For those of you have just endured the Level II Exam last Saturday, do you have any advice for those of us slated to take the Level II exam in June 2017?
Any words of wisdom you wish you heard before you started your studies? Any topics in particular to emphasize and make sure to know inside-and-out? How difficult was it to transition to the vignette question format of Level II vs Level I, and how best to prepare for this early on in your studies?
Thank you so much for your guidance, I am sure many of us on the forum will be very thankful.
Start early to have time to do mocks in early-mid April through May. Pay attention to the weights in regards to allocation of time spent studying. If you read the questions first, the vignette style won’t affect you much. It’s almost as if they stack the information on top of each other. For example, question 1 usually relates to the first few sentences and so on down the vignette. Unfortunately this cannot be said for the mocks or topic tests. Best of luck young man.
I would say start with the heavy topics, But cover everything do not think about punting or any of that crap. Finish early and start practicing, the more you practice the more the material will become a second nature to your thinking, the more you will start expanding beyond the core points to gain a comprehensive understanding of the material. Personally i found personalized flash cards was key for me, as i had to summerize and put it down in a flash card which forced me to really make sure i understood the concept.
With vignettes i found the best way is to read the first question and start reading the case, get your answer and move on to the second question and so on, get into the habit of highlighting important inputs or key information as you’re reading, if its not relevant for the current question you’re solving it could be relevant to another.
Do all the Topic Tests (83 this time), and start early. Like 6 weeks + before.
Don’t worry about knowing everything before the mocks and Topic Tests. Let them help you hone and close gaps. But worry about knowing almost everything by the exam.
The Topic Tests will hurt. They just will.
Know every reading. Or, virtually all. After Level 1, it’s too easy to say, “Well, this content is technical so I should focus on it. This reading in just a bunch of text, so I can skim it.” The mocks and Topic Tests will disagree with that. If you skip a single reading, it could not affect your score, or drop your score 5%+.
Even if you got perfect on every Ethics mock question in Level 1, go much deeper on Level 2. Really read the material over and over. They can ask you about a part of a phrase in a sentence you didn’t know existed about reading Ethics twice.
Start memorizing equations early. Maybe not all, but a core in each topic. Will help if you have a smaller list to memorize at the end.
Everyone I spoke to forgot what they learned continually through the study period. It just leaked out, because the new stuff was so broad.
I enjoyed attacking Derivatives. There’s a hump, but once over it, Swaps, Options, Futures, Forwards, all become quite mechanical.
I enjoyed Fixed Income only at the end. It took a long time to connect all the dots, but it too got to be mechanical.
In FRA, do all the Blue Boxes (examples) for Intercorporate, Compensation, and Multinational. Do them several times. The EOC Practice Problems and Topic Tests/mocks test you on a sliver of a complex system. It’s better to know the system at a deeper level. I did them in Excel. Repeating the Blue Boxes is a great way to how rules distort accruals across time, across borders, and between related companies.
Thank S2000 Magician now, even if you don’t know him yet. He is Yoda.
Very well said buddy, I went through this just as much as everybody else in this forum, and I know the hardship every step of the way. Now I kind of miss the old days of having to study all day intensely, even if I no longer need to. This test is not just about passing, it’s about a process of learning and improvement that we will still enjoy many years after we pass it.
I’d really want to give some tips…but i’m affraid i’m not credible enough, knowing i didn’t do very well on the exam… lol
Oh, just one thing: do MOCKS!!
if you have extra budget you can buy some reputable 3rd party mocks. If you don’t, no problem you can just master the official mocks given by the CFAI. Because if you just remembering fancy formulas (derivatives is the main cuprit), but you forgot how to applied it on the exam, it will be next to useless.
Ensure you develop a strong understanding of the core elements of each reading. Don’t think the harder the reading, the more likely it will appear on the exam. Treat every reading equally. You can be tested from the simplest of readings.
Make sure you know your formulas. Knowing these really makes a difference, and as someone mentioned above, application of these is key which will only come through practicing topic tests and mocks.
