How Did We Do It? Tips to Pass L2

CFA Level II
#21

Passed 1st try in a shocker (gave myself 30% chance to pass). Used Schweser notes extensively, took a live class (although didn’t find it all that useful besides the slideshows provided), found Qbank a bit of a waste of time. I felt it came down to the CFAI end of chapter questions and summaries. I ripped out each EOC summary/question section and brought it to accompany the Schweser materials.

Did 6 mocks (4 schweser, 1 live schweser, 1 CFAI mock) and failed them all miserably, maxing out at like 60 on one of them and 55 on CFAI. Did some of the CFAI EOC’s (item set only) twice and I felt this was the key to passing. Of course spent a bulk of time on FSA, Equity, Corp Fin, Ethics & a decent amount of time on Alts (had a feeling this would come in handy). Felt that I blindly guessed on 20-25% of the exam (QM, Derivs, PM, much of Econ come to mind here).

Doing so poorly on the mocks served as sort of a motivational tool not to be complacent and keep pushing through that last week and if I were to do it over, I would do the EOC item sets 2-3 times - amazing resource that’s right in front of you to get practice straight from the source. Felt the real exam was easier than any of the mocks.

#22

As others have already mentioned for Level II:

  1. Blue Boxes (3x)
  2. EOCs (3x)
  3. Mocks (I did 3, but in hindsight, I would have done at least 5 or more)

Exclusively CFAI materials as this is more than enough stuff to get through

#23

1. What was your matrix?

Ethics, Economics, Derivatives, and Fixed Income: 50-70%

All the rest 70% +

2. Study materials?

Started CFAI only but got 60% through the curriculum and then started falling behind. Started watching Schweser videos and reading the notes, which helped put me back on track. Then re-watched all the videos and did EOC questions from CFAI material. Then did end of chapter questions from Schweser notes just to get my head around a few tougher concepts. Finally, went through 6 Schweser exams (very well written imho), score varied from mid sixties to 81, and without any pattern (as in progressively getting better or worse). Did one ‘sample exam’ from CFAI (the 2 hour mini versions), and with a week to go got a 63% on CFAI’s 2013 mock. That was a bit scary.

3. Estimated hours?

Over 300.

4. Any tips?

If you aced level 1, you will have an advantage going into level 2 though it will be far from easy (this was my case). If you barely scratched by level 1, you’re going to have to work twice as hard if not more to get through level 2.

Get very good with details, learn to scan the vignette for the right information, get well practiced with the memory functions in your calculator - many formulas require numerous intermediate steps.

Likely the hardest subjects: pricing currency swaps (derivatives) and pension accounting, both have lots of moving parts to keep track of.

Most important part of preparation: doing the mock exams.

#24

AI -QA - Ethics 50-70%, Rest >70%

Do schweser 3-4 times

I did schweser 2 times on a really slow manner

The rest two passes were just one monthe before exam

Never wrote a mock in timely manner (3hrs limit)

Still managed to finish both sections in 2hrs 30 mins

I did all the practice exams questions in schweser, Volume 1 & 2 Practice exam and last 5 years mocks twice on an one on one basis

I never touched CFA curriculum both in level 1 and level 2

I never ordered their books, I order it online everytime

I will be doing the same in level 3 also

I believe these exams are more about retaining stuffs rather than application based so you have to revise the things again and again to retain and cfa curriculum wont help in this case

#25
  1. What was your matrix?

Alternatives, CF and Economics at 51-70%, the rest >70%

  1. Study materials?

Schewser materials including Secret Sauce + Cheat sheet, Doing CFAI blue boxes questions (I skipped those that were open-ended, but on key topics such as Equity and FRA, I tried answering them too to test my depth of understanding), Elan’s 11th Hour review guide, and my own notes

  1. Estimated hours?

No clue… I gave up keep score. Ultimately quality of the hours spent > quantity. The last 100 hours spent were FAR more productive than the first 100 hours falling asleep at my notes.

