Thoughts on my viability of attaining the Charter – Reality Check for Level 2

Question

Hello Folks,

Just need a reality check and some words of advice for those with similar backgrounds and/or experiences. I took level 1 in December 2015 and awaiting results. I would like to take level 2 in June 2016. I work as a CPA for a global Fund shop, and can dedicate 20 hours a week to my studies. I aiming for 450 hours come June 2016, but only have about 20 hours down now.

I also attempted a PhD program in Economics at a top 50 American Research University for a quarter, but the math was much too intense and I quit after that. I’m worried that my lack of quant skills will prove detrimental – econometrics, and the intro quant courses were too advanced based on my inadequate undergraduate studies.

I scored 1520/1600 (88th percentile math, 99th+ percentile verbal, and 99th percentile total) on the GRE (graduate record examination) back in 2008 directly after my undergraduate studies. I attended a mediocre State College and earned a 4.0 GPA in Business with a Finance concentration. My overall GPA was only a 3.5 because I "lacked focus" my first 2 years. I added a minor, took a total of 5 years, and raised my GPA as much as I could.

I also averaged a 90% on the 4 parts of my CPA exams back in 2011 when I was working for a Big 4 audit firm. However, I had 3 months of study only time between my graduate degree in Accounting (3.5 GPA) and when I started working in audit.

Given  my lack of true Finance experience, what are my chances on level 2 and 3? Again, not sure how level 1 went but was averaging 77% accross all 7 mocks I took so feel pretty good there.

Multiple Regression is already kicking my butt and wondering if I should just cut my losses now and focus on being a good accountant? Level 1 was still useful to my current role of accounting for financial instruments and mutual funds.

Thanks for reading!

googs1484 · Answer

Short answer, if I were you,  go for it. The math isn't bad at all, and I suck at math.  The breadth of the curriculum is a beast! But if you have the momentum and energy to do it,  then go for it.

hairyfairy · Answer

I second @googs1484. The math is not incomprehensible, and there are video/online lessons that might help you with some of the trickier stuff. It’s really deciding if you can indeed dedicate the time (450 hours seems like a good and conservative plan to me)!