Hello , I just passed level I along with many other people. For those who passed level II , I was wondering what you guys used to study. Which books are the best , which online test bank to use. Also , any strategies on how to tackle this exam since it’s a lot tougher than level I . Thank you for the insight.
I only used CFAI material. For chapters which I found bit confusing I referred to Mark Meldrum videos (I had subscribed it for 2 months).
Being a working professional, the key was to log 15 hours of study every week. Btw I cleared L1 in December, 2016 and started studies for L2 from Feb, 2017.
PS: My user I’d refers to my targeted goal of completing CFA within that limit.
I used CFAI materials. I highly recommend taking the topic tests in the CFA website as they are in exam vignette format and approximate the exam questions very well (I feel they are more difficult than the exam questions).
I only used IFT videos for the curriculum, then completed the CFAI BB/EOC after each reading. Used IFT review package at the end with CFAI topic tests & mock. Reread all the BB/EOC.
Start early & stay consistent.
Wiley lecture videos --> their problems for each reading --> CFAI BBPs --> EOCs. Rinse and repeat until all readings/topics covered. If I did poorly on any of the EOCs (which was few and far between as the Wiley material I felt did an excellent job in prepping), I’d go back and skim the relevant sections in the CFAI readings. Started January (Dec L1 16 pass), finished all material by end of April.
Only Schweser. Great way to study in my opinion.
Whatever you do, make sure you do the End of Chapter questions and Topic Tests from CFAI. Especially if you’re worried about major sections of the test, there’s no better way to prepare than to understand what the CFAI thinks is important. IMO, not doing these questions puts you at risk of surprises on exam day.
Came here to ask similar questions. I also just passed the Level I, and used Schweser. While obviously I got the outcome I was looking for, I did feel blindsided on the test as well as on earlier CFAI Mocks where the material didn’t seem the same as what was covered in the Schweser Mocks.
Would you guys recommend staying the course and going with Schweser because that is what I used to get me here, or would it be better to use the CFAI books to make sure I’m getting the material at the source.
Thank you so much for the feedback. This ones going to be a hard one lol.
I used only CFAI books, but I am planning to use Wiley this time…
First time I used curriculum and failed, second time Schweser and passed. Both time Schweser qbank.
It’s not that curriculum is bad, it is just too big and for slow readers (like me) there is not enough time for question practice. And this is critical.
Start early - many things that you should learn for the exam must settle in your mind and it requires time. From first to second attempts of level II I did not learn anything new - I clarified what I already knew and practiced it (I solved 75% of Schweser qbank, about 2400 questions).
My average in qbank was 74%. My result on actual exam was AI, FI & PM 51-70, all the rest >70 which is about 76% using 40/60/80 and 71.7 - 93.3 using actual method. Pretty consistent. Schweser qbank gives good prediction of actual performance. Even for topic areas (except for derivatives, which I also consider my weak area but somehow managed to guess correctly on actual exam).
I approve this message… the curriculum is a bloated Rosie… use it for reference and BB/EOCs… Kap crystallized concepts for me.
I used Schweser (but not QBank) and some mock exams from IFT, Wiley.
Use Kaplan and CFAI – if I were doing it over again, I’d read the Kaplan material and then do all of the CFAI BB/EOC questions, and none of the Kaplan EOC questions.
Also make sure to do all of the topic tests.
On Level II what matters is understanding the style of how the CFA Institute wants you to understand the material. Not all Prep Providers capture that essence, and no one fully captures the essence of what the exam questions will be like as closely as the questions/materials the CFA institute publishes. That’s the case in Level I but it’s much more pronounced in Level II in my opinion.
I probably put in 175-200 hours using mainly CFAI with some Kaplan reading, and I took a mock from another provider 2 weeks before test day. Walked out of the Mock because I was so discouraged by the questions / it was so unhelpful.
End result? Passed on first try with 70%+ in 7 sections and 51-70% in 3 sections.
Schweser !
