Hey you guys!
I'm currently a junior majoring in finance, in China. I love my life in college, except for those dumbest courses I have to take (hint: if you wanna make someone hate something, just send him to a Chinese university and let him take the courses about it). I love economics, especially investing though, hence my days in college, so far, turned out to be a two year of home schooling, or should i say library-schooling. I really enjoy, and at the same time learnt quiet a lot (esp. from works of Ben Graham, Robert Shiller and Nassim Taleb, I found them amazing), through all the readings i've done.
But thing is, I found almost all the friends around had started doing at least one certain kind of exam now: 25 of 33 students in my class are rumpling their brains doing the SOA exam, the others doing CFA or FRM. Being the only one who immersed in books and did not take any test makes me feel like an alien.
I know CFA is an authentic and beneficial certificate, and I know it's hard for you to understand my problem but if you've ever had experience in Chinese college education you will know why i have to do self schooling to actually learn SOMETHING.
I am planning to apply for graduate school in U.S., and I've taken my TOEFL and GRE. Now should I do CFA, like everyone else in my class does, or continue the readings and doing internship?

Thank you for your patience, it was quite a babble
looking forward to your precious advices

-Dan, a far Fool from the East