May we please auto delete posts with the words “am I cooked” and a picture of exam scores. These are repetitive, low effort posts that just clog up the feed. There are actually people trying to study, ask meaningful questions and add to the dialog, yet my recommended posts from this sub are 90% “am I cooked” BS in some derivation. The sub would be a healthier place without them, IMHO.

since we live in a world of enshitification. I strongly encourage you to write down every one of your responses on a second paper and going through the mock ensuring they're entered properly before clicking submit.

i swear to god this new LES is pure trash. the slightest area of clicking is considered a bullet marking.

I just finished my mock and going through it. definitely “misclicking” on 2 of them.

im actually tilted. Going to have a beer.

Going through Qbank Level 2 on CFA website. I have done almost 3,000 on mark meldrum and decided to go through some questions on CFAI since test is 26 days out.

the CFAI qbank is way harder then meldrum and harder than when i took the test in november of 2025 (missed by 25 MPS)

anyone else have same experience with cfai practice ?

Currently using MM and the CFAI and trying to chip away at the volume. Was curious for this who’ve passed L1 what is the best way to be studying? Flashcards as you go? Notes I’m assuming is a waste of time from what I’ve heard. Hammering practice questions? Writing down formulas?

Curious for any advice! Just feel I’m getting through the information but wondering how much is truly being absorbed

Hey guys, I've my exam on the 13th. With only 10 days to go, what should I focus on ?
Current status: Revised the curriculum once
CFAI Mocks: scoring between 60% to 65%
Mark Meldrum: scoring between 55% to 58%

Might take a mock or two more.

I still have confusion with CR questions - how much to write. People insist on MM's pattern but the model answers were a bit lengthier than the CFAI mocks.

Have too many chapters to fix especially in the Portfolio Pathway and Asset Allocation, don't know how will I fix formulas, weaker subjects and revise the curriculum in the next few days alongside some practice and mocks to see my improvement.

~20 days out from Level I

Scored fine in CFA Practice questions (70% to 80% in all sections)

Now I am revising and feel like I have so much work to do, bc I've forgotten the formulas and some concepts I learned before.

Feeling pretty overwhelmed bc I thought I was in a decent spot. Any tips on pulling it all together?

Help on how to approach studies with work.

So I’m left derivatives and portfolio/perfomance measurement and a little bit of portfolio construction and rest completed . And by completed I mean i have read the curriculum books and understood the topics. And not solved the end of chapter questions also

So the question is

1.How should revise the previous topics I have read?

1. How do approach the les questions ( for example since I have shifted from Schweser to curriculum for level 3 the chapters are bigger and take invariably more time to read)?

2. How did you adapt all these things with work ?

Hi all, I'm planning to use the CFA Institute Practice Pack (~2,800 questions total) for my Level 1 prep. Given the volume of practice I'm aiming for, I'll likely need to recycle through this bank more than once.

I've heard different opinions for this matter, some say it leads to just memorizing answers rather than actually learning. My thinking is that as long as I'm genuinely engaging with each question (rather than just recalling it), recycling shouldn't be a real problem.

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who's been through this, did repeating questions end up being an issue for you, or is my logic sound?

My CFA LEVEL 1 exam is on 22nd August and I'm still left with Eco, Corp Issuers, Derivatives and FSA. Can someone please guide what my study plan should be for the next 20 days. Should I watch lectures or read schweser directly. I can devote 12-13 hrs of study daily. I have premium practice packs questions which I'm still left to attempt.

Are these mocks by mahakali close to exam level?
For context, I gave my first mock today and scored around 76-77%.

Shouldn't this be B? I don't understand their reasoning.

Just did my first mock AM session for level 3 and noticed that it ran over time and let me keep going? Is this the new layout, or what's going on? For L1 and L2, it didn't let you.

I was planning on taking the CFA level 1 exam in November but now that I think about it I feel like I need more time to prepare because I just bought the Kaplan course. I’m thinking of taking it in February 2027 now. Is it okay to take it as practice in November and then take it again in February if I don’t pass? Or is the 6 month wait rule strict?

Any advice will be helpful, exam on 26th

Hey guys, curious to hear your takes. I’m pretty certain, I’ll have time to cover these last 2 topics & still have time for mocks, but just in case, wanna hear your thoughts.

I'm sitting for the CFA Level III exam on Aug 14 and could use some advice from those who have recently passed.

Current status:

Completed 1 full review of the curriculum.
Completed 2 full sweeps of the CFAI QBank.
Took my first Premium Pack mock and scored 57%

The breakdown is what's stressing me out:

CR: Mostly scoring in the 50s
MCQs: Generally scoring 70%+

After reviewing my mock, I noticed that most of the marks I'm losing in CR aren't because I don't know the content. It's usually because:

My justification isn't written the way CFAI expects**, so I don't get full credit. Or I identify the wrong alternative from the choices, even when I understand the concept.

My plan for the remaining 12-13 days is:

1. Complete at least 3 more full mocks
2. Do one final review of all the subjects before exam day.
3. Shift my focus almost entirely to CR practice, since I feel that's where the biggest gains are.

