With only 4 months to go, where are you at in your study plan, and what is your plan from here on out? --> Jan and Feb finishing Fixed Income, Alt Investments, Derivatives, and Port Mgmt using CFAI and EOC questions --> Mar and Apr reviewing each section (1 week for each section), using Qbank as well as CFAI EOC and text. --> May to pinpoint my weak points and taking mock exams.
Have read the curriculum and done EOCs for books 2, 3 and most of 4. My plan is to finish the remaining books by mid April. I’m tracking my study plan, albeit a week behind at this point.
You guys are definitely way ahead of the pack. Keep up the good work. I’m a retaker and just started studying FRA.
Chuckrox8 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You guys are definitely way ahead of the pack. > Keep up the good work. I’m a retaker and just > started studying FRA. I dont know about that. all you retakers got a major advantage.
We do??? Retakers tend to drink more…
Just took Level 1 in December and waiting results to start the plan 
Chuckrox8 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You guys are definitely way ahead of the pack. > Keep up the good work. I’m a retaker and just > started studying FRA. Same spot, retaker here as well, what are you planning on doing differently this time?
I have read through all content in the CFAI text once now (October through December 2010) to build a baseline and see everything once, and on the day after Christmas I started a second read through using Schweser Notes to plow through the stuff I feel comfortable with (Econ, corp finance etc) and to use as a supplement for the CFAI texts for the stuff that needs work (pension accounting, multinational accounting etc). i am doing EOC questions as well. On my second read through I am about 33% of the way through the Equity book. I am eating Equity for lunch and destroying EOC questions so far as it just makes sense to me (as opposed to pretty much all of FSA which is going to make me miserable for the foreseeable future). I had four days off in a row with Martin Luther King day and a vacation day and got 6-8 hours of study time in per day, which made me feel a lot more confident as I never felt like there were enough hours in the day for the last few weeks. My plan from here on out is to try to finish my second read through by the end of February with two hours of study per night Mon-Thur, Friday’s off and 4-6 hours Saturday and Sundays. Then March 1 - April 15th, just have a miserable six weeks where I do nothing but the stuff I hate the most (looking to be parts of quant, all of FSA and parts of Fixed Income (damn binomial trees) etc and trying to hammer out as much understanding/retention as possible. April 15th - May 7th will be going through the Schweser Secret Sauce to bring everything back to the forefront, and then May 7th through exam day will be practice exams like mad, EOC reviews on weak areas and writing formulas over and over until they are imprinted in my brain. I also am working on a deck of what should be about 200 flashcards that I have my girlfriend test me on randomly while driving or hanging around at home. For me personally, I find it to be a huge confidence builder to be able to explain to someone some the more difficult concepts in an even borderline coherent way, and making myself think critically about in order to express what the concept is in plain English is really helpful. Honestly, I know a lot of people who I consider to be significantly smarter than I am who got burned by L2 and were/are forced to put their progression on hold for an entire year until a retake comes around, so I am trying to work way harder than I did for L1 to set myself up for the highest probability of success.
Palantir Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Chuckrox8 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > You guys are definitely way ahead of the pack. > > Keep up the good work. I’m a retaker and just > > started studying FRA. > > > Same spot, retaker here as well, what are you > planning on doing differently this time? Last year I had a problem of studying what I already knew quite well. I don’t think I consciously realized this until after the exam. The big dog for me was FRA. It plagued me during my studying and I never truly felt comfortable with a majority of the material. I ended up <50% in FRA. Had I scored >70% I undoubtedly would have passed L2. So I have made it mission this year to absolutely crush FRA. I plan on putting a little less focus on Equity, FI, Derives, Econ, and PM. I have always done extremely well in those sections and feel very comfortable with the material. I will still study those topic areas as I normally would, but not to the extent that I did last year. I also did not take as many mock exams as I would have liked. I’m going to try to take at least 7 or 8 this year unlike the 2 that I took last May. Time was a big deal breaker for me last year. I was only able to put in ~175 hours of study for L2 and a big chunk of that time came from April and May. My goal this year is to hit ~275 hours and spend a majority of the difference on FRA. If it takes 100+ hours to master FRA, so be it. FRA, FRA, FRA, More Mocks, and more study hours. I also used Schweser last year and while I felt it did a decent job of condensing the material it lacked in a few areas and failed to cover some of the minute details that showed up on the exam i.e. Ibbotson Chen. I am just cruising through the CFAI books this year, no Schweser.
oh my! 4 months! not enough time!
To be fair, it’s more like 4.5 months. Kind of a scary thought though.
wake2000 was being sarcastic
wake2000 will just be another victim to the L2 beast
wake2000 already passed level II
Then why is he lurking around in the L2 forum and giving his sarcastic 2 cents? Go back to the L3 forum unless you have something to offer
Jay5150 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Then why is he lurking around in the L2 forum and > giving his sarcastic 2 cents? Go back to the L1 > forum unless you have something to offer bring it Jay5950
Is there enough time to begin this weeknd and have reasonable shot at passing? Have flexible work schedule so can feasibly put in 20 - 25 hrs per wk. Thanks, John
@ jgrandits… I hope so! I am also starting this weekend. I am worried though, as I do have a demanding job and squeezing in the hours of studying will not be easy… Let’s hope I pass! Good luck everybody!
I am a retaker as well. I am done refreshing memory of Equity. Now switched to Quant and Ethics. I have a nagging feeling that i am really behind!!
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