L2 retakers who passed 2nd try...any advice on study approach 2nd time around?

CFA Level III
#1

First, congrats to all who moved to L3 and best of luck over the next 7 months.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of the fortunate one’s who made it through L2 on first attempt. I simply ran out of time and wasn’t able to make it all the way through the cirriculum until after the exam and only took one mock. It was no surprise to me that I did not pass.

Does anyone who passed L2 on 2nd try have any advice on a study program? Should I hit the cirriculum front to back again? Should just invest in an overview type class such as Kaplan and hammer on questions and mock exams?

What seemed to work for you all in slaying the L2 beast second time around?

BTW, I failed band 5 without studying derivatives, ethics, alternatives, little review and 1 mock

Thank you!

#2

Mock exam

then work on your shortcomings

repeat

#3

“simply ran out of time”?? if you have that attitude then expect to be punched in the face again.

#4

Here’s what I did to pass level 2 on my second try:

Switched from CFAI texts to Kaplan (which was great because they were much easier to get into going on my second attempt and made the material far easier to understand and master. Seriously, getting motivated to get back up wasn’t easy and diving into the CFAI quant section would have been brutal)

I would try to read 1 chapter per night (after work) although some chapters require more. Stop to make sure you fully understand the material or you’ll be rereading that entire chapter in May when you should be focusing on other things. Also, try to intuitively understand what the formulas are doing so you think about valuation that way, not just rote memorization. Q bank questions following each chapter the next day over lunch. They’re great for retaining the information and understanding it. Q bank is NOT what you use in April / May. After reading through 2 sections I would do a full review over a weekend of EVERYTHING up to that point. Start with practice questions and then visit whatever you’re shaky on. When I was too tired or found the material too dry, I watched the online videos and THEN read through the chapter. Aim to be finished all of the reading by mid / late March and leave yourself 2 months to do practice exams (one full exam per week) and any rereading you need to do for the sections that need more work.

Did all 6 Kaplan mock exams, the CFAI mock exam, the CFAI sample vignettes online, and the Kaplan live mock.

Aim for 2 hours every day on weekdays and whatever you can on a weekend (4 hours on both days worked well for me).

Reread EVERYTHING. Do NOT try to game the exam and try to estimate the odds of them asking one thing or another. Don’t look at a section that makes up a smaller part of the exam and not give it your full attention. It’s early enough, just know it all. They’re actually easy sections and extra points from them could be the difference between a pass or fail. Don’t assume you remember from last year and skip a section either. You’d be surprised.

My mentality was that I had to start fresh from scratch and just plow through it. No shortcuts, no excuses. It sucks to fail but it sucks even more to fail again and / or quit. My score was MUCH higher the second time around. Like… nowhere close to failing. The last 3 mocks I wrote I was scoring above 80%. Aim to be scoring bare minimum 70% on the kaplan mocks. They are very good and I found they were an excellent approximation for what to expect on exam day.

That’s what worked for me. Hope it helps. You just need to pick a day, jump in, grind it out.

#5

Here is what I did for my second try. Bought new Kaplan in Aug and went play really hard between Aug and Jan (the harder you play, more guilt you would feel…). Barely touched books until late Jan.

Key

  1. Exercise at least three times a week

  2. CFAI EOC - literally did the EOC for two times, printed all the EOC out and re-do them when I finished writing my answers in CFAI books for the first time. (will definitely become a tree in my next life time)

3 Mock exams

#6

Practice practice and practice note down the question which gives new concept or you made a silly mistake and keep revising those before exam !!

#7

Attitude? I don’t think this is a matter of attitude. Actually, it is just that simple. The study schedule I laid out was unsuccessful due to a number of factors leading up to the exam. I dropped the ball on time management and simply wasn’t able to get to everything I needed to on time. Now, I’m trying to determine a starting point and I hardly think it has anything to do with attitude…thanks for your helpful input.

#8

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#9

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#10

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#11

[quote=“onlysimon”]

“simply ran out of time”?? if you have that attitude then expect to be punched in the face again.

[Blah, blah blah]

#12

[quote=“Citizen3”]

Here’s what I did to pass level 2 on my second try:

Switched from CFAI texts to Kaplan (which was great because they were much easier to get into going on my second attempt and made the material far easier to understand and master. Seriously, getting motivated to get back up wasn’t easy and diving into the CFAI quant section would have been brutal)

I would try to read 1 chapter per night (after work) although some chapters require more. Stop to make sure you fully understand the material or you’ll be rereading that entire chapter in May when you should be focusing on other things. Also, try to intuitively understand what the formulas are doing so you think about valuation that way, not just rote memorization. Q bank questions following each chapter the next day over lunch. They’re great for retaining the information and understanding it. Q bank is NOT what you use in April / May. After reading through 2 sections I would do a full review over a weekend of EVERYTHING up to that point. Start with practice questions and then visit whatever you’re shaky on. When I was too tired or found the material too dry, I watched the online videos and THEN read through the chapter. Aim to be finished all of the reading by mid / late March and leave yourself 2 months to do practice exams (one full exam per week) and any rereading you need to do for the sections that need more work.

