Was curious how many people are finding the level 2 material challenging that work in the industry?
In the industry is broad. I’ve been a FA for a dozen years plus. Have CFP chfc and host of licenses and CE up the wazoo. I find the material very challenging. I suppose if you are an analyst some of the material migot be review and less challenging but I’ve never heard of a L2 candidate refer to the material as anything less than challenging. At least not a candidate you take seriously. Best of luck.
To the OP - what changes did you make for your second attempt vs. your initial strategy? We really need to turn this thread around as I’m interested to hear from other candidates their take on “Best Advice for L2…”
Can you please share how much time you had to put in the first time around? Also, were you one of those individuals who tried to take on L2 (June) right after L1 (Dec), or did you dedicate a full year (or more) in between exams? Thanks for sharing your experience!
For level 2 you have to put twice the effort in level 1 at least. It is impossible to know everything for level 2 unless you have a photographic memory. Cover the main topics in each study session and little topics even if they do come out it will be minor.
That being said, if you do pass level 2, level 3 is another beast. I actually put the most hours in level 3 and yet have the shittest marks among all
I took Level 1 in December 2009. The day after the exam, I moved to a new city, started a new job, bought a new house, and found out my wife was pregnant. I got my results on January 25, and started studying. Then, in March, I changed jobs again. I only had four months to prepare, with a job change in the middle. (Just so you know what I was up against.)
The first time, I thought I could put in the same amount of time for Level 2 that I did at Level 1 (since I did very well at Level 1.) I initially planned to study about 200 hours. Around mid-April, I realized that I was waaaay wrong. Overall, I probably studied about 250 hours, which I thought was pretty good, considering my limitations.
After I got my results (Score Band 10–ouch), I decided to go again. I put in about 400 hours this time. I said, “If I don’t pass this time, I won’t take it again. If I study 400 hours, plus 250 hours last year, and I STILL can’t pass, then I just can’t pass.” But I passed.
The first mistake I made was starting too late. If you haven’t already started, you’re too late. Start today. Start immediately. Stop reading this and order your materials NOW.
The second mistake I made (and this is because I started late) is that I didn’t fully absorb the Swap material. I just learned the basics and hoped it wouldn’t be a major part of the test. Again, I was waaay wrong. CFAI likes Swaps. They like Swaps a lot–both at Level 2 and at Level 3. Learn your swaps.
A third mistake I made was with Quant–I obsessed with learning every calculation (because it’s part of the curriculum, and technically they can ask you to calculate some of the stuff). Don’t get too caught up in memorizing details, e.g.how to calculate correlation. You don’t need to know how to calculate correlation. You need to understand it, and be able to use it, but they’ll give you correlation on the exam. (Same is true with variance, ANOVA tables, etc.)
One mistake I DIDN’T make–I knew my Accounting. This will be a significant part of the exam. Make sure you understand it. Even the Pension accounting. It WILL be on the exam.
Another mistake I DIDN’T make–I tried to understand, instead of memorize. The Level 2 exam is just too big to try and learn every list and every equation. Remember, they won’t ask you questions like “List the three types of credit risk associated with corporate bonds.” They’ll say, “Analyst A says…while Analyst B says… Which one do you agree with?” Again, they force you to understand the material, not memorize lists.
While you do have to do the “plug and chug” type of questions, make sure that you understand what you’re doing. If you can’t conceptualize the information and adapt your understanding to their question, you have a tough road ahead of you.
yeah understanding swaps in the text book is very different from understanding swaps in exam…quant is easy points…FRA is a p in the a
Thanks for the input, ddrobinett.
Since a lot of people are looking at this thread, here’s another question for those with past L2 experience: should we spend time on re-memorizing some of the complex formulas from L1? For example, the reading on forwards in L2 already has a bunch of complex formulas… do I need to stretch my imagination and retain the L1 payoff formula of a simple forward contract (this falls under the optional material in L2)?
Edit: Maybe a more general question would be, should we spend time on the optional sections from L1?
Ummm…I don’t understand your question.
But I would spend zero time reviewing Level 1. Absolutely none whatsoever. Just dive into Level 2. Don’t try to get your feet wet first, don’t wade into the shallow end of the pool. Just jump in headfirst. The sooner you start learning, the sooner you can do practice problems. The more problems you do, the more you will understand.
Remember, your goal is not to understand everything about finance and global markets. It’s not even to understand everything about the curriculum. Your goal is to pass the exam. I It’s tough enough to learn the required reading, much less the optional stuff. If you want to learn more than is required of you, then feel free to do so–starting June 2.
I guess I’m worried about the exam-makers throwing curve balls: for example, a problem may ask about L2 material, but in order for us to begin answering the question, we may require a cryptic formula from L1. Not sure if that makes sense…
I think that point is worth repeating. _ YOUR GOAL IS TO PASS THE EXAM. _ You’re not trying to become the next Warren Buffett or Carl Icahn. There’s plenty of time for that once you get the charter.
YOUR GOAL IS TO PASS THE EXAM. And the best way to pass is to practice. Don’t study other things–just study the curriculum (or Schweser, if you have it. That’s what I used for Levels 1 and 2). Don’t try and learn Level 1. Whatever you need to pass Level 2 will be given to you in the Level 2 readings. Don’t look forward to Level 3–there’s plenty of time for that next year.
And any ideas you have about doing FRM, CPM, CFP, CAIA, CQF, MBA, MSF, CPA, CVA, CMT, etc–just get rid of them. Finish Level 2, then finish Level 3. Then get a job. Then learn what you need to learn to do your job. If your job requires you to have another designation, then worry about it then.
It is beyond me why somebody would want to get a designation that they may never use. You may never work in Alternative investments. You may get a job valuing companies as prospects for possible acquisitions. Then your FRM/CPM/CFP/CAIA are totally useless. The CFA is so broad in its coverage that virtually all finance careers can benefit from it.
Technically, you’re still required to know all of the material from Level 1. And yes, you will need to know some of the material. You can never fully divest yourself of how to discount cash flows, what a balance sheet is, or how to do a CAPM calculation. But I don’t remember very many “cryptic” formulas from Level 1. (Maybe bond duration and convexity…) But any formula that you need will be given to you in the material. I seriously doubt you’ll see anything in the curriculum that will make you have to refer back to your Level 1 material.
Thank you so much for providing this advice!
@ddrobinett: Brother, you’re a true enthusiastic helper. Because I really appreciate that, I just want to give you a reminder that some of your content might be a little sensitive as they were related to exam content. That might give you troubles in relation to Code and Standards. So be careful man.
I don’t think anything he has said thus far is sensitive information. I have been to a few CFA society sessions (with different socieities) where the tutors, majority of whom are Charterholders, get into even more details about the exam.
Thanks for starting this thread. It answered a lot of questions I had 
@ ddrobinet thanks for the insights.
I’m studying with schweser notes, attempting concept checkers after most readings and watching videos on difficult or boring readings; then I refer to the cfai books once in while. At my current rate I should be done with my first pass through the material by the end of march. I was doing a lot of practice from the cfai EOC at the begining of my prep but it was taking a lot of time so I abandoned that strategy. I’ll pick up the slack on my second pass in april but I don’t intend to do every CFAI eoc (Just ethics, fra and equity hopefully) to free up time to practice a ton of mocks before game day.
From a practice standpoint what do you think about my approach? Qbank was the opium in L1, but i have barely touched it so far due to the general opinion on AF about how less ineffective it is on L2. Considering the average CFAI eoc takes about 2-5 hours to slog through and most of it won’t be tested anyway, what’s your take on the best value for time approach towards practice questions for the level 2.