Hello Everyone,
Results are our and I PASSED, what a relief.
Higher in HFs and Structured Products, Stronger in everything else.
Please share your results. Good luck everyone!
Passed.
Stronger in everything except intro to alts, which was higher.
Passed! Stronger in everything. Based on the responses, are we sure they graded this right? Lol
Passed! Stronger in everything except risk management.
What materials do you all plan on using for level 2? I used Kaplan Schweser exclusively for level 1 and felt they did not prepare me so well for the actual test. But, obviously, my results say otherwise. So not sure what to do next.
I used Kaplan exclusively and plan to do the same for Level 2. I used Kaplan exclusively for the CFA as well and never had any issues. I think if you were stronger in all but 1 category Kaplan was just fine.
Passed as well!
Higher in everything except Risk management which was Stronger.
I exclusively used Kaplan and felt pretty prepared, although studying for the CFA also really helped me out in certain areas. Will most likely use Kaplan for Level 2 as well. Congrats to all those who were succesful!
I used Kaplan for Level I and I felt pretty good. Will use Kaplan again for Level II. I have heard great feedback on the Level II Kaplan Instructor. Well, we shall see.
Congrats you guys.
Passed.
Stronger in 4 areas and higher in 3.
I used Schweser Premium Plus package + notecards, reading all their books and Secret Sauce, did all Qbank (80% correct) and mock exam questions (73% avg.) and watching all classes and final review. Took CAIA mock (70%). The week of exam I cracked the CAIA primary text and read Intro to Alts section. I also skimmed two other sections. All in about 180 hours. I imagine I will be doing much the same for Level II.
Just out of curiosity, what is the level 1 pass rate for March 2018?
Hello All,
Congratulations to everyone. I passed it too. Some if us had formed a whatsapp study group and helped each other with study materials, tips etc. We plan to continue for the next level too. Do let me know if anyone of you are interested to join the group. My cell no. 918867875672.
Regards,
Parinita
Passed. Stronger in 5 areas, higher in 2.
Used Kaplan study materials and QBank, but I also purchased Uppermark’s question bank, as well. Put in a lot of hours, but they weren’t efficient hours until the last three weeks. I definitely have a better plan for attacking Level II than I did for Level I.
Do not be fooled. This was not the “easy” test you see so many people posting about on various forums. I really doubt all of those stories about people who read the books the weekend before and still passed. There is just no way.
Passed. Stronger on every section except Structured Products (Higher).
Used Kaplan/Schweser the whole way. Finished all of qBank and did the CAIA mock (72%) and the Kaplan Practice tests. Thought the qBank was a little weak.
Test was not as easy as I expected. I’d put myself around 75% correct if I had to guess based on my mocks. Any guesses as to why all of our relative reports look so strong?
probably because people who don’t pass or do but not with such flying colors feel like they don’t want to post for the world to know?
64%
True. Didn’t mean to come off as obnoxious.
I didn’t pass and it’s pretty disappointing given the amount of work and time I put into it. I did the Uppermark books and did all of the questions twice, flashcards, Schweser and Uppermark mock exams and took the video series by Uppermark. I did the worst in Ethics and PE yet those were always my two strongest areas.
One of the things I believe threw me off was the testing center. The noise canceling headphones were not adjustable and too big for my head and kept falling down which was extremely distracting and when I’d try to take them off, the person next to me was banging away at the keyboard. I lost some time trying to adjust to everything and didn’t have enough time to do the questions I flagged for the end.
I will try it again in September because I know the material and did well on the practice tests. Frustrating but I know I’ll pass the next time around.
Kay,
Sorry to hear you didn’t pass. The smallest things off during an exam also put me off kilter and make it hard to concentrate. As for ethics, that is a tough cookie to crack. I found it helpful to read the CFA ethics section and take notes on key concepts/takeaways from each of the scenarios.
Not passing sucks but things in life could always be far worse than failing a test. Best of luck in September!
Passed…fun exam overall!
Scored higher in a few and comparable in the others - didn’t expect any higher tbh; was a light 60-70 hrs between the readings and class - definitely will need to put more time and effort into Level 2!
How did you spend your 60-70 hours studying? Also, do you have a background in alternatives? I ask because that amount of time seems very, very light to be able to pass the exam. Not hating - just curious.
~27 hrs = for the 9x3hr classes (plus going over the allotted time)
~30 hrs = reading all the topics/main books
~10 hrs = on practice exams , questions and glancing over the “secret sauce”
= 60-70 hrs total - I was tracking my time spent but I only took notes during the topic 2 part - 45 - 55 mins per chapter on average (32 topics?)
I had 3 different jobs in 2017 so my background is equities (insurance firm), life insurance (bank) and now real assets & some PE (boutique). Mainly a life insurance guy, I just want to triple crown before I hit 30 and the CAIA FRM seem fun!
Not bragging - I was a “bad” student w/ ~50% attendance and made dean’s list for a few years - Series 7 took me less than 3 hrs and the 63 was like 25 minutes (so darn boring!) - just mentioning this for information on how 70 hrs can pass, 200 can pass and it varies greatly. I’ve known more smart people who have failed than dumb ones who have passed.
Schweser was great material, but what helped me the most was being able to manage my own portfolio again - I adopted what was taught and applied it in a python system (computer science in high school -> econometrics in college). You learn a lot better when you have your own $$ riding on it! haha
Hope this helps!
I really do plan to spend the full 200 hrs for level 2, now that I can get back to a healthy 40 - 50 hour work week!