I’m a first time L II candidate, so I can’t speak from experience. But I can tell you that I started before Thanksgiving and the material is a real bear to get through. Many will disagree with me, but I think it’s a mistake to use Schweser as a shortcut to reading the curriculum in L II. Qbank in particular is weak. brainwasher Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hey Robert, > > Thats the goal. Get home around 8, study for > another hour and half to 2 hours and hit the sack. > On the weekdays I don’t really do problems > (except if it slows down at the office I will pull > up the qbank and bang out some questions). On the > weekend I will really focus on becoming proficient > at understanding what the questions are looking > for and refining any note cards I made while > studying. As for the time, it helps that my > commute is about 3 minutes from walking out my > front door to sitting at my desk at the office. > > Also, is equity 600 pages in schweser? If so, > then I may need to do some adjustments. I covered > all of quant and econ this past week in schweser > and scored an 78% on a 100 question schweser exam. > Also, I don’t plan on even looking at the CFAI > books (just used schweser for L1 and was >70% in > all sections).
Just got my pass for level I and purchased Stalla regular system / self study and quick reference / formula guide for Level II. I might get my Stalla flash cards for iPhone if I feel like it’ll be worth the (hefty) price of admission. I definitely plan to go hard in the paint for the next four months on it - luckily I work closer to 45-50 hours a week which means I have plenty of rested time each night to work through. My tentative game plan is to: go section by section through the CFAI books and take notes on my own watch the associated lecture online after I’ve read the materials then take the Passmaster questions on the sections after the reading/lecture is done. I’m going to save the practice exams and CFAI EOC questions until May for the final pass through, and then re-do the Passmaster questions where I think I’m weak. For Level I I used only the Schweser QBank and CFAI books, which was very helpful at drilling questions and building up my speed. I’ve read some bad things about the QBank for Level II so I elected to switch to Stalla.
Just something you might consider, I’m not good at staying on schedule so here’s my method. I don’t think its the most efficient but for me its worked. What I did for level 2 and am now doing for level 3 is to do a quick read of the entire text (using schweser). This lets me know exactly how much new stuff there is to know. I take about a 10-20 hours to read everything cover to cover. I don’t sweat the details but just try to see if I understand what’s going on, if its familier, similar, or totally new. You might find that you know a lot of this stuff already, or that much of it is completely new to you. In my case, I’m a level 2 CAIA candidate so much of the Alt investments stuff is review as well as the derivatives. The econ in level 2 I studied in college. The stuff I didn’t know, the intercorporate investments, pension crap in FRA was the hardest for me. The more stuff like that, the more time you need to really study and learn the material before you start to really use it and prepare for the actual exam. I like reading schweser and CFAI and whatever else I can get my hands on. Last year I used schweser, stalla, and cfai books. Schweser books were a gift. That last month will be very important. You’ll need to really give yourself as much time then as you can. You really need to be done learning come May 1st.
I was in the same boat as many posting in this thread last year. Passed, ordered L2 books and tried to get psyched up for L2 in June. I couldn’t, I was too far removed from my study routine and couldn’t get excited about getting back into it. Plus, I had some goodwill from passing L1 at work (I work in the industry) and I was doing a good job at work too. I did end up reading through almost all of the material, but when I went to do the practice tests I thought I was too far away to pass. So I took about 3 weeks off and figured I’d stop wasting my time. Then I got back in the saddle and tried to give it a last ditch effort in the last month. It didn’t work, I failed with band 7. I would echo what a lot of others are saying, read the new material, but make sure you do a lot of retention stuff and don’t take any time off whatsoever.
I wrote L 1 december 2010 and started on Level 2 stuff 2 weeks after the exam. Just getting to SS 6 and Pension stuff. Passed today so we’ll go full force next few months. Using Schweser for most except FRA and Equities for those sections only CFAI stuff. Do as many questions as I can and mock exams…if I pass great if not…try again next year.
Main message, respect level2… It’s a different beast
they call Level 2 'Mr. Steal your Girl" because you be spending so much time studying.