Curriculum is your best friend, I used Curriculum all through, but used IFT Videos, Schweser and Wiley Mock exam as well. But fot stufying, I will recommend the Curriculum.
Just make sure you start your prep on time, then you will have enough time to go through the corriculum at least 3 times before the exam and an ample time for mock exams.
Cheers.
Did you actually real the real CFA books that they send you? Or just used kaplan notes or something and then just did the questions in the CFAI books?
DEFINITIVE GUIDE ON HOW TO STUDY FOR LEVEL II:
preface - I am not a quant and do not pretend to enjoy reading books about finance, valuation, modeling, etc. This advice is for people who just want to move up in the world and are highly motivated to do so.
step 1) buy the kaplan package that contains the videos and Q-bank. The Q-bank is FAR more important than the videos so if you need to cut costs, just forego the videos. My company paid for the materials so no big deal on my end.
step 2) start EARLY. I began my studies around October so that i wouldnt have to cram at the end. i didnt study on weekends until around March. level 2 contains much more ish that you havent seen before so it takes longer to wrap your head around than level 1.
step 3) go through the kaplan books one by one , jotting down notes along the way if you like but DO NOT get bogged down in the text. if you start early, you can come back to solidify. AS YOU GO ALONG, DO Q BANK QUESTIONS CORROSPONDING TO THE SECTION YOU’RE READING. this is crucial. do not read an entire book and then start doing q bank, do q bank as you read through.
step 4) get through all of the books at a good pace for you while doing q bank. WHILE DOING Q BANK, ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MISS BE SURE TO HAVE THE ACTUAL KAPLAN BOOKS UP ON YOUR OTHER SCREEN SO YOU CAN READ WHY YOU GOT IT WRONG. This helped me the most. on one screen i have the questions and then the other i have the kaplan books to explain them so i can practice and learn at same time. supplement with the videos if you got them.
step 5) after going through alll of the books, keep doing step 4 over and over until you feel like you know the answer before you finish reading the questions. continue to do all of the calculations by hand even if you think it is obvious. THIS IS IMPORTANT bc on test day your brain will go to shit at times.
step 6) around march (if youve followed this guide) start doing the practice tests. DO ALL OF THE PRACTICE TESTS AND DO THEM MORE THAN ONCE. i did each test about 3 times to really hit home the fundamentals. keep doing q bank while not doing tests and reviewing in the books anything that keeps messing you up (most likely the swap valuation, ish took me forever)
step 7) keep pounding q bank and the practice tests over and over until test day while continuing to read anything you dont feel 100% comfortable in the books. by this time you should have all of the formulas memorized just because youve done so many problems. be sure to understand when to use D/E or D/Cap or the difference between one and two tailed tests.
step 8) sign up for the kaplan mock exam at your local university/outlet if they offer it. it cost about $75 and was worth it because it gives you more questions and you cant look ahead at answers.
step 8) take real test and pass
i didnt touch the CFAI material one time on either level one or two and passed both on first try. i did take the CFAI mocks WHICH WERE HARDER than the actual test. the bottom line is start early and don’t slack off at the end. i found that kaplan did a better job on level 1 than level 2 in terms of direct translation to the actual test. level 1 , everything was right out of the kaplan books. on level 2, it required to use what kaplan tought you and then take it one step further in some cases, but NOT EVERY TIME. so be prepared for that.
as indicated by this thread, there are many ways to complete Level 2. i work about 10-12 hours a day. i studied 4.5 months. i read kaplan once. used their mocks, wiley mocks, boston society mocks and CFA mocks. i thought i was marginal walking out of the exam however my result indicated that I passed comfortably.
Best advice, your the king of you. Devise an approach that you deem appropriate then handle ****.
“Everybody wants to be a beast, until it’s time to do what real beasts do.” - Eric Thomas
FWIW, i passed L1 in dec… if i had more time I would have completed topic tests and read the curriculum. I will likely incorporate other exercises into my approach for level 3 since i have the luxury of time.
**** *** q-bank level 2, waste of time