Can I get away with studying Ethics the same way as I did for level 1 by just using Schweser notes, Qbank and mocks? Or is Ethics at level 2 a whole different ball game?
I would read the CFAI for Ethics. Schweser will not be enough
Ethics is the one topic area for which I always tell all of my candidates to read the CFA Institute materials, and work all of the CFA Institute questions. CFA Institute does an excellent job on Ethics.
In level 1 schweser was all round perfect but in level 2, for all the sections CFAI text would be great,
How did you score Ethics, capa?
.
I got between 50-70% for ethics, but I know I was just short of 70% for it. I know for a fact I did well in that section and I can only have just missed 70% marginally.
A lot of the questions in the exam were very similar to ones I had seen before during my studies and I felt confident for 60% of them during the exam (I know this because I had time after to count how many I knew I got correct). Given that I will have likely got some of the ones I guessed correct, I cannot have been far off 70% in Ethics.
I landed in the top section without being a very ethical person in real life. I thought there was a fair amount of problems that I had never heard of. As prep I read the curriculum on Ethics twice. And I felt like I shoild have read it again the week of the exam. I think I will stick to the curriculum, call it supersticion but it worked for me…
Sorry was not meant as advice since I have yet to pass L2.
Is Ethics stuff different in L2 as compared to L1.
I read all Ethics fom CFAI curriculum. Do i need to go through it again for L2 as well?
Yes you have to read it again. plus there is extra material like ROS etc. t is recommended that you use CFAI texts for Ethics and do practice questions from CFAI and past mocks.
Ethics is practise and my preparation is simple. From around february mid (or when I get really serious about the exam), I work on about 5-10 questions every alternative day… I also note down what mistake I did and that becomes a note for me.
Ex: Things like 7 years retention of records is an example of things you would find in my note 
I’m taking L2 next June and have heard that ethics is quite similar to the L1 exam. So, having that said, I believe it would be enough to use Schweser notes, mocks and Qbank.
This is a good article on how to prepare ethics … hope it helps! http://bit.ly/How-to-prepare-Ethics
Funny that you post a link to a rather basic text which recommends using the curriculum when you yourself plan to rely on Schweser…
The 2013 level 2 ethic was a complete waste of time, it wouldn’t make a difference whether you have studied this section or not cuz in the actual exam, all the questions were very subjective, I can say that I studied really hard for the ethic section n I walked out of the exam room feeling “god please help me in ethics…” the thing that u should get out of my story is, no preparation is enough for the ethic section of the exam, cfai always manage to surprise you with their ethic question…
What did you score and how did you prepare?
Soft Dollar Standards and Research Objectivity Standards are new to L2. That said, Ethics vignettes (L2) seemed to be more challending than single, self-contained questions on the topic (L1) - for me at least. I didn’t read Ethics at L2 (except for the new ROS and SDS). Instead, I did problems for 40-50 minutes at lunch everyday from April through May. At work, lunchtime was Ethics time.
I’ve gotten over 70 on L1 and L2. I’ve hit ethics as the last study session both times as its pretty basic and you’ll forget anythign you learned 4 months prior. I try to do a few practice problems when I can in the final month of prep and then I spend an hour or two friday morning before the exam reviewing ethics…doing vignettes from schweser tests that I didn’t take and the cfai material i didn’t cover. It’s really about knowing how they word the questions in my opinion and understanding why you got the questions right or wrong. If you get this down, you’ll be good. In my opinion, ethics is a very efficient subject area to spend time on since theres not much material and a lot of points in it.
i havent read any ethics stuff from CFAI yet for either level, mainly have done practice Qs for it and havent had a problem. Yea I never think im doing well when Im answering the Qs on the actual test, but got >70% on 1 and 2.
Ethics should not be a problem with moderate study and mocks…I cleared all three levels with no special attention to ethics…Just try to apply common sense after reading basic material
www.cfatutor.net - a tutoring service that offers intensive CFA preparation through coaching