Yet another “am I ready” question

Question

Hi everyone,I have the opportunity to take the level 1 exam at no cost in December (school scholarship), however I am not sure that I am ready for it and would like to hear some feedback.  I am currently in an MBA/MFin dual degree program, have finished my first year, and interned in a corporate finance role.  I am continuing my school studies this fall, econometrics, fixed income, risk and equity analysis being the main themes.  I have already covered courses in derivatives, project valuation, international investments as well as the program's basic finance course.  I will have Fridays off to study, and would plan to put in about 3-4 hours on Saturday and Sunday as well.  Undergrad is in engineering, and in between school I was in the Marine Corps so no finance related work experience outside of the internship.  Thoughts on having enough time to take the level 1 exam this December?  All feedback is appreciated, especially personal experience in cramming for this thing. Thanks.

Zee Tan · Answer

I'm not sure about the dual degree, but between the fact that it comes at no (monetary) cost, and that there are overlaps between your course and some of CFA Level I, it's definitely worth a shot. You have 4 full months to do so, but likely you'll need more than Friday full-day and weekend half-days. More like Fri-Sat-Sun solid, especially about 2 months before the exams.