will start stuyding in August be good enough for Sep L2 ?

CAIA
#1

I just gave CFA L2, and I’d like to wait for its result to come out first.

I’m a little concerned that August might be a little late to start. Anybody has any advice? Thanks

#2

August would definitely be too short. I would start away even if its just an hour or two to begin with. You can slowly increase the pace as August comes in.

How was your CFA L2?

#3

I passed level 2 `(having already passed cfa level 2) with around 5 days of serious preparation. Before that I might have done approximately 20 hours of half assed prep.

The test will be difficult but passing it won’t be so tough.

#4

That is something ChickenTikka. Just 5 days of preparation. Amazing. Would you like to share some of your preparation techniques/tips to the Forum?

#5

thanks for all the advice … I just ordered the books today and will take it slow until August.

#6

For both CAIA levels, I did not start studying until I had passed that year’s CFA exam. This left 6-8 week for studying, which was an efficient, compact timeframe.

#7

did you guys use Schweser exclusively or Schweser + CAIA text ?

and did you find that Schweser prepared you well for the essay parts?

Thanks

#8

I used Schweser, borrowed from a friend, and then bought uppermark. Neither are particularly good. I don’t particularly know which one i would suggest. Neither prepared me well for the test. However, fortunately passing the test is relatively easy. I must have gotten no more than a 50 percent on it.

#9

I used Uppermark for Level II which i thought was better material than the Schweser material I used for Level I. Heard good things about the Schweser CFA material so I went with that for CFA Level I December exam.

#10

Heres how I passed with about 20 hours of reading the schweser notes and around 5 days of intense prep.

  1. For level 2 caia if you already have cfa level 2 or greater that will more or less endow you with the ability to answer, or at least try to guess, the majority of the quantitative questions. Relative to the who have not done the cfa exam you are ata huge advantage.

To illustrate, I’ll give an example. I don’t want to get too specific but one question I got essentially asked me to calculate the interest and principle payments on two particular types of bond tranches.

Now, I knew how to do this because I had done this stuff in the cfa program. I don’t think you could read the caia prep material, either schweser or uppermark, and would have learned this, nor would you even think to practice it. Sure, you might have learned which type of tranche would have Interest only or principle only etc, but I never stopped and actually calculated this in any of my caia studying. Thanks cfa for that. Otherwise, even if I could identify which had prince or interest, I wouldn’t have known how to calculate them.

  1. caia ethics is cfa ethics, but much easier and more straightforward. If you have completed any of the cfa program you should be able to score well here. I did not study ethics at all for caia and scored above average in this this. It was one of two subjects where I did this, So ethic is 10 percent right there given as a gift to the cfa candidate in caia.

  2. current topics - all of these things were difficult to study for. I have an excellent memory for what I read in articles so I can usually remember what is going on. However, exam day threw me for a loop by asking me a question worded like, “talk about the main finding in the article “xyz” by dr. X.”. I didn’t know the articles by the title so I really just had no idea and guessed wrong there. I protested that question. my advice though for these would be to make an index card for each article with the tittle on it and the main points on the back. Otherwise it’s a pretty big crap shoot.

  3. trivial pursuit - I have, what I can consider, an extraordinary memory for trivia. There is a lot of this on the caia exam.

  4. perseverance - every caia exam I ever took I had a mind to leave during the middle of it because things were going terrbly. The cfa program taught me not to panic, make smart guesses, and hope for the best. This works even better in caia. The exam is absurdly difficult at times, but I think you are looking more at a curve for passing than in the cfa program.

#11

5) perseverance - every caia exam I ever took…

You make it sound like it took more than 1 attempt per level. Not the case, right?

#12

I think that if you really study efficiently, you can be prepared with one month of good studying. Get a study package from Schweser, etc. and study hard. Book the exam for the latest date possible and hope for the best.

#13

Hi,

I am writing Level 2 in sept 2012.

I have only done like the 1st 3 private equity readings.

Do you think I will be able to make it? I will get about 15 days leave from work so this will hopefully help me alot. I will mostly use schweser only for this exam.

Any advice, or tips from people who have completed it?

I know I should of started sooner but I was waiting on CFA results and was a bit lazy.

Thanks

#14

Am I wasting my time studying?

Must I just wait until March 2013 rather?

#15

Hey KKK,

I’m not going to tell you to quit studying; however, it is quite late in the game and there is a lot of material for you to cover by test time. I suggest that you give it a go and just cram and hope for the best. If anything, you get to see what the real L2 exam is like, and you have already paid the fees and registration so just do it.

#16

Passed level 1 on first try. Registered for level 2 and didn’t study at all because I decided to prioritise cfa level 2 (glad I did). Showed up on test day to see what it would be like. Failed that. Second time, as I said, studied 20 hours plus five days of all day studying. Second try

#17

What level CFA? Two weeks studying plus cfa level 2 should be plenty.

#18

I gonna draw up a plan and stick with it. I can finish the 1st book by month end then I am ok

#19

not going too well

#20

i have condensed the entire curriculum into about 70 pages worth of notes… and plan on doing 6 schweser practice/ mock exams before test day, including reviewing all the practice questions in the schweser notes/study guide.