Are you in the industry? What kind of work do you do? What caused you to fail level 2 last year? Lack of studying? Improper studying techniques? Hard CFA level 2 questions? Did the CFA Institute use questions, from the book review questions in the required readings?
CFAdummy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Are you in the industry? very much… >What kind of work do you do? as an equity research analyst >What caused you to fail level 2 last year? failed ethics, passed 5 section, averaged 2… i repeat…got below 50 in ethics…and I think that’s where I took the plunge…i cleared in all the heavy weight topics…yet failed… > Lack of studying? lack of studying??? nooo…studied pretty hard > Hard CFA level 2 questions? Did the CFA Institute > use questions, from the book review questions in > the required readings?Improper studying techniques? some of the questions on the exam were very unexpected…morning session was a breeze…second half…felt alien…expecially the PM, fixed income and derivatives sections…
Which sections did you do average in? Do you use the CFA level 2 material in your work environment? Most? Some? %
what do you mean by the unexpected questions? Can you give at least a hint?
averaged in PM and FI… i don’t remember the questions…I just remember seeing stuff…and seeing a black tunnel…with no light at the of it…sigghhh umm…there were crazy questions on treynor black i wasn’t expecting…also the swaps stuff was complicated…don’t remember much else…it was almost a year ago!!
3peater here (*hanging head low). I work at an RIA and use some of the equity val/FSA material…some basic FI & ecib material, but not much of the heavy quant (rather that means econ, quant, derivatives, pm, etc). First time I failed I just didn’t put in the time. I had passed LI on the first attempt without too much trouble and didn’t stick to a good study routine. I would say I let my ego get the best of me (didn’t bother with the core material, only went with study notes, etc) Second time I got serious and studied much harder and took a BSAS class. I scored >70 in FSA and Equity; average in most, but still failed. It was painful and I can add my name to the list already containing mumukada and caspian; PM did me in. I wasn’t expecting the heavy quant bias to the T-B model and didn’t mentally associate it with the basic quant models (I failed the PM section). IMO, last year’s pass rate, spoke to the difficulty of the exam. Using the 40/60/80 rule, there is no doubt in my mind I would have passed in 2006 (eek) with the scores I achieved in 2007 and I suspect caspian and mumukada would have as well. Advice? Get through the material as soon as you can and give yourself the time to go back to the material you found confusing; do the end of chapter problems (especially now that many are past exam questions); do practice questions/exams; write your own notecards and continually revise them if they aren’t clear. I am trying to complete all the SS with notecards by next Friday…at which time I’m taking a 3 day Schwesser review. After I return I plan on going back to each SS and doing the end of chapter problems and the Schwesser problems; then move onto sample exams. Buy the CFAI sample exams as they are very close to the actual feel and they’ve even had a question from the sample exam show up on the actual exam (happened in 2006 - according to several people who did them…unfortunately I did not). If FSA is giving you trouble I highly recommend the John Harris Accounting Workshop, it is worth every penny!
"Are you in the industry? Since the day I graduated college. What kind of work do you do? I work in the equity strategy group of an institutional equity sales and trading firm. What caused you to fail level 2 last year?Lack of studying? Improper studying techniques? There’s undeniably an element of “luck” involved in Level II thats not present in Level I. In Level II, they dont test all the material, so a lot depends on the questions you get. Obviously if you master every piece of information, then no question will bother you. But innevitably, you are going to have weak and strong points and if too many weaker points get questioned, its going to be tougher to pass. For me, my mistake was spending too much time on the big, important topics. I killed FSA, passed equity and passed Ethics. But PM and econ, i must’ve gone 2-12 in those sections (I am still upset at the economics questions they posed. Such BS). Had I spent more time on FI and quant and the other sections, I would’ve passed. Quite frankly, I think I could’ve passed if the econ section had been on any other topic than the one it was one, and one or tow other things went my way. Of course, they didnt.
Sponge_Bob_CFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 3peater here (*hanging head low). > > I work at an RIA and use some of the equity > val/FSA material…some basic FI & ecib material, > but not much of the heavy quant (rather that means > econ, quant, derivatives, pm, etc). > > First time I failed I just didn’t put in the time. > I had passed LI on the first attempt without too > much trouble and didn’t stick to a good study > routine. I would say I let my ego get the best of > me (didn’t bother with the core material, only > went with study notes, etc) > > Second time I got serious and studied much harder > and took a BSAS class. I scored >70 in FSA and > Equity; average in most, but still failed. It was > painful and I can add my name to the list already > containing mumukada and caspian; PM did me in. I > wasn’t expecting the heavy quant bias to the T-B > model and didn’t mentally associate it with the > basic quant models (I failed the PM section). > IMO, last year’s pass rate, spoke to the > difficulty of the exam. Using the 40/60/80 rule, > there is no doubt in my mind I would have passed > in 2006 (eek) with the scores I achieved in 2007 > and I suspect caspian and mumukada would have as > well. > > Advice? Get through the material as soon as you > can and give yourself the time to go back to the > material you found confusing; do the end of > chapter problems (especially now that many are > past exam questions); do practice questions/exams; > write your own notecards and continually revise > them if they aren’t clear. I am trying to > complete all the SS with notecards by next > Friday…at which time I’m taking a 3 day > Schwesser review. After I return I plan on going > back to each SS and doing the end of chapter > problems and the Schwesser problems; then move > onto sample exams. Buy the CFAI sample exams as > they are very close to the actual feel and they’ve > even had a question from the sample exam show up > on the actual exam (happened in 2006 - according > to several people who did them…unfortunately I > did not). If FSA is giving you trouble I highly > recommend the John Harris Accounting Workshop, it > is worth every penny! This is really depressing to me. I think I am coming to grips with the fact that I don’t really have a chance. I have been trying to ignore it, but it is getting pretty hard. No doubt I will be back in 2009.