  1. Any tips?

Apart from standard advice like do as many mock exams as possible, I would like to recommend using a program like Evernote to keep track of weak areas as you go along. Why Evernote?

  • It’s free

  • There’s a search function – you can type in the key words you want e.g. Covariance stationary and instantly find the notes you took regarding that area, as opposed to flipping through your notebook

  • Camera function allows you to take pictures of certain chunks of text instead of typing it. And the beauty of it is, Evernote recognizes text in picture. For instance, if the picture I took has the words Covariance Stationary in it, the search results will flag these pictures too (as long as the picture is decently shot)

  • A efficient and hassle-free way to review your weak areas on-the-go, or even on test day itself. You can review it on your smartphone, or on PC, or tablet, so long as Evernote is synced.

Disclaimer: Evernote did not pay or compensate me for posting this J

#26

I’m not going to rebut any of the previous posters’ strategies as they may be effective. I’d just like to share one thing that I felt made me pass the exam. Schweser organizes a live mock exam 2 weeks before the actual. It’s a sit-in exam with the same basic procedures save for some narrations and the place itself. By then, I have studied all CFAI materials and Schweser’s Secret Sauce and of course my notes. So there I was taking the exam… I got a freakin 58% grade (note that I have covered everything). It made me question my skills and at the same time made me want to seek revenge. Thereafter, I answered lots and lots and lots of practice exams until I reached a certain level of confidence. If I got a high grade in that live mock exam, I may have felt a bit confident and may have not studied more intensely that I did.

To the L2 taker, I beg you to take the live mock exam!

<50% on Alts and Quants; mid on FI

#27

This is good advice re: the live mock. I am not a huge fan of Schweser otherwise but have done the live mock for both level I & II and found it to be extremely helpful as well as a wake-up call.

#28

I passed on my first attempt this year. Here are my numbers and the methods that worked for me:

  1. >70% CF, Ethics, FRA; <=50% Econ, FI; remaining 5 areas 51-70%. Not scintillating numbers, but I apparently did well enough in some key areas and decently in a bunch more to get the passing score.

  2. Used Schweser Notes and Videos as primary materials. Did CFAI EOC’s a fair amount, but not exhaustively. Focused on item-set type questions, especially in areas where I needed reinforcement and for the big-points topic areas.

In addition, I took John Harris’ Level II Accounting seminar. I knew doing well on FRA would be critical to passing and that it was one of my weaker areas. Note, I have never taken an accounting class and I got 70%+ in this area, so I think doing the additional work and spending the additional money was crucial to my passing.

I did Schweser Qbank quizzes for review after every section. I know people complain that Qbank does not give you questions similar to the exam, and I think that’s generally true, but it is good for reinforcing mastery of the topics in my opinion. I also created my own note cards throughout and reviewed them regularly throughout my studying.

In the last three weeks I used Schweser Secret Sauce, did some Qbank review, went back to the Notes when necessary, and crammed on my note cards. I did three Schweser mocks and the CFAI mock. Ideally I would have had one more week to study and done a few more mocks. I took the last week off from work.

  1. I’m guessing 350-380 hours total, but that’s a rough estimate.

  2. See above, but I’d say keep plugging away regularly at your studying, whichever provider you use, make sure to review earlier material periodically as you get farther away from it, make your own notecards, and do whatever it takes to master weak areas, particularly those that encompass the most points on the exam.

Good luck to all you future Level II test-takers.

P.S. One other thing that I should mention is that I fully re-read the CFAI ethics material at the end of my initial curriculum review and also re-did almost all of the CFA ethics questions. I actually thought I had bombed Ethics but clearly something stuck. I also re-read Ethics for my Level I review, so I think it’s a worthwhile tactic.

#29
  1. What was your matrix?

