Let’s say someone found L1 easy to understand, but did find the curriculum vast, how would L2 compare to L1? Would passing L2 be more difficult or would require more work compared to L1? If yes, how much more work. Please advise. Also, can anyone point me to a thread of benefits of having a CFA? Does that help at all? How much are starting pays assuming a bit of CFA related experience and worked with CFAs in the past.
Level 1 is to Level 2 as a Swedish massage is to castration-by-way-of-cheese-grater
For all people who will barely pass L1 (ie just make the minimum MPS) : my advice is enjoy your life and don`t even try L2. Honestly.
Level 1 :: Level 2 Fresh, warm spring morning :: First 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan
one billion dollars, thats why so few cfa’s- most just retire 
you cant ask this question until after the scores are out, then people can have perspective. “how hard is that test that you just studied your ass off for and have no clue if i passed?” i don’t know dude, wait a few months…
Its slightly easier imo. Id say dont even study.
L2 had a similar amount of material (probably just under 3,000 pages each) but the depth of the material was much greater. Also, many of the concepts are probably more foreign to the candidate (not really covered in your basic finance/econ undergrad courses). As a result, more time would probably need to go into the preparation. I thought the item-set format was more difficult than stand-alone questions as well. Due to there only being 120 questions (as opposed to 240), it is more difficult for the CFAI to test the body of knowledge. As a result, major topics seemed to be missed on the exam while the nuances of the obscure topics could kill you if you aren’t completely prepared. As a result, you need to know everything to a greater extent (1 question out of 240 won’t kill you but 6 out of 120 might). All in all, the two really weren’t very comparable.
matmutte Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > For all people who will barely pass L1 (ie just > make the minimum MPS) : my advice is enjoy your > life and don`t even try L2. Honestly. I failed L1 and then barely passed on try 2… Felt like I held my own in the 4 months between Decmeber exam and June exam… Not that i can guarentee i passed, but i have put in my time and wouldnt say i am a guarenteed fail… Dont let anyone ever tell you what you cant do.
come on guys, can you be more specific instead of cracking jokes and comparisons with massage and movies. in terms of studies, how much harder, and why? was it more material, less clarity, un-interesting? too much FSA? what is it? BTW, I am L1 candidate, and I tried mock exam L2 Ethics section. Got all 6 of them correct in under 8 minutes. Given time was 18 minutes. This one was the chinese student example who worked for her employer for free while studying for L3 and MBA together question. I felt like L2 ethics was easier than L1, no wonders L1 passing rate is only 33% compared to like 50% or so for L2
I disagree with most people who say L2 is significantly harder than L1. It’s harder, but not THAT much harder. I am speaking from my personal experience, and I came from a non-quantitative background and had no previous finance knowledge prior to L1 (i.e. I didn’t know A = L + E). Thus, the gap between knowing nothing to passing L1 (all sections >70) was very large. Also, I obviously don’t even know if I passed L2 yet, so maybe on August 18th I will take back what I say. But I give myself better than 50/50 odds of passing. Now, L2 is definitely harder, but it’s manageable. For someone like you who says you found L1 easy, maybe you won’t see it the same way I did. It’s like someone asking, “Is Algebra 2 harder than Algebra 1?” Well, if you haven’t completed Algebra 1, then of course it is. But if you got an A in Algebra 1, and you are prepared to study hard in Algebra 2, you should be fine.
Level 1 = Saw 1 Level 2 = Saw 1 + 2 + 3 + 4
> > I felt like L2 ethics was easier than L1, no > wonders L1 passing rate is only 33% compared to > like 50% or so for L2 Dude, that is the most ridiculous logic I’ve ever heard. The 50% that fail L2 were strong enough to be a part of the 33% that passed L1.
Ethics is homogenous across all levels for the most part. I just finished level 3 and I was lucky to pass L2 on my first try. Every single thing about the exam was harder. Not one section was easier. The material is deeper, more complex, they don’t test everything. One vignette from the exam had 3 questions from 1 paragraph out of a CFAI book that had over 750 pages in it. If you think you can take 1 ethics vignette and draw conclusions, go ahead. and BTW, I wasnt joking about the massage comparison. that is pretty accurate.
man i would love to see this brilliant mind attempt the ethics on the real exam this year… congrats on getting all 6 of them correct on the practice exam…that’s like feeling good about counting to 10
CFAdreams Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > matmutte Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > For all people who will barely pass L1 (ie just > > make the minimum MPS) : my advice is enjoy your > > life and don`t even try L2. Honestly. > > > I failed L1 and then barely passed on try 2… > Felt like I held my own in the 4 months between > Decmeber exam and June exam… Not that i can > guarentee i passed, but i have put in my time and > wouldnt say i am a guarenteed fail… > > Dont let anyone ever tell you what you cant do. Agree. Ignore reality, facts, and keep dreaming. Nice advice.
and since when was 50% the new L2 pass rate. Last time I checked it was trending more towards 40%.
L1 - a mile wide 5 feet deep L2 - a mile wide and a mile deep
CFAdreams Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ryiaz… watch your mouth on level 2 ethics… it > will do that cheese grater thing mentioned > earlier… there is a reason it was a practice exam > you did It was a mock exam, and they had provided mock exams for L1 and L2. I thought actual exam for L1 was similar in difficulty to L1. And many people have told me, mock exams are similar in difficulty to actual exams. Infact, I have also been told and I agree for L1, that schewser practice exams are a bit more challenging than actual CFA L1 exam. Having said that, I also know that Ethics is not actual representation of the L2 curriculum’s difficulty. Because actual CFAs have told me, that Ethics doesnt get any more difficult in L2 and L3. I found item set format easier because once you have read and understood the story or exhibits, you have to answer the questions. However, the risk as someone mentioned is, they could get you in the details or what-if the item set they picked was from one of your least favorite topics, then you are screwed. Overall, I conclude that L2 could be a bit more work than L1
L1: You are in bed with Nicole Ritchie. L2: You are in bed with Michael Jackson and are 6 years old.