Hi All - I took L1 on Dec 5, 2015. Obvi I have not received the results yet, but I am starting to study for L2; if I passed, great! I got a head start (at the very least a month in advanced), if I didn’t pass, then I just lost a month of social life (January, so nothing too big). Anyway, my strategy is to start reading CFAI Quant, and if I received a PASS at the end of January 2016, then I will purchase Schweser. Anywho, my study plan is as follow:
Quant
FRA
EQ
FI
Derivs
PM
Corps
AI
Econ
Ethics
Any opinions? Or do you guys suggest another chronological strategy to study this beast, the furious L2?
Quality over quantity. Study diligenty and take as many fully simulated practice exams as you possible can. Though specific to L3, I think there’s some good advice in a post I made a while back.
I would say that is a good order. If it works for you, then it is good. I personally didn’t follow the CFA order of study session and books either, and I am going for L3 this june
I don’t have lots of comments on the order, other than make sure ethics is last.
It’s Not L1
The biggest wake-up call for me was that L2 is a completely different test from L1, and my methods for preparing for level 1 were not adequate for L2. Thankfully I learned that a few weeks before the exam and was able to grind through lots of EOC questions and mocks and pass.
The Schweser mocks weren’t as brutal as that of the CFAI. It was my epic failure of the CFA mock that was my warning to step it up. That was after scoring >70 on 1 or 2 Schweser mocks through a combination of luck and some softer questions.
The big lesson for me was that you need a more in-depth understanding of each topic. It’s not enough to just know the formula, but often you need to put multiple formulas or concepts together to arrive at the right answer. The breadth of subject matter is similar, but the questions are far fewer and more nuanced, so each wrong answer hurts a lot worse.
Topic Focus
Be able to nail FRA and equity. The FRA material is painful drudgery, but you just have to know it.
Make Your Own Flash Cards
Use flash cards that you’ve made yourself. I heartily recommend Anki. Don’t start drilling with the flash cards until about February though. Like you, I took L1 in December and started on L2 right away before receiving my result. The hours I spent on flash cards in the early months were less useful for the test. Anki was a very important element of me passing L1, and was still important, but not as vital in L2.
give it all you have. i put in 50% more work and received the exact same scoring matrix as Level 1 (with the exception of alts). Make formula cards for every formula you see on EOCQ’s and mock exams, as well as the big ones you pick out from readings.
as far as topic order, do ethics first and last. also read schweser for topics you are very comfortable with (work experience overlap, nailed topic in L1, just find easy) and read CFAI for those topics you find challenging.
obviously do every EOCQ after each reading, then once you check your scores do those EOCQ’s again. then after you’ve read all the material, go through each EOCQ again. and then go through all your wrong answers from there again and again. do 8-12 mocks and review each wrong answer over and over and…
I passed the Level 2 by only studying in May, like I did with the Level 1. I had a better scoring matrix for the Level 2. The only thing I did was EOCQ (CFA and Schweser) + make my own summary of the Schweser books. It also depends on your background. I have a B.B.A. with a major in financial markets and I’m a M. Sc. Finance candidate. So, it is quite easy for me when you see “simple” derivatives, portfolio management, quant and corporate questions. The Quant, PM, Corporate, AI, Derivatives & FI parts I did not study that too deeply. I focused on FRA, Economics, Ethics & EQ (EQ because it is a big part of the exam). Best of luck!
If I had to guess the probability of an average test taker to pass L2 on first go with 1 month of study, it would be extremely low. Either you’re extremely gifted, knowledgeable (as you mention), lucky, or all of the above.
For the OP, even though I myself did alter the CFAI order, I don’t think it really made a difference. I do recommend revisiting ethics at the end. Mind you, I did that and still messed it up but that’s just because I’m hopelessly bad at ethics. Otherwise, just be disciplined and do visit the forum regularly. It’s incredibly helpful.
Doing a summary of schweser helps a lot; transcribe helps to remember. But for the whole month of May and the first week of June I didn’t have a social life.
Useless? The guy is asking for advice. You should be smart enough to know that offering your experience of studying for 5 weeks is utterly garbage advice and should be disregarded immediately. So thus your post is basicaly a reason to flex your CFA muscles and/or other credentials. The very definition of useless.
