Level Up study plan

Decided to bite the bullet and go with LU. Anybody have a study plan tailored to LU they are willing to share (feel free to PM me if you prefer)? For levels 1 and 2 I only had 3 and 5 months to prepare so I just got through the material as quickly as possible. For level 3, I would like to be strategic with my study plan and not start too early or too late and want to keep a good pace to be done 3-4 weeks before the bootcamp. I didn’t see anything like this on the website. Also thinking about saving ethics for last and starting on volume 2.

Are the new 2019 readings (video) already updated?

Not yet. Per site it says in October which is also when course materials arrive.

Thanks - I couldn’t find it on the LU website.

I would finish the videos before the bootcamp. I did this and felt like I had a HUGE advantage as I knew exactly what Marc was talking about. It helped retain the topics’ information so much better. I did Marc’s strategy of tackling a substandard every weekday, but I only started doing this in the new year. I would try skimming one lecture slide (one I’ve already covered) every day just to retain info, as I was pushing through the core curriculum.

Starting in January, I made Sunday my review day. I’d pick two chapters I had trouble remembering and I would power through the associated videos. Also, I’d work through three slide decks of select chapters on that Sunday. I made Sunday a miserable day, but by April, I had no trouble retaining past topics. I felt like I remembered everything. Repetition is key! I’d also do tricky BBs and EOCs for the selected chapters I wanted to tackle. So altogether, my Sunday had me covering 5 different chapters; two would be covered more thoroughly through watching the videos. And three were covered, but with less rigor by skimming their slidedecks.

As for getting through the core curriculum, I’d kind of make my own schedule outside of that Review Sunday, with the goal of finishing the curriculum before the bootcamp. Obviously, life has its ups and downs and quiet weeks and busy weeks. Some weeks would be more productive than others, so I had a flexible plan, BUT with the goal of finishing before the bootcamp.

When I was finished the curriculum, every day became review Sunday, except I started adding mock exams to the mix.

Altogether, Marc’s videos and slides prepared me so well. My schedule was my own choosing and I did study A LOT, but it was Marc’s tools that enabled to make my plan the way it was. God bless those videos and slides!!!

ALSO: I don’t think there is a need to finish 3-4 weeks before the bootcamp. I’d just finish right before so the readings are fresher in your mind. That’s my $0.02.

First post for me in AF. It’s been a pleasure reading you for both level 1 and 2.

Just wanted to check a couple of things on LevelUp I haven’t been able to find in any other thread. I left them a message on their website but never went back to me. My doubts are:

• Are the seminars capped to a maximum number of attendees? I’m happy to pay $1.3k for attending as long as I’m not seated 50 meters away from Marc and sharing the room with 200 more candidates.

• Can we download the videos in our personal laptop? I tend to spend some time in the beach where the internet speed is just too low to download anything.

I’m definitely signing up for LevelUp but my only questions is regarding what reading material you used along with LevelUp? Are the materials they give you sufficient or should you use CFAI or Kaplan? I used Kaplan for L1 & 2, thanks!

If you don’t read the Level III CFA Institute curriculum, you’re acting like an idiot.

Agree with S2000 - but if you use LevelUp you’ll be forced to use CFAI’s since that’s what Marc teaches out of. His vids and slides are great but I felt the heavy lifting was done from CFAI examples, questions, etc.

To serrano - The T.O. bootcamp had limited seating and room will probably be based on the provisions of the seminar site. Toronto was pretty intimate but I can’t speak to larger cities with more candidates. And unless there are tech changes, I wasn’t able to download videos from the site. You might be able to see if Marc can make an exception.

a lot of charterholders act like idiots then.

different people learn in different ways.

PCP investigations bear this out.

You’re preaching to the choir here.

apparently not if you’re saying people who don’t read the CFAI institute curriculum are like idiots. If you know there’s a high probability you’ll do better using other material (eg based on levels 1 and 2 and other studies in your life) then you’d be an idiot to use the CFAI curriculum.

How can anyone know that they’d do better using another approach versus using the CFA Institute curriculum books unless they try both? “Know”, not “suspect”.

we all have to make decisions in life based on incomplete information. You never know what would have happened if you had done something differently. Sometimes you might have a better idea than others.

by the same token you can’t know using CFAI material is best for everyone . What I can tell you is that there’s a preponderance of evidence that there’s more than one way to skin a cat even the CFAI cat.

Of course I can’t.

Which is why I never advocated that candidates use the CFA Institute material exclusively.

Apparently you thought that I did.

S2000Magician,

I guess that makes most of my peers with CFAs idiots then…

Eric Velsaco,

Thanks that was more along the lines of what I was asking. Appreciate it!

That’s not what I wrote, but your guess about your peers is probably a lot better than mine.

what you said is that if they don’t read the Level 3 curriculum they are acting like idiots.

many don’t use it at all and are not acting like idiots at all by doing so. They are doing what is effective for them ( in many cases; I’m sure some also make a mistake by doing so but even in that case if they are making a best decision based on the info they have, they are not doing anything idiotic)

i had no misunderstanding about the exclusivity point.

Point to ponder: if you’re one of the pipples writing exam questions and assembling the final questions, would you use the official CFAI curriculum or one of the study provider packages? Straight from the horse’s mouth (or some other orifice :smiling_imp:) as they say.

Now before anybody jumps down my throat, I recently advised a to-be-nameless LIII candidate to go with the source material, but if needed, order a package from one of the friendly providers. Whatever helps you navigate the hulking brute we lovingly know as the official curriculum, go with it!!! :+1:

In your opinion.

Our opinions differ.

Neither is demonstrable fact.