Post for who failed, what's next?

I failed of level 2, first time taker, no regret, didn’t spend enough time to study, work interupted me a lot by traveling and crazyness.

Also, Elan screwed me big time by delaying everything this year! Any suggestions which provider i should swithc? To Schweser?

Appreciate for any suggestions!

which providers did best this year? Schweser or Elan or CFAI? who should i use for next year?

which providers did best this year? Schweser or Elan or CFAI? who should i use for next year?

I used Schweser. Felt prepared pre-exam and scored 90% on the CFAI mock and high 80s for the Kaplan mocks. Ended up band 6 fail and I honestly knew I failed after the morning section. It seems that everyone felt the exam was difficult, but I honestly did NOT feel prepared with the Kaplan materials like I did at Level 1. I really wonder if they went in depth enough for the exam. Just my 2c, stay away from Kaplan for Level 2.

I failed band 8 on my first attempt this year. I also failed level 1 my first attempt.

Backstory on failures: didn’t prioritize - level one while getting married & new job; level 2 another promo at work leading to a new job, mba classes, buying a condo.

On the level 1 pass I used Kaplan and it was great. For level 2 I bought the videos and books knowing I was on a time crunch. I think Kaplan did a great job in most areas, minus a few key points, but I knew I didn’t understand those well enough going into the exam (took a week of prior to exam day and really only spent the last month really studying for the exam). I probably spent 150 hours on the thing, 75 in the last week.

You can legitamitely use Schweser and pass the exam. I can’t look myself in the face and blame Kaplan for my failures. I can say however, that my priorities have been pretty good. My company has promoted me and is paying for my MBA… and they couldn’t care less about the CFA. This is just something I want to accomplish. This time around, I won’t be re-ordering the Kaplan material. I never did the EOC quesitons or read the CFAI texts. I think I should be golden doing that this time around and a bit more review. Band 8 with >50% in FR&A. I know where my weak spot is. Brush up on leases, pension accounting, and a few ethics problems and I pass next year.

<50% in FRA… took the week OFF, not of, prior to the exam.

Sorry for the typos… Back to work.

End of chapter questions, all the item set ones at the minimum.

At least 7 practice exams.

4th time fail…the interesting thing is that last year was band 10, this year it’s band 5! No regrets at all. Everytime I do it I enjoy learning stuff that I felt I knew well earlier. I’m not doing this for work, but for personal enjoyment (weird isn’t it?). I can only say two things:

(1) Knowing concepts and deeply understanding the topics are no guarantee for passing.

  1. I’m the guy who said he’d never done any mocks, really never! That should give you a clue. Like someone else here says the trick is to do countless number of problems, which I will exclusively do next time.

Congrats to all those who made it this time.

How much you scored in equity section dreary?

First attempt at level 2 and failed band 2 which really hurt. I expected to fail but didn’t think I did this poorly. Totally agree with Dreary above regarding doing more problems. Read every word in the CFAI text and took the last ever Stalla Prep Course . Did the three day Schweser weekend prep course and took a week off to study. I’m a mid-career professional not exactly in the industry (real estate development) but doing this for the love and challenge of finance. But again from my standpoint doing practice exams and problems is the answer.

I feel I know the concepts so this time around strictly questions and mock exams until I’m blue in the face. Did many more mock exams in level 1 and passed first try. Only one for Level 2 and it obviously shows. Did I mention one should do many many many questions and mock exams…Onward

If you have the time, I’d advise that you read both the CFAI texts and Schweser Notes. If u don’t have that luxury, then read one, preferably the CFAI texts but still reference Schweser Notes if the CFAI text isn’t clear enough for you.

Whichever one u read, ensure that u do all EOC questions. If u can’t do the EOC, go back to the readings until you get a good grasp of the material.

I’ve heard the Schweser vids are helpful too, but have never used them.

First time fail at L2-Band5, after passing L1 in Dec, '11. Relied soley on CFAI books/EOCs and then 3-4 mock exams. Felt like I knew the material, but not the test format well enough. I have a broad knowledge of finance/accounting with MBA-Chicago/CPA, but even that background alone is not enough to do well on CFA, which tests very specific concepts. I’m also mid-career, doing business valuations, and taking CFA for continuing education.

I think you exactly expressed how I feel except that I exclusively used Schweser and not the CFAI materials. I definitely feel that I know the concepts and material, but just not exactly how CFAI wants me to. I work in fixed income strategy and am very familiar with the topic material conceptually and practically, just not “their way”. I’ll be doing this again next June, but I definitely learned a good bit and actually enjoyed the battle.

Dear All,

Kind of felt introspective going throug the posts by all of you. While I am in the same boat, think the following points are worth mentioning …maybe as a summary:

  1. Almost all the threads I read, it becomes evident that the universe is divided between two groups, ones who believe in revising and the others who beilieve in taking as many mock problems as possible.

