Officially Level 3 Candidate now

CFA Level II
#1

I am lucky to have passed Level 2 with all sections over 70%. A few minutes ago I registered for next year’s exam. Now, I am officially a Level 3 candidate. This time I want to start earlier. Any forks want to study together in the Greater Toronto Area.

My Level 2 journey was quite intense, although the results turned out pretty good. I was working full time, while doing my part-time MBA, and have two young kids. I started to study for Level 2 in middle February. At the same time, I completed three courses, and luckily I got A+ for each of them.

I will change my strategy for Level 3. I will start earlier and read the CFAI textbooks.

For Level 1, I relied on Kaplan notes only. I went through the Kaplan notes once, except for Economics, which I only finished half of it before the exam. The results were also pretty good. I got everything over 70% except economics and alternative investment, which were in 50%~70%.

For Level 2, I went through Kaplan Notes once, but skipped the practice questions. I did the CFAI EOC questions once instead. Then, I did four CFAI mocks. Biggest mistake, my Kaplan Notes from my friend was outdated. I ended up having to guess the first three questions in one item set.

For any tips, I would say:

  1. The exam is easier than you think. So relax. You learn better when you are relaxed.
  2. You have more time than you think. Time is wasted in minutes not in hours. Use the bits of time to review. You can also review in your mind when you are driving, in the bathroom or having lunch or whenever you are idle.
  3. Take notes. Writing down reinforces your memory, and allows your review quickly later.
  4. Review before you forget. You forget most of them during the first few hours and few days. So, try to review as often as you can during the first few hours and first few days.
  5. Try to understand the ideas. There may be many formulas. Once you understand the ideas behind them, you can apply them without even realizing you are using any formulas.
  6. Practice questions. Working on questions is active learning. It forces you to think.
  7. Go to the exam center earlier and have some energy drink 30 minutes before the exam.
#2

congrats

#3

Way to go! Very good strategy!

#4

Congrats! Thanks for the input !

#5

Congratulations, newlife!

#6

I saw you at a UCI event a few months ago but was too intimidated to come say hi. You’re a celebrity, man.

#7

You’re too kind.

Come say, “Hi!” next time.

#8

I would like to reinforce point # 1. Do not be fooled by the CFAI 2013 mock. The actual exam was significantly easier than that mock (or any other mock for that matter).

#9

Passing by getting all sections >70% is not lucky; it reflects your hard work. Passing with 3 sections below 50% like I did is lucky (though I feel I did work hard as well).

#10

Hey Newlife,

I know its been awhile since you started this thread, but did you use Schweser Q bank for level 2, or any Schweser mocks or a 3 day review class? Would you please go into a bit more detail about the materials you used to pass level 2?