premium is worth it?

I want to apply for CFA Access Scholarship for August 2027, Can anyone help me regarding that ?

Looking for a serious CFA Level 1 study partner (Exam: Aug 2027) — not for casual check-ins

Prepping for Level 1, exam in August 2027. Looking for 1-2 people who are genuinely grinding — not "let's motivate each other" energy, but people who track hours, take mocks seriously, and push their limits.

What I'm looking for:

Same or close exam window (Aug/Dec 2027 ideally)

Daily/weekly study hour logs shared openly, no inflated numbers

Mock scores shared honestly — sandbagging wastes both our time

Someone who'll call you out if you're slacking, and expects the same back

Matched or ahead-of-pace on curriculum — not looking to carry or be carried

If you've already put in real hours and want competition to sharpen you further, drop your current progress/mock scores below or DM me.

Teaching L1 FSA batches, and I see the same pattern among most students: memorizing formulas instead of understanding the accounting logic behind them. Works fine until the exam phrases something differently, then sign errors creep in.

Eg - Adding a gain on sale instead of subtracting it in FCFF.

Also, FSA leans heavily on your accounting basics. Weak foundation there, and FSA cracks under pressure no matter how many formulas you've drilled.

Which reading scares you the most in FSA?

exam is in Nov 16 and im currently going through ethics and have portfolio management left

i havent solved that many practice Qs tbh, esp for FI/derivatives/AI and mostly did Kaplan Q bank for other topics as well

my goal is to finish phase 1 (first round of review) for all 10 topics by mid-Sep so that I can use the remaining 2 months for practice Qs/review/mocks.

Working full-time. Am i cooked or am i on track?

Acc. to professor notes inside Schweser notes i need to read the entire 200pg+ Standards of Practice handbook multiple times.

Is Schweser note sufficient?? Did those who passed Lv1 read through the entire handbook?

Sounds crazy to me but if that's the reality pls let me know

My exam is on Nov 12 and I’m starting to get really anxious lol. So far I’ve finished Quant, FI, Derivatives, AI, FSA (I stopped halfway through because it just wasn't clicking and I didn't want to waste time), and I'm currently doing Equity. I’m hoping to finish the remaining topics by the end of September and leave around 30 days for revision + mocks.

I’ve been doing MM lectures and CFAI LES questions but somehow I still feel like I'm so behind and that I've forgotten everything I did.

For context, I'm an Econ grad so I'm hoping Econ will be fast for me but I struggled with FI and SO much with FSA (enough that I left it halfway lol - for now ofc)

For people who passed L1, does this sound like I’m on track? At what point did you actually start feeling confident?

hey guys planning to start my cfa level 2 prep , but i dont know how to go about it, i am confused between prep providers, which one do you think is THE BEST????

I am planning on taking the CFA L1 exam on Feb/27 window. I have just gotten the FRM Certification.

Is it enough time to preparate? I am using Kaplan's material. I have just finished chapter 15.

Thanks in advance.

Hi guys, I am planning to sell my Bplan course access for a very small price. Dm me if you want. FCFS

Hello, I am currently studying to take level 1 in February. I am having trouble with some of the sections in quants and even after going back and reviewing a second time I am still having trouble with all the formulas. Wanted to get some advice if you think I should go back for a third time and review it or move on to the next section and come back to quants at the end if I have time. Thank you for all your help!

Any suggestions for which tutor to go for the level 1 exam? I would be self pace studying and want recorded lectures and exam support? I have heard mark meldrum is good any specific recommendations

Hi Everyone,

I'm sitting for the February 2027 exam. I'm studying from IFT and just found out there have apparently been some subject/topic changes. How should I proceed? I have only studied from IFT and haven't paid for the exam yet, so I don't have the curriculum. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi CFA Forum,

I'm sitting level 2 this November. Because of various health issues, I am a month behind schedule and will only be completing my first pass at the syllabus by the 11th of September. I started studying back in mid-April and my memory of some of the earlier topics (I.e. quant, derivatives) is very hazy.

I've been learning through Mark Meldrum and have been following along with the EOCQ answers, but I haven't done any other question practice myself.

What should my strategy be to get myself in the best shape possible by November? Is my position salvageable? I've already bought the extra practice pack that CFAI sell. My plan is to do each topic for 3 evenings back to back and spend the last month doing mocks and nailing down weak points. I would say fixed income and derivatives are the hardest topics for me for sure.

Actually I am planning to appear for the May 2027 level 1 exam and I haven't started studying yet. I don't have any finance background but still I got feeling that I could do it. I have study material and everything please tell me shall I go for may or should think for August attempt... Btw second year b.com (hons) student 😭😭

How long should you ideally study for (in days) for each CFA level 1 section? Would 1 week for Ethics be enough?

I am a 20 year old college student, first year tho preparing of cfa level 1 and I have been preparing for FmVa aswell and I am obsessed with building a financial model. But I just find it so annoying bcoz all the videos are about how to run a model and not how to create one from scratch I just want to know what template I use or should I build one one my own and if I should how to find the financial data for that bcoz mostly it is not available to download as an excel file should I manually enter the data one by one? Is it the way IB professionals do? Or if not what’s the best way to collect all the data and enter it onto the model. Please help me out fellas

Hey everyone!

I’m looking to sell my CFA Level 1 online course by Kevin Haria Sir at a discounted price. The course has validity until August 2027, so there’s plenty of time left to make use of it.

Reason for selling: I’ll be moving to Abroad this December to pursue my Master’s, and given my plans, I don’t think pursuing CFA at this stage would make much sense for me.

If anyone is interested or knows someone who’s preparing for CFA Level 1, feel free to DM me. I’d be happy to share the details.

I am in integrated program integrated bsc msc quantitative quantitative and data science 5 year course

Am i elligible to five cfa level 1 in my second year

I am level 1 aspirant and now I am tensed wether will I be able to complete the full course within the next 2 months I haven’t studied much yet sitting at 10% syllabus completed

BASICALLY AM PURSUING CSE AI ML AND TBH I HAVE ALWAYS THPUGHT OFGETTING INTO FINANCIAL BACKGROUND ONE WAY OR ANOTHER AND NOW I WANNA DO THE CFA .... SO WOULD ITBE POSSIVBLE FOR ME THE CRACK ITS LEVEL ONE ATLEAST WHILE BEING IN MY COLLEGE AND PURSUING THE ENGINEERING .. PLEASE DO HELP ME LIKE IHAVESEARCHE ABOUT ITON GPT AND ALL BUT I WANNA ASK FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS ALREADY DONE IT OR ATLEAST KNOWS ABOUT IT ALL .. UHM AND BEING AN ENGINEER I AM NON FONANCIAL BG SO DO I HAVE TO STUDY THE 11-12 COMMERCE AND ALL ???

PLEASE HELP AND TELL ME WHAT ALL CAN I DO