This is irrelevant because whether you got 70s on all sections or not, a pass is a pass. (Mine was an ugly pass)

  1. Study materials?

Combo of Schweser and CFAI text. I would work through each section in Schweser, take the end of chapter Schweser questions and then read the summary at the end of the CFAI text and then do a bulk EOC questions. I picked random samples when there were too many questions. I did ALL CFAI EOC vignettes.

  1. Estimated hours?

Didn’t count. Started studying in January and did 3 hours a day on weekdays and 6 hours on weekends. Then did some random extra 2 hours in the morning on occasion. Some cheat days here and there. Feel free to do the math.

  1. Any tips?

Start early so you’re not scrambling at the end or feeling like you need to eliminate certain topics.

Dedicate more time to the heavy weights. Equity and FRA. Don’t skip over the other stuff but if you’re at a crossroads betweeen studying those 2 and a smaller weight subject, go with one of those 2.

Do NOT skip ethics. Leave Ethics as your last topic and read from the CFAI text. All 300+ pages. This keeps it fresher in your head. On exam morning, I went through ethics in Schweser and that paid off.

Do sample exams from institute and CFAI mock. Best to get the questions directly from the horse’s mouth.

Pray S2000Magician is still around to answer questions.

Take breaks. Dont burn out.

#30

2 Tactical things:

  1. Push yourself to study 30 minutes a day minimum.

Especially if you’re busy on weekdays and you don’t feel like it, make yourself a promise to sit down and study for 30 minutes with laser focus. Set the alarm for 30 minutes later. If after 30 minutes you still don’t feel like studying, then just go do what you usually do to vege out (i.e. watch tv) More often than not, you’ll be in the mood to study more, so keep going!

  1. Use Evernote (www.evernote.com)

I use this program to take notes in my studies. Around December when I started, I created a separate note for EACH LOS. Then take notes by LOS this way as you go through your study provider. Schweser organzied their notes and videos according to LOS so this system complemented it well. If you’ve gone through everything the provider offers and some notes are still blank, you’ll know to review them in CFAI texts.

#31
  1. What was your matrix?

<50% quant and deriv

50-70 alt inv and fixed income

>70% everything else

  1. Study materials?

Elan videos/problems/ 1 mock

CFAI problems/mocks

2 Schweser mocks

  1. Estimated hours?

150 or so? Started in late January

  1. Any tips?

I took two weeks off before the test to cram which definitely helps in my opinion. Some of those days I put in 6-8 hours, others I probably only put in 3-4 but it was still way better than going to work and got me in the right mode. I pretty much just watched most of the videos from Jan-May and then started doing problems/mocks in May.

#32

That’s [blessed] hilarious!

#33

FLASHCARDS FLASHCARDS FLASHCARDS

Make your own - for formulas only - as you go through the material. I had about 150 or so for Level II. Separate them by book, and tackle one book at a time when reviewing them.

I am convinced this is what got me to pass Level II after I failed the first time.

#34

Ptwindsor…how can I get a copy of your spreadsheet ?..think it would help me a lot…let me know

#35
  1. What was your matrix?

all >70% bar ethics 50-70% 2nd time round after band 9 doing dec to june turnaround in 11-12

  1. Study materials?

mainly schweser supplemented with cfai text for fra, bb and eoc for all topics.

  1. Estimated hours?

just over 350 hours

  1. Any tips?

for retakers, start early with any areas you feel you just didn’t get 1st time round, for me it was fra, i slowly read through the book starting in november, doing every bb and eoc and really drilling the concepts, creating flashcards as i went. this whole process took a long time.

then read through the rest of the syllabus from start to finish, its tempting to skip a full read through if you’re retaking but i think its essential.

set aside time to revise as you go, flash cards are great for this. do the eocs again to revise as well.

take a week off on holiday in late jan early feb, this felt totally wrong at the time but in hindsight it is necessary if you’re starting early. this is a tip from a kaplan tutor and works wonders to prevent burn out.

