Different study plan needed for level 2 vs. level 1 ?

CFA Level II
#1

I started studying for level 2 a week or so ago and am wondering if I need to approach level 2 differently than I did level 1. My plan for Level 1 was just to read everything in the books, do all of the problems, and make sure I knew the learning outcomes of each section. I did pay for the Élan Guide notes about a month or so before I took the test to have something else to review and to see if there were a few topics to really focus on as well. That plan worked well and I passed on my first try, but I am wondering is something I need to do differently for Level 2. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Nick

#2

As a retaker I’ll tell you that you need to give it a lot more time that you did at Level I. There is a lot more material than Level I and it is also a lot more difficult.

#3

work harder

#4

Same as Cinderella. You need to almost double your study time for L2

#5

Yeah agree with all above. Material is somewhat dense and the catch is unlike in Level 1, you need to extract needed materials from the vignette. Not that easy unless you are thorough with the material. I would give much much more time than 1 month.

#6

In your case I would say you need to quadruple your study time for LII

#7

Thanks for comments so far, but I think maybe someone got the impression I studied very little for Level 1. I studied for six months about 4 hours a day 7 days a week, with breaks here and there. Hopefully there was just some confusion and no one is suggesting I need to study over 2,500 hours for Level 2. That aside, I am wondering if it is in my best interest to pay for some of the other study materials other than the CFAI textbooks that you receive after registering for the exam. Also, is it best just to read everything in the books and do all of the questions, or are there more efficient and effective ways to master the material. Thanks again.

#8

I apologise Nick. I misread your post and thought you studied for just one month from the Notes and passed Level I. My bad…

The formula is different for every person. Study providers offer some of their Level II materials for free so you might want to check them out. Schweser offers volume 1 of the study notes for free and Elan offers free QM and FRA study notes and videos. I think that’s more than enough for someone to figure out whether the CFA books or a prep provider is the way to go for them.

Sorry once again for my misinformed post earlier.