starting prep for 2015 level 2- which topic to begin first???

hi i passed the recently held cfa level 1 exam and intend starting my preparation for the 2015 level 2 exam in a couple of days. I just want some advice as to which topic/subject i should hit first, something that is not too intense and will help me set my tempo for the coming months…also i want to know which preparatory videos are the best?? i did a few Peter Olinto videos for level 1 which were of great help and Elan Guides (or Wiley) dont seem to have his videos for level 2… thanks!!!

If you sare starting this far in advance, just read the CFAI text first and you can supplement wth 3rd party later on if you need.

I suggest started in order and just moving forward. Save ethics for last.

study in order., but you have to cover ethics at least twice.

^ that is probably a good idea. I only read it once but felt it was much easier than it should have been.

Focus on the two heavily weighted areas - Financial Reporting and Analysis & Equity. Read CFAI text for both of these, as well as Schweser Notes, and do a ton of practice problems from QBank and CFAI mocks and curriculum to reinforce these two areas. Ethics would be a third area I would recommend focusing on if you are starting this early.

^ +1

I only scored top in ethics, equity and FRA…pretty sure thats why i passed

everything is important, i would skip ethics for later and start from Quants…

^ +1 to that as well

For me personally, I started with Equity first as I had great interests in it. Definitely save Ethics last but read it at least twice and do a lot of practice questions.

I think you should save the topics you like the most for last, then you can power through them even after months of studying

I would do the most heavily weighted topics first so you give your mind a chance to take everything in then do them again at the end. FRA and equity you must be an expert in to have success on the exam.

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I think you should just take some time to relax. Start studying in a couple of months at least, starting with Equities and FRA. Dont neglect Corp Finance where you can get some easy points.

#1 - Begin with whatever topic you’re the most interested in. It’ll help get the ball rolling on your study efforts. Getting started can be most difficult part (particularly this early in the game), so if you’re studying something you’re interested in it’ll be a less painful start for you.

#2 - Aside from that, I think Equity is probably the easiest topic to begin with b/c it builds off the Level I material and it is probably the least challenging part of the Level II curriculum. You should aim to get 80% of questions correct in this topic on exam day. That sounds high but it can be done in Equity.

I suggest starting with FRA so it comes into revision the most, it has many tricky points… but it could be your strongest area if you put in the time

Friends , this is my first post. Really appreciate how you guys help each other (y)

When TO START PREP I am planning to start prep for L2 2015 by septmber end- october start. Should i start earlier or later. As i read on some forume staring too early is counter productive

STUDY NOTES: can any one sugest should i go for Kaplan or Elan notes? or any combination etc

VIDEO LECTURES I used Kaplan Videos for L1, some lectures were outstanding , others were below average… :( Have read some good reviews of Irfanullah videos. have any one used it for level 2 , ? How was it?

thanks and best regards

guru

starting from october is a good idea IMO, starting too early is actually counter productive and I’m telling you this from personal experience. I started for level 2 in october end but I had no job and full time dedicated to studies. By March, I didn’t know what else could I do to prepare more. that was the feeling of BURNOUT. So assuming you have a job, you will have less time than I had and october should be a good time to start.

go with Kaplan for regular studies and grabbing the concepts, do ALL practice from CFAI text, grind every item set you can find in curriculum or mock exams.

and for videos, I used Schweser, they were pretty good covering all areas except FRA and derivatives. the instructor in most level 2 vids is an awesome man. keeps things interesting and you don’t have to yawn every 5 minutes like in other lectures

thanks for the nice advice ::slight_smile:

One post that I remember reading was this dude who passed all 3 levels. Here’s what his suggestion was:

  1. Watch all videos from schweser.

  2. Read the secret sauce.

  3. Practice anything and everything. When you get something wrong because it wasn’t covered in detail in the videos and secret sauce, go to the notes and grab the concept.

  4. If nothing works, read the relevant section in the curriculum.