leave over a month at the end of your prep to do questions and mocks and revise. don’t get hung up on schweser mock scores, their exams are nothing like the real thing but they are useful for revising the material and doing all 6 exams will show you areas you need to revise

do as many cfai questions as you possibly can, this includes the official mock, twice, the sample exams twice and any old mocks you’ve saved as a candidate in previous years. in the 2013 exam there were a few wtf questions that also featured in the mock/samples exams. i would guess that i picked up 4-5 marks from doing the sample exams alone.

spend more time marking mocks and deep diving highlighted weak areas than actually taking the mocks. in l1 you can spend may just doing 10 mocks and you’ll pass. this does not work for l2.

don’t skip any topics, a 0/6 or 1/6 item set on the exam is hard to recover from

schwesers fra coverage is all wrong, use cfai questions for this topic. adjustments and knowing how ratios are impacted are crucial elements to passing this topic

don’t study on the friday before the exam, i convinced myself i needed to do this and didn’t get to sleep until about 4. this came back to bite me in the last hour of the pm session though as i burned out, must have had some lucky guesses!

#36

  1. You need to know which way to study works best for you by now, is it with other people? is it from lectures? is it from reading by yourself? is it from talking it out? is it from writing notes? This you have to figure it out yourself

  2. MOST people used CFAI texts and Schweser… so statistically most candidates who pass probably use (a combination of or) either one.

  3. Like i said in another post, it’s not really how many hours, it’s about how hard you study. For me, around 350hrs MAX… I honestly think 300 hours is a pretty good estimation of focused studying it takes to pass the exam - some may argue otherwise.

  4. #1 Tip for everyone is START DOING QUESTIONS EARLY INCLUDING MOCK EXAMS! Don’t wait until the last week to do mocks (save them till the end strategy DOES NOT WORK!!!) Start doing mocks as soon as you have studied a section, and you can always re-do mock exam questions! you will be surprised how much material you’ve missed the first time around.

Good luck,

NANA

#37

Hard to agree that doing mocks is a waste of time, especially when the author acknowledges that he/she was “totally freaked out” when seeing an item set for the first time. Most people I know who successfully passed Level 2 did at least 3-5 mocks, most of them (including myself) were closer to 8-10. Everyone learns differently of course, but mocks definitely have value. If nothing else they train you to shuffle concepts and to pace yourself in testing conditions. Would definitely recommend doing mocks rather than reviewing the same books for the 3rd or 4th time - better mental gymnastics, and much more time efficient IMHO.

#38

For the L2 Passers, congrats! Let’s help out those who will be writing next year…

  1. All >70 except FI and PM.

  2. CFAI materials

  3. ~500 hrs

  4. Commit or get out. Don’t use schweser. It will burn you and then you’ll be devastated when you have to go back again and take L2.

#39

^ I think it’s important to do enough mocks just so you can develop some kind of test taking strats but I also think doing 8-10 is a waste of time. There’s just way too much information in the cirriculum that 10 mocks could have totally different, non-overlapping questions. You can spend that 80+ hours reviewing many more readings than going back and forth from mocks.

I did 2 mocks (between high 50 and low 60). When there was less than a few days remaining till the test and I got back low 60, I stopped doing mocks and went to reviewing since I didn’t want to be further frustrated by another low mock score. During the actual exam I wish I had done 1 or at most 2 more mocks but any more than that would be lost time imho. Of course, no mocks are ill advised and I’d try at least 3 if you have the time to properly sit down and review every question and topic you are iffy about.

That being said, I did get 9 topics over 70% so don’t relate mock score to actual test score. You’ll see people on L2 result thread who consistently got 70+ on mocks and failed the exam.

#40

I passed each exam the first time I took it, but that may have been mostly good guessing.

(Of course, my Level II exam wasn’t multiple-choice; I had to write out an income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. I must have been a really good guesser.)

Don’t read any of my answers. I don’t understand any of this stuff.