Hey guys, Im back!!! (Band 9 guy)

CFA Level II
#1

Friends and Fellow Retakers, where my homeboys at?!?!

welcome to 2017!!!

As many of you know, the CFA exam was very hard in June 2016. Those on this forum may or may not know me as the “high 50s, low 60s Mock guy” because I was frantically posting on this forum last may talking about my mocks.

What does taking only 3 Mocks and getting a 57%, 64% and 60% on them get you? Glad you asked! After a Band 9 Fail…I am back for more punishment.

I just started studying a week ago (I thought about doing it earlier, but Early January gives you plenty of time IMO) and frankly, I have been plesantly suprised at how much of this stuff looks familiar to me. I guess I remembered more than i thought. I have some questions for retakers, and would love yall feedback:

  1. Why do you think you failed? For me, it was too much passive studying (reading, highlighting) and not enough active studying ( EOCs, concept checkers, mocks). I did only 3 mocks, and didnt attempt my first one until 3 weeks before the exam. not ideal

  2. How do you plan on memorizing the formulas? One way that I am switching things up this year, is that I am making the flashcards NOW, instead of in May at the last second. frankly, I want to have all the formulas (yes, all 250+ of them that are fair game) memorized by mid may. IMO they are too many to save until the final push.

  3. How are we feeling about the new material??? Personally, I hated derivs last year (welcome to the club) but it seems as though most of it is the same, they just added some new stuff and got more in depth with BSM.

PS. as far as changes, im LowKey pretty pumped they just lopped off the entire first chapter of accounting from last year (aka the long lived asset stuff/impairment stuff/review of L1 stuff). Anyone else notice that/as happy as I am?

Good luck to all! you havent heard the last from me, I will be active on her up until gameday. Good luck!

#2

Band 6 fail last year… I have already gone through Economics, FRA, Fixed Income and finishing Derivatives tomorrow. I spent too much time using Schweser study materials…they may have helped some… but didn’t help me one bit!

I am adding more flashcards than what I had last year. I find so far that even though derivatives is only 3 chapters deep seems a bit harder even though some of it is similar information.

I am rereading the entire chapters over in the sections I got less than 50 percent. My plan is to be done by middle of March.

Not using any Schweser materials this around whatsoever.

#3

Band 9 here as well… only did 3 mocks last year as well, so hope to finish review of CFAI BB and EOC’s by mid-March, then do 6-8 mocks before finally review… I think Band 9/10 folks know the concepts, just need a little more practice… started reviewing FRA couple weeks ago, then will proceed to FI, PM, ALT, CF, EQ, ETH in that order.

#4

Inexplicably failed band 5 despite alot of studying. I am sure if it was based on one paper, the morning. I flew through, but the afternoon was such a disaster I remember getting punished page after page. I am convinced afternoon brought my score WAY down.

I failed because I didnt do enough questions. I thought I had but after reviewing in the final week people’s mock results etc there was clearly many gaps in my knowledge as I was like you, getting high 50’s.

I agree this year the material all seems familiar and its almost as if taking a long break from it and coming back has allowed me to review certain areas such as FIxed Income in a completely new light. Things that didnt make sense before seem more obvious now. It’s a beautiful feeling, but still very early days so let’s not get carried away.

THis year I am making an effort to do all the blue boxes in the CFA curriculum as well as all the schweser mocks. and of course the CFA EOC. There were many questions in last years paper that felt exactly like blue boxes I had seen but not paid attention to.

I am studying using the SChweser textbook, referencing the CFA book and watching all the video lectures. Andy Holmes is amazing. So is the Quant guy. Jon Bone for accounting is great too. The only person I have an issue with is Jeff CHang who does all the equity videos and some others, his voice and demeanor really really grates me. Overall though I would recommend checking them out.

Let’s get stuck in this year and finally rid of the beast.

#5

things I have learnt … (from over 7 years of CFA studying)

  1. do not rely on video treatment for your studies. Videos cover the base 20% (maybe, this is a high end of the estimate). Use the videos to enforce a concept, not to entirely study from.

  2. Instead of schweser - I find Arif’s videos provide a better coverage - since his videos are based off of the CFA text - and provides commentary to enforce concepts from the studies. And full disclosure - I am not in any form or manner related to or affiliated with Arif at all.

  3. reliance on schweser Notes - is like studying from Cliff Notes - they help some of the time, not all of the time. There are plenty of concepts in the white material (not the blue boxes themselves, but the white text on the CFA books) that are eminently testable. So enforce by reading the CFA books …

#6

Hi I am making my first attempt at Level 2 in .finishing chapter 32 Eguity I don’t think I will pass .My method so far.Read through and do the EOC questions 3 times to gain proficiency with formulas and concepts.Any advice?

From 54 yr old farmer level 2 candidate

#7

cpk is the man

#8

Got pissed off with a band 10. Took FRM Part 1 and passed with 1-1-2-1

Targeting 90%+ in mocks and 70+ across all sections in the main test

Using Schweser + BBs+EOCs+CFA sectionals and mock + Schweser Mocks + Konvexity sectionals as primary resources and will use Finquiz item sets and mocks if I need more practice

All the best

We all will clear by miles this year.

#9

Got pissed off with a band 10. Took FRM Part 1 and passed with 1-1-2-1

Targeting 90%+ in mocks and 70+ across all sections in the main test

Using Schweser + BBs+EOCs+CFA sectionals and mock + Schweser Mocks + Konvexity sectionals as primary resources and will use Finquiz item sets and mocks if I need more practice

All the best

We all will clear by miles this year.

Why did I fail? 100 hours of prep and a band 9 fail made me overconfident. And I relied on last two months prep, my working hours took a heavy toll and I ended up putting less effort again than prescribed.

#10

In my opinion, whether it’s a band 10 or band 2, every year is a new opportunity and it can be good or bad.

The primary sacrifice required by CFA is grind, grind and keep grinding… It is never by the number of hours, it is by good understanding and ability to cover by using all good resources at disposal.

For those just starting to study, it is already getting late due to the volume and the time it requires to cover them (except of course you are reading full time or you are a genius).

There must be a definite and huge difference between how the preparation was the last time and how it is now.

I also notice that what we shy away from (CFAI texts) are the keys to passing. I’m not saying read the CFAI curriculum, but for concepts that are hard to swallow, they require intense pressure using those texts, videos and a lot of questions…

I recommend study using the Schweser notes (but must be read more than once at the minimum), Arif Irfanullah videos (It walks one through the curriculum (I pause the vids to solve examples and read up some technical areas), The CFAI summary and EOCs (I’m going through each like 5 times because it’s my Qbank; I’m on the 3rd now).

I realise that for each time I go back to solving a particular question the 2nd or 3rd time, I begin to consolidate the knowledge… everything just becomes clearer. For everyone I know, who passed this stage of the exam, they did nothing less.

Don’t leave mocks till May! Start using them now… Coz when May comes and you begin to see questions you can’t handle, you may get frustrated and to go back to reading the study texts then might look like a waste of time.There are mocks from 2016 we have access to, use them in your study for the areas that are still relevant. It will build your confidence.

Also, no topic area should be left out and don’t over prioritise the FRAs and Equities… Every one of them including AI matter!

There is no short cut!