I took Part 1 of the CMA in January '26. I spent about a month studying very intensely, pretty much 8–10 hours every day. Honestly, I really wished I had about two extra weeks just to review, but I was determined to get it done during winter break. It was my first "big" exam too, and overall it ended up being a great experience. I passed, but I plan to give myself more time to study for Part 2.
I used the Gleim CMA Review System that was given to me through the scholarship program. (No videos, just the book, MCQs and a Mock exam) It's similar to Becker in structure. My approach for a total of 30 days was:
- Read & study one unit per day (there are 20 units total, some require 2-3 days)
- Read the material first
- Do all the MCQs for that unit, understand why you missed certain questions, make notes.
- Complete the written section
- Then one cumulative MCQ set
If you prefer to spread things out more (which I highly recommend if you have the time), I'd suggest one unit per week, and then adding one extra week for review. Note some unite are more complex or time‑consuming. So min study time about a month if you have taken previous classes covering some of the material, but more realistic are 21 weeks.
Hope it helps.
- Irina
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Irina Zigray
Student
Fort Collins CO
United States
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