The test is 2.5 months away (months!); get scared now and do something about it.
yep. lot of smart people failed. that makes it freaking nerve-wracking.
Sponge_Bob_CFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The test is 2.5 months away (months!); get scared > now and do something about it. I have been scared. My situation is not as flexible as I would like to “do something about it”. 
I’m trying to figure out if there’s a chance for a non-industry person to pass. The material seems hard. A lot of equations to remember. I can read the material and understand it. However, I can’t remember everything I read. For example, I went through FSA, but forgot how to do the All current method and the Temporal Method. I think it would be a lot easier for a person who does equity analysis everyday to pass. From what I’m sensing, the passing grades are harder than level 1. Is it remotely possible to skip Derivatives or even Fixed income and try to pass this exam? I hate the days to CFA exam countdown on the analystforum.com main screen. I hate it!!!
Looking at past results, how did this guy pass? 
Re: Results OUT!!-- what did everyone get? Posted by: bobg (IP Logged) [hide posts from this user] Date: August 16, 2007 01:12PM Failed Ethics, Econ, still Passed. Skin of my teeth. Level 2: Pass The table below illustrates your subject matter strengths and weaknesses. The three columns on the right are marked with asterisks to indicate your performance on each question or topic area. Item Set Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% - Derivatives 36 - * - - Economics 18 * - - - Equity Analysis 72 - - * - Ethical & Professional Stnds. 36 * - - - Financial Statement Analysis 108 - - * - Fixed Income Analysis 36 - - * - General Portfolio Management 36 * - - - Quantitative Analysis 18 - * -
you know…I keep doing this too…looking at other people’s results…wondering how they passed…and I didn’t…trying to make myself feel better by blaming something, luck, bad grading technique, the fact that i failed ethics…etc… bottom line is…what’s done is done…do not compare scores…NONE of us know what exactly the grades were in which subject…people could have passed just being a little over border line…and others failed who were just a bit below… advice…get throught the material soon enough…so that you can practice practice practice practice… from my past experience I’ve learnt…the more questions you do…of different types…the more you get to find out what you DON"T know…go back and review that…and that’s one more area you’ve got covered…that you missed the first time… hang in there…there is still plenty of time…make a schedule…stick by it…and take a day off once in a while…we’re human…our brains need it…!!!
CFAdummy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Looking at past results, how did this guy pass? > > > Re: Results OUT!!-- what did everyone get? > Posted by: bobg (IP Logged) > Date: August 16, 2007 01:12PM > > > Failed Ethics, Econ, still Passed. Skin of my > teeth. > > Level 2: Pass > > The table below illustrates your subject matter > strengths and weaknesses. The three columns on the > right are marked with asterisks to indicate your > performance on each question or topic area. > > > > > Item Set Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% > - Derivatives 36 - * - > - Economics 18 * - - > - Equity Analysis 72 - - * > - Ethical & Professional Stnds. 36 * - - > - Financial Statement Analysis 108 - - * > - Fixed Income Analysis 36 - - * > - General Portfolio Management 36 * - - > - Quantitative Analysis 18 - * - Item Set Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% - Derivatives 36 - * - =======================70% - Economics 18 * - -========================50% - Equity Analysis 72 - - *=====================100% - Ethical & Professional Stnds.36* - =============50% - Financial Statement Analysis 108 - - *===========100% - Fixed Income Analysis 36 - - *=================100% - General Portfolio Management 36 * - -===========50% - Quantitative Analysis 18 - * -==================70% Average===================================73.75%
cfafrank Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > CFAdummy Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Looking at past results, how did this guy pass? > > > > > > Re: Results OUT!!-- what did everyone get? > > Posted by: bobg (IP Logged) > > Date: August 16, 2007 01:12PM > > > > > > Failed Ethics, Econ, still Passed. Skin of my > > teeth. > > > > Level 2: Pass > > > > The table below illustrates your subject matter > > strengths and weaknesses. The three columns on > the > > right are marked with asterisks to indicate > your > > performance on each question or topic area. > > > > > > > > > > Item Set Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% > > - Derivatives 36 - * - > > - Economics 18 * - - > > - Equity Analysis 72 - - * > > - Ethical & Professional Stnds. 36 * - - > > - Financial Statement Analysis 108 - - * > > - Fixed Income Analysis 36 - - * > > - General Portfolio Management 36 * - - > > - Quantitative Analysis 18 - * - > > Item Set Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70% > - Derivatives 36 - * - =======================70% > - Economics 18 * - -========================50% > - Equity Analysis 72 - - > *=====================100% > - Ethical & Professional Stnds.36* - > =============50% > - Financial Statement Analysis 108 - - > *===========100% > - Fixed Income Analysis 36 - - > *=================100% > - General Portfolio Management 36 * - > -===========50% > - Quantitative Analysis 18 - * > -==================70% > > Average===================================73.75% This is a likelihood, and still has margin of safety up to 3-9%. Or else, it must be April Fool’s day…
100%…you must be kidding me
"Is it remotely possible to skip Derivatives or even Fixed income and try to pass this exam? " It is absolutely not pssible to pass the exam by skipping those sections. As I said earlier, on the Level I exam, you can get away with this since they hit every single topic. On Level II, its just not the same test. If you get two fixed income questions, you’re done. Game over.
With L2 ETHICS last year it seems as if a lot of the scores are below the 70% mark. Was ethics on L2 a lot more difficult than L1? How was it different in L2 vs. L1? Just trickier?
Ethics is NOT easy…we all seem to think so…but it’s not it’s very different from L1 … it is much more in depth…and of course…there’s additional material… don’t know how else to describe it!