  2. There are some extraordinary candidates that seem to have the home run claimning to be doing in record 30-40 days… my suggestion to all of us would not to be influenced by their comments it would all the more demoralise and make all us feel like lesser mortals. If you probe a little, you would surely find this guy high on practical experience in the investment field or are retkaers who have smartly planned their preparation only camouflaging it by the last minute so called preparation.

  3. Just like double w, I am also taking my program out of love for finance ( something I didn’t specialise in during my MBA) and while I cleared Level 1 in Dec. 11 knew from day one that Level 2 is a beast… that requires taming and mastering.

  4. I studied though Schwesers only and needless mentioning that only started preparing after my L1 results Jan .24 12 and frankly I think I felt short of practice exams and revision, so I guess both go hand in hand. Taking 4 full sets( 8 papers), from schweser, I was averaging 50-55% with a best of 65% and I knew this was not enough. Never took the CFA mock tests, didn’t flip through a single page of the Institute provided curriculum and could understand one thing clearly- At L2, YOU OUGHTTA READ THE INSUTITE MATERIALS… if concepts clearing are a problem.

  5. Something on the Band part : I am in Band 4. Does that make me feel elated wrt to the ones in Band 3, 2,1 or demoralises further with the ones who are at higher bands ( I am sure their frustrations are counting as well). I say none. A fail is a fail, given. However what makes me being indifferent to the relative rankings of the have nots is that I and all of us have a full year to conduct the battle ( should i decide to take once again, that is) and have an equal chance to win the game next time around. Figuratatively, I think I am just about 12 qs. short from the cherished mark. So f**k the band and look ahead is the mantra for me. Right now, as I write I know this is the last post from my end before next yr… or so I hope and I hope to come back with a bang.

  6. I invite one and all to post some exam peparation strategies , which I believe wouldbe of bigger help ratther than pondering over the failure. It could anything from timing, pacing up, choice of study materials, cheat sheet… just about anything.

On a personal note, I would be taking my L2 exams next yr. (that is if I do), and would be giving my best shot of course, however if I do not clear the front it would be a farewell to my CFA dreams… however not CFA love and respect that I have. The Program has changed my outlook to life not to mention of the knowledge it promises to impart on all that are candidate

Adios!

My score band: 4

Can all of you suggest me what should i do, should i even thing of retaking it again, considering this was mys second shot, last year it was band 8 and this year band 4, what a fall……further, i work in a private equity firm, where analyising equity is very integral part of my job, still i performed misearbly (<50), what more, when i completed my exam i thought i have good chance of passing, but when the results came out the truth was nothing less than a shock….How can i go so wrong in my assumptions? n If i did should i really be in this field considering i scored less in equity, where i should not have goofed up

Same situation here, second attemp and I failed band 7

I’m so pissed and demoralized now, I was pretty sure I had done pretty well…<50% on equity and ethics, I guess this is what f…d my results…can’t really figure out what I did wrong on equity, while I was pretty sure I had failed on ethics…those stupid questions can be so subjectives…

Feel very depressed now, even more considering that most of my colleagues passed it (I work in PWM in a tier1 bank in London)

Band 5

Need a roadmap for June’13 & motivation ofcourse!!!

Guys, first of all dont let the fail beat you, it will simply make next year, when you pass, even better.

I failed Lvl 2 on my first attempt in the days before Bands, the only level I failed, but would suggest that I bombed pretty badly. The next year, I planned better sat more mock exams but the clincher for me was that a month before the exam I attended a week long cramer and asked questions on everything I didnt understand. I walked into the exam hall feeling better about that level than any of the others and flew it.

Level II is the one. It is such a broad syllabus and the questions are so detailed but it is passable. Good luck to you all next year

After a big disappointment yesterday, I am stil unsure which path to take.

I failed level 2 (Band 10! Argh!) but I felt pretty good after the test.

For me, this is very hard. I finish school 1st, applied to grad school with perfect GRE score, graduated grad school with honors (PhD, Ivy League School), had never failed before CFA-L2. Level 2, this was the second time. In 2011, I was band 4 but did not study much as I was involved in a pretty demanding personal project.

For this exam, I have studied since Nov-2011, read all chapters of CFAI material, did all questions in the end of the chapters, and did above 80% in all mock exams I took from both CFAI and Schweser. So, for me, it is tough figuring this out.

It is kind of an internal duality facing failure in this exam as I have never faced this – academically – before.

I’m not sure I will do it again. If so, which material to use? When to start preparing?

Anyway, struggling with weird feelings. Hard to find motivation… Maybe, need more time to figure this out…

I used Arif Irfanuallah videos, and they really helped me during my prep…when it was difficult reading thru the entire curriculum, the videos helped me as they cross referenced the curriculum at all times…while watching the videos i used to have curriculum with me and it made life so easy…

it was my 2nd attempt…and i passed…all i want to say is ppl who cudnt get thru this time dont get disheartened…it happened to me last year and i can imagine how awful the feeling is…but all is well tat ends well…

good luck for next time…also do try arif irfanuallah’s videos…there are some posted on youtube as free samples…decide for urself…they worked for me though…