The biggest mistake I made was with my first reading. I just kept reading the material like a book, thinking that i will get to the formulas and and problem questions later on. Only that later on, I figured out I had forgotten everything and needed to re-understand the whole material. The best advice I can give is make sure that every time you study, you make it count and make it as sticky as possible.
given my high 50s low 60s mock scores I am likely headed towards band 9/10 so I think I am in an excellent position to opine on this matter (dont do what I did). Despite the fact that I will fail (most likely) I am pretty damn confident heading into 2017 because nothing on the exam “surprised me” so to speak, and I know what I need to do. So perhaps I shouldnt be, but Im pretty confident I will pass next year.
Ill be right there with you in 2017:
As mentioned above by others: KNOW ALL THE FORMULAS. As much as people will try to tell you that “its not just plug and chug, its so much harder than that” this is only 90% true, but not completely true. out of the 120 questions on the exam, at least 8-12 of them will be SIMPLE plug and chug aka just regurgitate the forumla and you get it right. you need to get all of those points because theyre LAY-UPs and the rest of the exam can get much harder.
Try to finish your first pass of the reading 6+ weeks prior to gameday. I say this because there is a difference between active and passive studying. Active=putting pen to paper, doing practice problems. Passive=reading, highlighting and notecards. Both active and passive are important no doubt, and furthermore passive studying of the material to completion is only a prerequisite of active studying. But you should really be cranking out problems. I didnt finish reading the material until 3 weeks prior which is why i was only able to take two mocks. Passive studying to a degree of exess will do you no good: HONESTLY you can read the material cover to cover ten times over and think you know everything…I guarantee you that you dont, theres just too much. Without active studying/application you have no shot.
Doing all 83 TTs is excessive, but if you have the time, do it. Doing all 6 Schweser mocks is a MUST. One of the reasons i didnt fare well was I did only two. and Zero topic tests. As someone above me said, dont worry about knowing everything once you start the topic tests, the topic tests (if you indeed take all 83) will test you in virtually every way you will find on the exam so they will highlight where you need to brush up. The topic tests by the way are HARDER than the real thing, i dont care what anyone else tells you, they just are.
Some people will tell you that Schweser has tons of weak spots and dont cover the entire material. I dont think this is the case. there is a reason they have the ridiculous market share that they do, and it’s because theyre very good at what they do. Again, im about to fail so maybe im not a good person to say the following, but I think schweser prepped me more than adequately for the exam, I really do. Even thought I didnt necessarily know how to solve everything on gameday…I had seen it before and my not knowing was my own fault, not schwesers.
Other people will tell you that if you start too early you will burn out. I am not sure I agree with this. Granted, starting in August as soon as the ciriculum is released is very excessive. But I started in mid january and didnt feel I had enough time. This coming year I plan on starting on November 1st…and finishing all the reading by March 1st. Leaving the final two months exclusively for the aforementioned active studying.
DO THE concept checkers at the end of each chapter. no mind you, these are NOT exam level difficulty so dont go crazy if you get 10/12s on them, and dont go crazy either if you get 5/12’s. But not putting pen to paper at the end of each chapter will severely hurt your retention.
Make a second pass through both Equity and FRA. if you really rail those sections you can punt something (not advisable, but your choice)
Earlier I said schweser preps you just fine…I would say ethics is an exception. If you have the time to, I would HIGHLY suggest reading the ethics section stratight out of the CFAI textbook.
Thats my .02…Look forward to hitting the books with you come November.
There’s no substitute for hard work. It takes a lot of time and effort to understand the material.
In my experience I’ve found it best to set a fixed schedule to go through each topic area leaving myself 5 weeks to go back through the material, take notes and do practice exams.
Personally I found very little value in the qbank from Schweser for Level II. I focused on taking practice exams in a timed environment to simulate the test day experience.
Do questions & practice exams from multiple sources. Make sure to take advantage of CFAI resources
When taking the exam prioritize the item sets according to your strength. First work on topics where you’re strongest and work towards your weakest area
Focus on topic areas with the heaviest weighting, but don’t ignore the smaller topic areas. You can pick up points in those areas by memorizing formulas.
Some very good advice in here. The bottom line is, this is an exam you want to be over prepared for, as going the extra mile can help bridge the gap between what you know and silly mistakes you’ll likely make on the exam due to the time pressure.
