I just passed Level I and will be sitting for Level II in June 2012. I’m considering Schweser, Stella, and Allen Prep for Level II since it’s much more difficult than Level I (where I just studied the CFAI materials only). I want to make the best and most efficient use of my time. What prep provider should I use for a no bull **** prep? Is it even remotely possible to be successful without a prep package? ************* BACKGROUND ************* 25 year old American-born male working on MBA (Finance) and MS (Quantitative Finance) while working full-time for a US Fortune 50 company.
considering you are taking the ****** 2012 LEVEL II EXAM AND YOU ARE A 25 YEAR-OLD WHITE MALE WHO IS WORKING ON BOTH MBA AND MS AT THE SAME TIME WHILE WORKING AT A FORTUNE 50 COMPANY***** i recommend that you go with schweser.
I also forgot to mention, in the “background section”, that I once failed ‘Introduction to Asterisks’ in undergrad. 
I relied on CFA material and passed 2nd time around (first time had some unfortunate personal circumstances and cracked under the pressure…). This time I purchased the 11th hr guide but found it to be riddled with mistakes and too high level to get any real value from. If you’ve got the time to do it properly, here is what I suggest: use CFA material, make your own comprehensive typed notes and another document where you copy and paste all your formulas (you can print this and take it with you everywhere), complete each EOCQ at least twice. In the final month do practice exams, re-do the difficult EOCQs a third time and go over and over and over your typed notes. Then don’t do anything CFA related the day before the exam. This worked for me. But everyone has their own story of what worked (or didn’t work) for them. All the best.
That worked for me too. SFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I relied on CFA material and passed 2nd time > around (first time had some unfortunate personal > circumstances and cracked under the pressure…). > This time I purchased the 11th hr guide but found > it to be riddled with mistakes and too high level > to get any real value from. If you’ve got the > time to do it properly, here is what I suggest: > use CFA material, make your own comprehensive > typed notes and another document where you copy > and paste all your formulas (you can print this > and take it with you everywhere), complete each > EOCQ at least twice. In the final month do > practice exams, re-do the difficult EOCQs a third > time and go over and over and over your typed > notes. Then don’t do anything CFA related the day > before the exam. This worked for me. But > everyone has their own story of what worked (or > didn’t work) for them. > > All the best.
I used Elan for L1 and it was by far the best (had an older version of Shwesser given to me by a friend but only used it for additional q’s). They’re apparently coming out with some L2 stuff this year so I’d hold out for that.
I know several people who passed all 3 tests first time through and are very smart (IMO). The common theme is they all primarily used CFAI materials and limited or no third party study aides. I just passed level II (second try) and this has been my process as well. Third party practice tests are useful, but I don’t think you “need” anything else. Yes CFAI is long and a lot to get through, but the point of the CFAI books are to lead to you a “mastery” of the concepts not help you pass a test . Take the time to read all the CFAI text, do the EOC questions, and focus on being familiar with all LOS’s and you will be prepared. Not sure you will feel like doing much third party studying after that… The key is time…first time I took level II I didn’t give myself enough time to get through all the CFAI text and really didn’t study much. This time read all CFAI texts, did 5 practice tests, and had relatively low stress levels going into the test. Felt I passed with a fairly comfortable margin. Put in the time, that’s the most important thing I think, no shortcuts… also, those really smart people I referred all put in 200+ for level 2. Sometimes its more about putting in the time than raw brain power…
The only thing I think 3rd party providers are good for is a first glance, base level understanding of the material. Beyond that, CFAI’s mock/actual questions are just way too in depth for the quality of understanding the other books provide. Obviously there are exceptions, but if I decide to take it again (god help me, thinking about that right now makes me want to stab my eyes out), I’ll not be wasting my money on any books other than CFAI.
CFA Institute text > All Just passed Level 2 this year. Used the CFAI text exclusively. Used Stalla last year and failed Band 4. BTW: I’m a 29 year old American-born male with a public school background working for a Fortune 500 company. LOLz
i utilized CFA text+schweser+stalla videos and only passed with 5 sections>70% and 5 sections in between 50 and 70
^ your overall mark could well be higher than someone that got >70% in all 10 sections. Your matrix just means that your performance wasn’t uniform across the sections - it doesn’t mean your overall performance was better or worse than someone with a completely different looking matrix… my 2 cents.