strugglin at 160! started end of february have not gone through the my 1st read yet still have PM and half of Derivatives but I started reviewing old stuff as im finishing up new stuff. I am aiming for around 300.
Are you guys actually counting the hours? If so, why?
I just think its motivating to log your hours and the subject you ve covered as well as your weak areas quickly into a spreadsheet each day; it only takes a minute and gives you an idea about how much you have studied and maybe where you need to study more if you fail I dont know.
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It’s motivating to see the tally mark go up.
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It’s nice to know exactly where you stand. CFAI gives that 300 mark right in the curriculum, so I figure if I don’t AT LEAST hit that then I can’t cry when I don’t pass.
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It helps plan your remaining study schedule…you can see how many hours it takes to do x amount of readings, thus helping you budget your time in the future, etc.
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It takes almost no time or effort to actually keep track, so why not?
My “tracker” spreadsheet has been absolutely invaluable to me in preparing for this exam. For the reasons above, plus other reasons: setting a review schedule, seeing visually what my trend is in hours per week, seeing visually how close I am to having all readings/study sessions done, being able to quickly check which EOC questions I’ve done and which I’m missing, etc.
Hey peeps. Firstly, why are you on the web? 35 days! Argh.
Secondly, I agree with Padniaki, it’s good to set the 300 as the benchmark, and measure against that. I know, quality over quantity and that but this is still a good goal to aim for. Most of all 'cause it gives you something tangible to mark progress against.
So between clocking hours and crossing off Study sessions you can ‘feel’ and ‘see’ your progress.
Plugging this again, others seem to have found it useful: http://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-level-ii-forum/91308437
It’s an excel chart that logs hours worked against target hours and records Study sessions completed as a percent of all study sessions. Check it.
I’m at 200 hours, LOTS to go.
Keep focused and good luck.
started mid march struggling at 170 hrs + taking 10 days off before exam so 100 hrs + roughly 3 weeks before that will add another 90-100 hrs = around 350-370 should be my total hrs . Roughly I am hitting 30-35 hrs per week . I am still left with derivatives(one of my favorite areas) and ethics (hate it )
few hundred hours probably in excess of 400
Wow!!! You stand a great chance 
I’m estimating I’m at ~324 hours and plan to put in 20 hrs/week until the exam, goal was for 400 hours so should get there.
Damn you guys are fukin beasts!! I guess I feel pressured to at least get to at least 300 now… gonna be a grind
Reassure me! That is since you started studying for the CFA like level 1 included?
No i started studying too early like in september because all you guys on AF were scaring me regarding the incline in difficulty from lvl1 to lvl2. I studied for about 350hrs for level one and passed all over 70.
I would say I’m approximately at 500 now. I started studying in October . . . I still am uneasy and want to really push hard for May with lots of mocks and review.
the > 400hts and now 500 hrs is beyond giving up social life for the CFA. I both admire you guys and at the same time kind of think you guys are fucking nuts but hey its all about limiting the downside and a huge margin of safety!
CFAI says : “Successful candidates report spending an average of about 300 hours reading and studying the curriculum, plus 4−6 weeks reviewing and taking online sample and mock exams”.
So the average time spent by successful candidates isn’t 300 but approximately 380-420h (300 + 4-6 weeks at 20h per week).
So the minimum mark we should be trying to hit is 400 not 300.
BANG!!! FAIL!