Hi guys, I am very lucky to pass the CFA lv2 exam in 2018 although i failed with band 5 last year. This forum helped me a lot to pass this year, so I would like to share my experience to those who want to pass the exam.
Last year 2017, I was overwhelmed by joy when I passed the lv1 exam (DEC2016) on first try. I knew lv2 would be harder but i became overconfident and only spent 200~300 hours to study for lv2 june exam.
I used wiley and studysmarter for the notes and mock exams, however, the materials were not relevant to the exam (what a waste of money!!!).
For 2018 lv2 exam, i only study with the books, topic tests and exams provided by the CFA Institute. No external resources! I studied for 300~400 hours this time. I knew my weakness is Financial Reporting. I asked my friend to teach me but i only understood little.
Luckily, I did well in most of the areas (around 70% correct) except corporate finance and financial reporting (only around 50%). My friend is above 90th percentile…
Nonetheless, I am very happy that i pass. I wish all candidates good luck for the next exam(s).
What Wiley notes went useless for you but I heard that it contains clear and precise words which enable to understand even the complicated concepts in an easier way.
I think the books and the book exercises are much better than the Wiley notes. However, i think it is not a bad idea to use Wiley study materials if you have extra cash to spend because what is not suitable for me may be suitable for you.Nonetheless , I strongly recommend focusing on the books, topic tests and mock exams provided by CFA institute as they are very helpful and relevant to the exam.
Sounds exactly like what I did! I passed Level I in Dec’17, got overconfident for Level II of Jun’18 and flunked! Though I partly blame my work schedule for the failure, I always knew that I would not have enough time for Jun’18 and it was the overconfidence from having passed the Level I that made me think “its manageable”! Now I have registered for Level II of Jun’19 and hope to prepare well starting now.
Good to know that there are others who have made similar mistakes as I have and managed to recover.
Willey Videos, CFAI BB, EOC, TT and online mocks worked fine and helped clear first go. I was stretched in time though. Else, I would have read heavy chapter from CFA books directly (FRA, Equity, CorpFin and FI). For me Derivatives was hard to understand from CFA materials and Willey explains really well.