Naa I registered last minute for Level 1 and didn’t really enjoy the lack of social life for a couple months. So I am going to take it December with the plan of starting to study earlier and allowing myself free time on the weekends to actually have a life. However, I will probably procastinate and end up cramming in October & November. Oh well good luck to anyone attempting level 2 in June.
drewd313 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Naa I registered last minute for Level 1 and > didn’t really enjoy the lack of social life for a > couple months. So I am going to take it December > with the plan of starting to study earlier and > allowing myself free time on the weekends to > actually have a life. However, I will probably > procastinate and end up cramming in October & > November. Oh well good luck to anyone attempting > level 2 in June. Ummm what? There is no Level 2 in December
Going to register for June and treat it as a trial run of sorts. I definitely overestimated the difficulty of L1 and overprepared so I’m hoping the same study habits will suffice for L2.
just to survey… how much is the exam fees for level 2 in USD? i tried registering… is it under CIPM Exam?
From the CFA website: “June and December 2011 exam registration will be temporarily unavailable from 22–26 January 2011.”
i haven’t started studying for L2 yet and I have to join the navy for a year. I’m going to have a lot of days off so I’ll give it a try for June 11…
done with ethics, quant, econ, and 1st two readings on accounting…still a long way to go but June '11 is marked.
Me too…notic4lyf…overestimated Level 1, will certainly help in L2…m shooting for June.
i just found out i passed L1 so i’m now about to register for L2 but i already feel under prepared given the lack of time.
brainwasher Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Just got my results for Dec 2010 and will be > registering for June 2011 L2. What is the point > of taking it in December if you are not going to > go for it all by doubling up in June? After all, > you are already accustomed to a lack of a social > life and it shouldn’t take that long to get back > into the grove of studying. > > Game Plan: Cover 1.5 Study Sessions per week, with > at least one full day dedicated to > reviewing/testing previous topics. Then, as for > L1, take as many practice exams as possible > (retaining the information was not the hard part > for me, but knowing how to approach questions > efficiently was key). Since I work 70 hours a > week, my goal is to get 1.5 hours a day done on > the weekdays (1 night off a week) and 4-7 hours a > day on weekends. It also helps that I live in > Chicago where it is cold as balls and the whole > city will be dead for the next 2 months. All > Schweser. > > As for the L1 exam, I thought it was really easy > compared to all the other practice exams. > > Lastly, since this is my first post I want to > thank everyone else who puts the time in to write > on this forum. You might not always know it, but > your contributions help and are very appreciated. B. Washer, I agree with you… I was in doubt but I think I am going all in for June…Thank you… and by the way I also live in Chicago (NW sub urbs)… I took L1 in India… but L2 will be here… keep posting updates on your progress…lets crack it! Rahul
I was not planning on doing level 2 this June as I heard it was a “different beast” so to speak, but I decided to go for it (why wait another year and a half?) and just registered! I haven’t started studying for it all, hopefully the books get here quick as I need all the remaining time I can get. It’s going to be a lot of work, but well worth it in the end.
brainwasher Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > efficiently was key). Since I work 70 hours a > week, my goal is to get 1.5 hours a day done on > the weekdays (1 night off a week) and 4-7 hours a > day on weekends. It also helps that I live in > Chicago where it is cold as balls and the whole > city will be dead for the next 2 months. All > Schweser. You work 70 hours a week and are home by 8 every night? Are you working on weekends? Otherwise are you saying that you’re getting in at 6 am? Many people overestimate how much they work. I doubt most of those people even work 60 hours a week (12 hour days consistently).
I’m interested in what people think about taking L2 in June as a “trial run”. I know I’ll sound like a dumb kid here but my dad has been financing my whole candidacy thus far and he thinks it would just be throwing money away and that I should just take my time preparing for next year’s test instead. Is there any value in knowing what to expect the second time around? I know there’s no real rush to complete the program but just the thought of skipping the June test, failing 2012, then having to wait until 2013 to take it again really irks me.