Here’s what worked for me:
When you have sufficient time (which you should if you’re starting early), I recommend reading straight from the curriculum, and then supplement and review from a study guide package of your choice.
Do all of the EOC questions after each reading, then do them again after you’ve completed all the readings, a couple of months out from the exam date. Go through blue box examples again during this time as well.
Know your formulas. I made flashcards and went though them often leading up to the exam. Since I had almost 200 cards, towards the end, I separated them into three sections … heavy weight topics, formulas I don’t have locked down and the rest. This helped focus attention properly when time was running short.
Do all of the CFAI topic test questions. These are basically item sets from prior year CFAI mock exams, so it’s like getting more mocks to do. Then go back and rework trouble spots if you have time. Some of these can be pretty difficult, but they’re worth the effort.
Do LOTS of full mock/practice exams. I did 2 for my first attempt, and did 7 this year. I feel strongly that doing more exams increased my chances this year significantly.
Stay involved in these forums. Conversations here will keep your mind engaged and you’ll learn some things along the way. Candidates involved in this forum tend to be better prepared than those who are not.
Stay on track and be diligent. I logged 565 hours of study for this year’s exam, with 140 hours of that during the final month. As time went on, I pushed harder. Your primary motivation should be not wanting to go through this again a year later. Keep the thought of that in your mind at all times and you’ll find a way to stay on track, I promise.
Whether all of this will translate into a pass for me this year remains to be seen, but I feel pretty good about it. Far better than last year where I still managed a Band 9 result.
I recommend reading Schweser volumes and questions straight through by Jan or Feb, and then drop back to CFAI books and do BB’s and EOC’s by Mar/Apr., then the last 4-6 weeks do 4-5 mocks, at least two timed. For me, the CFAI material is too bloated and detailed to use as a primary source, rather as a reference. Schweser is like reading the notes from the top guy in the class, and gives you the big picture from which you can build on.
I started reading as soon as the curriculum was released last year (the day we knew if we passed or failed Level 1) and contrary to what others are saying, I did not feel burnt out in the end. I spread a lot of material over a lot of days at a slower pace. I was done with everything - and I mean everything - by end of April. 83 PT, every Schweser mock (except the one that launched May 21), 2 Wiley mocks, CFAI mock, EOC, and every blue box and concept checker in Schweser. I basically had May to relax and review and pray that I didn’t forget anything. But I intentionally finished early to mentally prepare myself and solidify concepts. I didn’t feel rushed and I didn’t feel bombarded. It was just one day at a time for me. My best advice would be to make a calendar - schedule it all out. What am I gonna do today? and tomorrow? And like someone above mentioned, the BIGGEST motivation is thinking about doing the exam next year all over again. That made me stick to my schedule perfectly.
I was going to say this, but you said it for me. My other two cents is that one should do the topic tests on the CFAI website. I find that they are more difficult than the Schweser questions, but are more indicative of what you will see on the actual exam.
I used Schweser as a base and then went through all CFAI topic tests, and EOC as well for the harder & larger ones. I think it takes some time to get efficient at answering vignettes and a little faith to drop usual way of reading the entire case first.
I used mocks from multiple providers, and also compared to Level I started answering questions under the 18min per set constraint to get used to the real thing. Lots of formulae, which you will need to be able to pull out accurately under pressure- so start memorising early unless you are lucky enough to have a great recall.
Some topics will take a disproportionate amount of time to learn vs the marks available, so make sure you allocate enough resource to them but also get a perspective of their weight in the final exam.
Hopefully all this was enough for me to get over the line.
A few observations: 1. CFAI must not strictly follow the syllabus( aka Schweser) - i have not done BBs and it was a mistake as even EOCs or even Schweser examples don’t cover all BBs 2. I found Schweser mock exams to be more straightforward than the actual test…Schweser does not set tricky options CFAI will 3.Topic tests are must, I learnt a lot from those…don’t worry about your score… do them twice 4. If you can learn all BBs and EOCs by heart 90% of the battle is over 5. Keep calm, and keep dreaming