At least 57% of you are going to fail. Decide for yourself whether you call it “That Difficult” by whatever defination you give to the phrase.
I will tell you what is “That Difficult”. It is how to take-in the shattering blow 57% of you will receive via email on the 22nd of July 2014 just after 9am EST.
A mixture of studying L2 like L1 and pursing sucess in my career (which took away from study time) caused me to fail L2 this year. It really just requires more work than L1. I tried coasting through again with only around a month of serious study time – I knew most of the material, but didn’t know many of the “tricks” contained within
And I’m amazed at all the people trying to act cool and saying its easy, when if you’d look at their post archive their feelings were different just a few months ago ha ha
That’s faulty logic. By comparing it that way, Level 1 would be considered the most difficult in the program by way of pass rate (38%). It sounds more daunting when you replace the 57% in your statements with 62%…
For me it was all about the practice tests. The material was much denser for me in L2 than L1 (no financial backround). I went up about 20 points from my first to last practive test, and passed. Make sure you allocate plenty of time for full-lenght practice tests and reviewing the results.
Everyone’s view on this will be drastically different (obviously), I personally think that it is a very tough exam, and I am one of those people who started studying in October/November to pass (on my first attempt). I think anyone who passes this thing with only a few months of studying and says ‘its easy and anyone can pass it’ is an outlier. They are either:
a) brilliant
b) or have an in depth finance background
Its a tough exam, don’t take it lightly.
No - the faulty logic is in your example. L1 pass rate is the lowest, but that’s because ANYBODY can take it. L2’s pass rate includes those that have proven themselves capable of passing the entrance exam (more competitive pool).
You have awfully strong opinions about L2, yet you’ve probably not even opened a book. You sound like someone that wants to convince themselves that L2 isn’t much worse than L1 despite what those that have experience with it are telling you. Here’s my advice to you - listen to those that are willing to share their input and if it disturbs you, either ask them to clarify or avoid the thread completely. You’re arguing something with which you’re unfamiliar.
I do believe you’d do well to study those topics that you think you’ve covered in undergrad. I felt, coming into L2, that many topics had been discussed in my undergrad coursework but at L2, CFAI requires a greater understanding of that material than some 200 or 300 level undergrad course.
cgottuso8190, rest assured, I have more than a healthy dose of fear in the beast known as level 2. And I respect those who have passed it, and appreciate those who lend a helping hand. (Seriously, thank you for your advice).
I understand, and agree with you, that the pass rate is the lowest for level 1 because anyone that is in their last year of college, or graduated, can sign up for it.
Regardless of who is taking the exam, 62% of the pool still failed level 1, and 57% still failed level 2. I did not infer, nor claim, that level 1 is harder than level 2. I merely stated that when applying Time Travel’s methodology of using the failure rates as a gauge of difficulty , that 62% failing level 1 was a more intimidating figure than 57% failing level 2 which falsely makes lvl 1 appear to be the most difficult. (I know this is FAR from the case).
I am well aware of, thanks to everyone here who has commented on, as well as friends and colleagues who have told me about, lvl 2’s difficulty and demanding requirements. This has helped fuel my more-than-healthy-dose-of-fear of this exam.
I agree, wholeheartedly, that it would serve me well to study those topics that were covered in undergrad.
Thanks for the friendly debate. I apologize if I came off as cocky or conceited, this is not the case. If anything, I am humbled by those who have conquerred level 2, as well as what lies ahead of me throughout the remaining duration of my studies.
I am sure your background will help, it’s like a lot of accountants take the CFA and they don’t need to re-study the FSA sections too much.
BUT the CFA curriculum is large enough that, even if there are fractions of each topics that you haven’t studied, it’s enough to fail you.
It’s like what i tell people, the topics covered in CFA are not particularly challenging individually. I am sure most people will ace the tests if they are examined topic by topic.
However, remembering everything on that day is a completely different story, understanding it for once doesn’t necessarily mean you can perform on the exam day when it counts.
dude you are so off base. look at the past exams, you can count on quant and econ being 5% with let’s say 80% confidence. they absolutely will not make or break you. if you are smart, you will focus your quant and econ brain cells on accounting and equity, since they and only they WILL make or break you.
you are in for a rude awakening thinking that a quick lease problem in college will suffice for this. just like thinking that learning a formula for FCFF or FCFE (which is different from the one that CFA provides) will have you covered. Not to mention that FCFF is broken down into 5 different formulas, each of which you need to know, and it is not plug and chug—you must assertain some of the values
people get too chill, see a 50% pass rate for L3 and let their guard down. then get violated on exam day.
doncfa book examples and eoc properly. Thats it
giv atleast 6 mocks
clip, thanks for your advice, it’s much appreciated. I just want to say that I was not inferring that what was covered in my undergrad would be sufficient. To believe that would be foolish, and most likely serve me up a big fat band 5 on results day next July. As I have proclaimed above, I feel I have a more than healthy dose of fear of level 2, and will not take any section, particularly Equity and FRA , lightly. Seriously, I’m scared of this exam. I agree fully that I should look at prior exams and their topic weightings. However, I was merely pointing out because of the way CFAI defines topic weighting ranges, econ and quant can potentially be as meaningful as CF, AI, FI, ethics, derivs and PM.
Level 2 felt twice as hard as level 1 because there was more material and the format of the test made it more difficult.
Just start early. I did level 1 in December and started studying for level 2 in January. It wasn’t much time. I suggest starting in October if you want to have a life.
The massiveness of the curriculum is one of the major reasons for L2 to seem way more difficult than L1. I would suggest starting early and ensuring at least two to three revisions so that the concepts are fresh in mind. Equally important are the practice exams…the more the merrier…That’s because you should know how to apply what you have learnt…
I wasn’t aware of the difference in weight areas in the curriculum … Since Equity investments are my field and their weight has increased - that’s a good thing for me!
I think the difficulty with these conversations is that it is tought to normalize everyones experience. The process is very individual, and we all have different priorities/backgrounds.
It is time consuming but I wouldn’t say difficult. I did december-june turnaround while working full time and was in in a PT MBA program during Level 2.
I prioritized the exam put my 250 (real) hours in and had a smart and consisent approach to it and it all came together. I think that for most people life gets in the way, making the exam more difficult than it needs to be.
If you want to pass enought you can make some sacrifices over 3-4 months to pass level II.
It’s hard. I’ve got a series 7, OSJ, CFP, ChFC, and the level two was by far the most challenging course of study I have taken. It’s absolutely doable, but you will likely work your ass off.
That being said, very best.
Dont forget the people who are graded against gets tougher as you progress and the type of exam gets progressively harder. So less margin for error. Study early and often. There’s a lot of material to master, most of which gets tested. Also, we could be seeing a trend toward lower passing levels being set by the board. Good luck.
i don’t think people should freak out studying for an exam, i think one performs best when they feel calm and somewhat confident.
that said, don’t take it likely and there is no “lucky pass” for L2, everyone who passed need to study hard for it regardless of background.
some takes couple of months some takes couple of years - but there are intense studying regardless of the length.
bump