Attention fellow analysts, I need an estimate for the amount of time I would need to study to pass Level 2. Looking to register, but i’ll only have 3.5 months to study, which is why I need a good proxy for study hours. Some guidance: 60-70 hours spent on Level 1, thought it wasn’t too bad, 51-70% on derivatives. Economics major, 1 year internship experience at buy-side firm and some finance and accounting classes. Strongest areas: Quantitative methods, economics. Honest opinions greatly appreciated!
L2 is only slightly more difficult, so you may need a few additional houts. I think you will find that most of us need at least 3 times the amount of total hours, so consider yourself lucky…or just really, really smart.
75 hours, 15 minutes, and 6 seconds will do just fine
250 hours to do all the readings and EOC questions RIGHT, then another 100 to review (all during May, 25hrs a week). for real.
Think less about amount of hours and more about just knowing the material.
It will definitely vary from person to person. I doubt I’ll get in more than 200 hours. I suspect that will guarantee me a pass. Others here obviously think they will need quite a bit more. I suggest studying as much time as you need to to know the material.
It might be best to take a practice exam halfway through your studies to gauge how far you’ve come and how far you need to go. My thinking is that I will never look back and regret studying too much if I pass easily, but, I will easily regret not studying enough. Good luck.
InsertNameHere Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It might be best to take a practice exam halfway > through your studies to gauge how far you’ve come > and how far you need to go. My thinking is that I > will never look back and regret studying too much > if I pass easily, but, I will easily regret not > studying enough. Good luck. Best advice yet.
I will repeat it once again: use “5 x 2 - 2 x 5” rule… 2 hrs a weekday, 5 hrs a weekend… you can easily do this with a full time job… honest 20hrs a week will is fully sufficient…
20 hours a week for 6 months isn’t quite the same as 20 hours a week for 1 month. You can’t exactly make a blanket statement like that. And if you’re like me, I’d rather do my studying mostly during the week. Something like 3 hours a day on weekdays, and 2 hrs a day on weekends. Not quite 20 a week, but I don’t like using half hours in my study systems. And, for the last 2 - 4 weeks you should be studying as much as possible anyway. Cramming is as beneficial for the well prepared as it is for the ill prepared (although I don’t know if that’s still conidered “cramming”). You’ll remember what you review the last couple weeks better than anything in the 4 months leading up to it. Backloading your study time is a good idea.
"but I don’t like using half hours in my study systems. " this is called self - discipline.
75 hours for level one is very light; total prep time for level 1 CFA candidates who passed is probably realistically about 350-400 hours total, if you consider that a lot of them probably repeated it and had a couple hundred hours from before. At 75 hours to pass level 1, I think you are lying, and if that really is all the time you spent studying total, you got lucky and were irresponsible about it. Why would you neglect it like that? Anyway, the 5x2 rule and 2 x 5 rule above is a pretty solid and responsible approach. For me I’m doing more because I really don’t want to fail this. If you spend only 75 hours skimming the level 2 books, and poking your nose in a couple questions from each study session, you should probably just not bother showing up. you will need to put in the time for level 2. this isn’t a high school math quiz.
magicskyfairy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 75 hours for level one is very light; total prep > time for level 1 CFA candidates who passed is > probably realistically about 350-400 hours total, > Anyway, the 5x2 rule and 2 x 5 rule above is a > pretty solid and responsible approach. For me I’m > doing more because I really don’t want to fail > this. > If you spend only 75 hours skimming the level 2 > books, and poking your nose in a couple questions > from each study session, you should probably just > not bother showing up. you will need to put in the > time for level 2. this isn’t a high school math > quiz. I’ve already put in over 100 hours and I’m only 1/2 way through the material, getting my but kicked on allot of questions and still have only memorized 60% of the equations so far. I did about 400 hours on Level I and did pretty well. If I had studied a little smarter I could have cut those hours to about 325-350 and did the same. Wish I could do the 5x2 2x5 I have a wife that has to chase 3 young kids around all week, I’ll be divorced if do 5 hours twice every Saturday and Sunday. I just start every night at 8:30 and study until I can’t go any more. I think about it this way if the pass rate is say 40%: About 20% will pass because they are super smart and they STUDIED the amount they needed to, 30% will fail because they are smart enough to pass but did not put in enough time. The other 50% out there, are all in a war to out study each other to get a piece of the last 20% that pass.
SFR Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I will repeat it once again: > > use “5 x 2 - 2 x 5” rule… > > 2 hrs a weekday, 5 hrs a weekend… you can easily > do this with a full time job… > honest 20hrs a week will is fully sufficient… How many months would you do this level of study for?
3 months, last month - May, do 8+ hours a day
If you are serious candidate, you know what’s ahead of you and what you have covered so far and what your weak areas are. It’s irrelevant what others are doing or how many hrs per week, per month etc they are spending.
jrozario Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you are serious candidate, you know what’s > ahead of you and what you have covered so far and > what your weak areas are. It’s irrelevant what > others are doing or how many hrs per week, per > month etc they are spending. Agreed. But I think it’s safe to say that we’re all number-lovin’ folk. I need quantitative goals. I’m aiming for 400, but I’m currently only at ~125. I guess I have to up the hours from here on out.
I think if you cut the memorization, then you can be very slow in exam but you’ll absorb everything full and solid, which is decent deal to clear level 2. I have just completed Econ, Quant, half corporate finance and one third derivative. I am focusing on grasping the mechanics of everything, I can’t go forward if I can’t understand with full clarity. I don’t remember any equation but I really don’t feel any handicap, plus I can do questions easily although slower but deriving the equations seems so intuitive. Although I believe this conception will most probably fail in FRA, but still, just to make a point that adding extra hours for memorization isn’t the best use of time, although you need to study a lot and nearly the same amount in any case, it’s just the use of time… decision to invest in grasping or memorizing can possibly affect the outcome of the exam and things beyond the exam :).
How do you guys do 6-8 hours a day?! I thought people here were employed in financial services… My week is roughly 60 hours, and that’s on the lighter side. I do come home later than the back office peeps trying to break in, so I guess if you worked a normal job you could do 5-6 hours a day. I just find I’m coming home late, pretty mentally drained. I get in about 1.5 hours/day and the bulk done on weekends (7 hours-ish per day). How do you guys do 8+ hours a day? Are you all students or do your employers give you uber vacation days? Jesus…
I don’t know who’s doing 8 hours daily… I’m fairly low on the totem pole, so I only work 8.5 hrs flat. then I go home, and my evening has 3-4 hours of study time available, depending on personal stuff (gym, internet, girlfriend, etc). Weekends are easy, no work, so 7-8 hours is not a problem on those days, and I still have time to go out in the evening 