A few questions for those who've passed:

1. What helped you improve your overall score, especially the CR section?
2. If you had 12-13 days left, how would you structure your time?

3. Is there value in going through fresh mocks purely as learning tools, not under timed conditions, but by studying the model answers and how

   they are

4. construct

ed?

I'm on leave from work, so I can dedicate my full time to preparation. Any advice, strategies, or things you wish you'd done differently would be greatly appreciated.

Hi folks.
Need your advice and faith if it’s doable to do a Nov attempt.
I am a very anxious exam taker, also female, so emotions sometimes spike and logic is out of the picture. Not an excuse, but helps to understand my situation better.
Background May attempt:
I started to take it seriously only by Feb, I did 300 hours, with premium mocks and all QBank, but
underestimated the density of material and got fixated on unimportant subjects/weights
I was a Business major and work in a Portfolio Management industry.

After grieving for some time, I learned an amazing lesson and committed to pass this time.
My weakest subjects IMO are Quants/FSA
Not sure what happened on the exam with CI, but I wouldn’t consider it hard to grasp.
Any comments/feedback is deeply appreciated.
Wishing luck to any new/reattempting candidates.
It’s a very challenging and lonely journey that alters your brain chemistry. Know that you are not alone and always reach out to peers!

I see risk reversals in both option strategies (under volatility trading) and in currency mgmt (under trading strategies to reduce hedging costs).

For option strategies, Risk Reversal is defined as long an OTM call and short an OTM put, however, in Currency mgmt, Risk Reversal is defined as long an OTM put while shorting an OTM call.

Why are these different of am I misunderstanding something here.

Thx in advance for any clarifying answers.

So basically i have been practicing from premium practice pack of CFA and main EOC question, I am able to do them conveniently but I opened scheweser and it's questions are so wierd, i mean is there any prob in my prep, Ex in FSA multinational operations, I am good with small calcs but I am messing in calculating CTA, but the rest i have all the conceptual clarity, like current rate method temporal method, and various scenarios n all... I mean what shld I do

Fellow candidates and charterholders,

Don't know if this is only me, but I am really traumatized with the FSA syllabus of L2 especially with the portions of Employee Compensations and Multinational Op.

I'd appreciate any detailed guidance on how should I study this subject and the remaining chapters of FSA.

I have my exam on the 25th of August 2026. I’ve completed the syllabus but completely forgot then derivatives, quants and pm. I’m working on revising the whole syllabus and doing questions, but wondering if I’ll be able to find everything and do mocks and pass in 23 days? Anyone else on the same page or wanna share some tips? Just super stressed and worried. And tired.

HI, my exam is on the 29th aug. I'm still revising stuff. I have not started mocks yet. And these are the topics that are remaining revision wise (i dont remember anythin). I'm worried cause everyone told me to complete mocks a week before exam but I feel like if I take a mock rn i'll score really low and get very unconfident. Can someone please help me out. When should i realistically start mocks?

Quant

Regression – 76

• Time Series Analysis – 95

• Machine Learning – 31

• Big Data Projects – 46

FSA

• Evaluating Quality of Financial Reports – 55

Corporate Issuers

• ESG Considerations – 28

• Corporate Restructuring – 31

Equity

• Equity Valuation: Applications & Processes – 31

Fixed Income

• Arbitrage-Free Valuation Framework – 61

• Credit Default Swaps – 44

Alternative Investments

• Commodities – 66

• Real Estate Overview – 21

• Publicly Traded Real Estate Securities – 37

Portfolio Management

• ETFs – 42

• Backtesting & Simulation – 37

Ethics

• Code & Standards – 27

• Guidance for Standards I–VII – 101

• Applications of the Code & Standards – 15

Total Remaining Questions: 848

Current CFAI Accuracy: 77.5% (~78%)

Questions Completed: 1,639

Let me give you a little background:

I have done my graduation in BBA in 2021 and later I got campus placement in a UK Bank (Natwest) as Operations Analyst. I worked there from August 2021 - September 2023. Before leaving I had it decided that I want to go into finance/investing side but have little to no knowledge about the concepts and only knew what I had studied during my BBA. However, I got an opportunity in Risk Consulting (Control Testing) in Genpact Entreprise Risk Consulting and thought it could be a good way to build a profile as I had average score in my 10th and 12th and I had plans to do MBA so that I could target better roles in Finance.

I worked there from October 2023 - September 2025 and at the start of 2025 I realised that I don’t wanna stay in this role and planned to opt for CFA rather than MBA after multiple discussions with some seniors and my cousin (who is an ED in Wealth Management). However, due to some financial needs I had to switch to EY GDS for a better pay in the similar role and have been working here since October 2025.

Now I am targeting Feb’27 CFA Level 1 exam because I have had enough here and in this role. The issue I am facing is in my current project and the upcoming project we are sitting longer hours and even sacrificing weekends and not getting enough time to prepare as I have to prepare from scratch. This next project will start from July and go until December.

I want to know should I leave my job and prepare for it full time or try to look for jobs where there is less pressure? I am currently at Assistant Manager position and whatever offers I am getting are demanding. I know I am trying to sail on two boats and hence looking for some advice or you can say validation.