So first of all, I remember seeing a thread that is called “official thread to discuss L2 exam” but I couldn’t find it … Anyways, I knew from my inbox that many people were looking for my experience after they saw my notes set and after the mock exams results LOL As I said I didn’t start preparing for level 2 officially till very end of February and with ups and managed to have time to do mocks only in the last 5 days of exam … Because of time limits, I had to use kaplan notes (schweser) for two sections of the exam: economics and alternative investments … and let me say this, that was the biggest mistake of my life … I didn’t buy the books in the first please cuz I have always believed in the official textbook … I find them interesting and easy to read … but because they are wordy, I decided (mistakenly) to save time and use my friend’s book for those 2 sections of the exam … In general, I believe that the morning session was way tougher than the afternoon one but managed to do fairly well in both … I know for a fact that some sections SAVED me big time on the exam like FRA which I’m sure I aced and others like equity and corporate finance and QM which I’m kinda sure I scored above 85% on it … When it comes to economics and AI sets, I know that I failed those because I simply had to make wild guesses here and there … won’t be surprised if I know I scored below 50% on both sections … Some people might think that I’m too slow/dumb that I won’t understand kaplan notes and I have to read original text … for those, please save your comments because my grades and experience in other exams can tell about my intelligence level … Kaplan might work for you … but please try to save the world and never recommend any notes provider to anyone 
Omar
Dude you are so slow and dumb. How can you not understand kaplan notes? They are so easy and simple to understand!
I went the complete opposite route and didn’t even bother opening the books. Relied solely on the Schweser Notes and Secret Sauce
ZeroBonus … Yes I’m slow and dumb for using them Promised myself … NEVER again
Omar Adnan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ZeroBonus … > > Yes I’m slow and dumb for using them Promised > myself … NEVER again But why? Schweser does a good (I think great) job at covering the material in a clear and concise format. So why bother reading 400 pages per book of information that you won’t even need for the exam. And not to mention, reading more = trying to remember more = more workload
ZeroBonus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Omar Adnan Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > ZeroBonus … > > > > Yes I’m slow and dumb for using them > Promised > > myself … NEVER again > > > But why? Schweser does a good (I think great) job > at covering the material in a clear and concise > format. So why bother reading 400 pages per book > of information that you won’t even need for the > exam. And not to mention, reading more = trying to > remember more = more workload well as far as I remember … for the sections I studided from kaplan, exam questions had NOTHING to do with what was covered my opinion … OA
I used mostly Schweser, and found it easily the best call I made during my studies. I think I did fairly well on the exam, though I guess we’ll see.
I read CFAI text and done all EOC on my first pass and redone more difficult EOCs during the month leading to exam. I found the source material very interesting to read and that’s it. I made a decision to review with Schweser and mocks and have no regrets about my decision. The CFAI material is huge, sometimes watery and sometimes absolutely impractical for tactical review (this is exactly what you need to do multiple times during the last month of practice and review). Schweser, OTOH, doesn’t cut corners as some believe and gives you intuitive solutions for some very complicated topics (I still don’t believe CFAI gave an approximated solution for FRA before maturity which confused many folks on AF). Yes, you run a risk to lose some dimes and nickels but I bet you probably gonna lose them anyway. If I fail I will blame only myself for that not Schweser. BTW, speaking of economics in CFA text, I tried to find explanations to my doubts after the exam and I found nothing in the text to resolve them (and I knew where to look). Bottom line, there is no universal magical solution for L2, everybody makes their own mind which approach suits them the best.
I think Schweser does a fine job covering these areas. Some parts of the curriculum like Economics and Portfolio Management are difficult for any exam prep material company to cover. CFAI like to test some of this material in an opaque question (like Ethics). Wish you luck on your graded results. I’m sure you passed. I think the real tricky part about CFA Exams is that EOC will have maybe 1 question covering a specific subject matter. And then that same subject will appear on the test in an extensive way. It surprises candidates because it was only found in 1 EOC question. I know some people think reading the material from CFAI is better than prep material from Schweser for L2. I think the opposite. I think reading the CFAI books is a complete waste of time and people should focus on the exact material they need to know, instead of long drawn out discussions.
I agree, I just used the texts and they were wordy and more like university lectures with formula derivations and repetition especially in Equities. Interesting but too much to remember. Review was too big to be done in less than one month, and I only had one week. Whole sections weren’t covered I discovered when I did my post exam dissection. This time I’ll try Schweser’s and hone in on the questions. Do their practice questions look the same? Vignettes with 6 Q and data in grids?