I just started the program, and in December 2015, I'll be taking my first CFA exam (CFA exam level 1).
I'm very new to the financial world, but I've been considering stepping my foot through the door to the finance life for awhile. Right now I don't know much about anything and sometimes I feel like I don't know too much about the program as well... for one, I do not know if the CFA program will be beneficial professionally. This doesn't mean that I didn't do my research- I did A LOT of research, and have looked through their website and (anything else related) with a fine-toothed comb... but there appears to be so much controversy about the program when reading about it online (mostly a lot of internet people fighting about the CFA vs. MBA debate and how everyone in the education/academic business field is a money grubber) that I cannot completely vouch for the CFA Program just yet.
So why am I taking the CFA? Well, I graduated college recently with a B.S. in Chemistry. A Bachelor's degree won't get very far in the scientific community and I definitely don't want to go for more school (at least not right away). A doctorate degree takes forever and med school is out of the question (my worst grade ever was in immunology). Now don't get me wrong, I think Chemistry is a great major. It is the science of all sciences. Need to know biology? Boy, you gotta get your chemistry done, son. Physics? Yes, the chemistry matters too!!!! The labs, although extremely long and difficult, were well worth the experience. Where else would you be allowed to work with analytical machinery that costs more than your house?
Anyway I had pretty limited options in the scientific field. But I'm competent enough in the analytical work. I spent my upper division years making raw data understandable. I've pumped out so many graphs and stuff and it wasn't too horrible work, lol. So I figured that maybe I could translate the analytical thinking I learned from the years in college and apply it into something useful in the financial field...? But for me to really feel like I could tackle the financial world, I needed some credibility that showed I was serious about it.
IMAGE SOURCE: Image is the CFA logo.
1 comments
I am quite envious. I would like to do the CFA one day too if possible.
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