Just gave my L1 in June. If I clear, what would be the appropriate time to start my preparation for L2 ?
Are L2 curriculum books suffiecient or should I study from Kaplan ? I used the curriculum for my L1.
Use CFAI books they are the best material. I started in november and studied at a slow pace until March and studied hard from March-June, felt pretty good by exam day.
Definitely recommend starting well before New Year’s, and beginning Topic Tests as early as possible; even late March to start Topic Tests. They are brutal, but the best teaching tool.
Now…just kidding. Actually I’m not…Start early. I put 410 in and started in Jan, still didn’t feel like enough. Like others say, try to get throught the material and EOCs by March. I wish I had.
My big peice of advice, start with a big section (FRA, Equity). Go through it, do EOCs. Contine studying the next subject you choose. That next weekend (preferably 3-4 days later), hit the topic test if they are avaialbe. Just do 4-7 of them. You need to see them to understand how they are going to test. Literally will change how you study.
It’s a tough question that depends on the individual. I began studying in October and feel that may not have been enough. Towards the end I began to feel I was burning out and wish I started a little later.
I advise reading Kaplan, but doing the CFAI topic tests. IMO the Kaplan questions simply don’t prepare you for the level of difficulty you will encounter on the actual exam. Many disagree with me on that, however.
earlier is better but its totally personal.
I started in April and felt like i was only a week or two away from being fully prepared and confident. BUT it was two months of HELL. I’d say at latest start in January to giveyourself the flexability to change your study plans as needed
Any particular order to start the topics ?
I used this for topic order and found it useful: http://www.300hours.com/articles/what-is-the-most-effective-level-ii-cfa-exam-study-session-order
Depends on how you tackle ethics, I covered it right at the end (a lot of it is similar to level 1 anyway). I would definitely get FRA/equity out as soon as possible, so you have more than enough time to really nail it.
I started at beginning of February, but I had study days through work every week, so whilst I felt I could have started a few weeks earlier, I felt I had enough time overall (did just over 300 hours (of actual studying)).
I agree that it really depends on how you progress and at what pace you’re going, i always read about those who study for three or six months and pass and i know that for me this won’t work.
Bottom line, try to leave a good amount of time at the end to do topic tests and thoroughly review weak areas.
Wiley was great for me, i did not like Shceweser notes or practice qs as i didn’t find it even close to the CFAI mock or the topic tests in terms of wording or level of difficulty.
And finally, do not underestimate the lower weighted topics and end up deciding what to punt and what to focus on, lower weighted topics can really harm your score if ends up on the higher end of the allocated weight range. Give it enough time and go through everything.
My $0.02
I started in November and then really cranked it up in Feb. My goal when doing this is was to be done with all the readings by the end of Feb for the first time then go back through and take notes on the topics I was struggling with. Starting in Nov. gave me aple time to do this.
I disagree with the notion that the CFAI readings/topics are the best. I covered every inch of the kaplan books (2x) and only used the CFAI text for 1 reading and felt like Kaplan hit 99.99% of what was on the exam. The CFAI text is really wordy and ambiguous in places and I felt like Kaplan did a better job actually teaching the material. I would highly recommend them for lvl 2. They give you a good study plan that if you stick to I think you will be very prepared/happy.
Totally agree. My secret recipe is about 8 months of studying. Just the way I am - others may get by with putting in less effort. I guess we will see in July but I felt very happy with my effort. If I come up short I come up short but there was nothing I felt like I would have done better and a big reason why I have been sleeping like a baby since June 5th.
I would go FRA, Equity, a topic that interest you, Fixed Income, Corp Finance, Derivaties.
I would like to know the same, my colleague said she started in January but thats because she took Dec level 1, but since you are in my position I would suggest starting around November, any earlier than that and you would forget the material or get burned out - 6-7 months should be a good target if you commit the required hours and more. Leave May exclusively for mocks
Hey millimeterpeter13 - why are you giving study advice to people when you posted the above on 6/27/16??? You are the least qualified. Try sitting for level 1 and then give advice.
I would say this is different from Level 1 because of the bands in the exam structure.
You can never be too sure of which section to focus on.
I managed to pass Level 1 with 4 months of preparation and it was my first attempt.
I tried the same with Level 2 and I dont really think that level of preparation was sufficient.
Again, to answer this question it would be ideal if u posted something related to your background like your previous qualifications.
The answer keeps varying based on the person’s previous experience.
Start reading as soon as you get your results, or shortly thereafter. Start with equity, accounting, corp fin and do the EOC questions.
assuming in fail on band 9/10 given my mock scores, i plan on starting on 11/1 and using Schweser again.
The following is going to sound like it runs counter to many who sat for the exam on 6/4…but honestly speaking i do not think there was very much on the exam that you just straight up didnt know if you read schweser and not CFAI text. maybe i wasnt even prepared enough to know what i didnt know (if that makes sense) but to me, other than maaaaybe 2-4 out of the 120 questions, everything was covered in the Schweser Notes.
Now I will say this: I DEFINITELY think that the ethics section is best read straight out of the CFAI text and not to mess around with Schweser. But on most other sections, the CFAI text gets soooo damn granular and you can really get lost in the weeds.
Do you guys agree? Or do you think the CFAI text is necessary?
Necessary? No, I don’t think so. I read the entire curriculum for this year’s exam, mostly because I started early and had the time, and supplemented with Wiley’s notes and some videos during my review months. Blue box examples and EOC practice questions are a must though of course.
The best strategy is to first understand yourself and how you learn best, then set a plan of attack and a schedule and stick to it.
I work as a financial analyst in a small boutique firm. But most of the work is centred around qualitative research, very little modelling work involved. I looking to built my profile hence the CFA.