Did all 6 Kaplan mock exams, the CFAI mock exam, the CFAI sample vignettes online, and the Kaplan live mock.

Aim for 2 hours every day on weekdays and whatever you can on a weekend (4 hours on both days worked well for me).

Reread EVERYTHING. Do NOT try to game the exam and try to estimate the odds of them asking one thing or another. Don’t look at a section that makes up a smaller part of the exam and not give it your full attention. It’s early enough, just know it all. They’re actually easy sections and extra points from them could be the difference between a pass or fail. Don’t assume you remember from last year and skip a section either. You’d be surprised.

My mentality was that I had to start fresh from scratch and just plow through it. No shortcuts, no excuses. It sucks to fail but it sucks even more to fail again and / or quit. My score was MUCH higher the second time around. Like… nowhere close to failing. The last 3 mocks I wrote I was scoring above 80%. Aim to be scoring bare minimum 70% on the kaplan mocks. They are very good and I found they were an excellent approximation for what to expect on exam day.

That’s what worked for me. Hope it helps. You just need to pick a day, jump in, grind it out.

Citizen3, this is actual input…I appreciate it!

I agree with your approach and glad it worked for you. This year I am going to make sure I leave at least 2 months for practice and mocks. I’m also not going to try and game the exam either as last year I spent too much time on Equites and FRA, which I scored well on, but at the expense of majorly screwing up derivatives and ethics.

I’m going your route by way of Kaplan with a mix of CFAI this year. I switched to Wiley as a supplement last year and think it messed with me.

Thanks again and good luck to all!

#13

[quote=“shuuuuuuuu”]

Here is what I did for my second try. Bought new Kaplan in Aug and went play really hard between Aug and Jan (the harder you play, more guilt you would feel…). Barely touched books until late Jan.

Key

  1. Exercise at least three times a week

  2. CFAI EOC - literally did the EOC for two times, printed all the EOC out and re-do them when I finished writing my answers in CFAI books for the first time. (will definitely become a tree in my next life time)

3 Mock exams

Good-EOC is going to be a big part this year too…this kind of input allows for construcitve thought process on my end…thank you.

#14

I failed band 9, then passed the next try. Here’s what I did–don’t know if you’d agree. It was expensive, but better to sacrifice the money than the time:

  1. You have to do the grunt work again. Don’t look for shortcuts just because you went through one time. Use the prep providers as review, but the CFAI material as the main source.

  2. Massive # of questions from multiple sources. I used Schweser, CFAI, Wiley, and Finquiz. I did questions almost every day as I was going through the material. Q-Bank is perfect for this. Don’t kill yourself though. 20 questions here and there was all I did until I was through the material.

  3. Concentrate on the CFAI questions, esp. the blue boxes.

  4. Lots of DIY flash cards all throughout the study process. Take these with you everywhere.

  5. I relied heavily upon the video classes, whereas in the first round I tried to use the last-minute review seminar as a big study aid. That was a mistake.

  6. John Harris for accounting.

  7. I used Schweser and Wiley. Schweser video classes I stuck to pretty religiously. Wiley videos I used to reinforce weak areas.

  8. Finish with material and review questions 60 days early, then start taking mocks. I would estimate I did about 20 mock exams.

  9. Repeat three or four of the mock exams to boost confidence the last two weeks.

  10. Keep yourself physically fit and eat well. The first time around, I ate junk non-stop. Second time I was on a clean diet and going to the gym. Big difference.

  11. Compile your formula sheet and keep rewriting it. Each time you write it, it should take about an hour or so to complete. The act of writing is what matters, so write the thing 10 to 20 times over until it’s automatic. On exam day, you’ll thank yourself.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

#15

mfreema2 that was impressive

If you have time please outline what you did for level3

i think it would useful to get your insights on the next level

#16

Band 4 to pass, here’s what I did:

  1. For learning, no Kaplan or other material. I went straight to the horse’s mouth with CFAI text.

  2. Went over (and understood) all blue boxes and chapter end/CFAI book questions.

  3. I did use Kaplan’s Qbank for “soft study” and repitition.

  4. Things I missed, I would go back and learn.

  5. Get Kaplan’s formula sheet as well and use it as a guide. If you don’t know it front to back, you’re probably signing up again for L2 – sorry, but it’s that simple. That is the baseline of knowlege you need to know.

  6. Interestingly enough, I did no Mock exams (I don’t think this is good strategy however). I did do all CFAI given questions on their site, however.

  7. Took nootropics (Nootrobox’s stack and Aniracetam, if you’re interested in exactly what I took), seriously cut back on drinking, ran 4 miles-plus three times a week with a weight-training regimen. It is important, especially if you are older.

  8. Week of, I took off of work and used Elan’s 11-th hour guide. I cannot stress how valuable this was. I even read it before the test and during the lunch break. GET ELAN’s 11-HOUR GUIDE. BEST SUB-$100 YOU’LL SPEND FOR L2.

I also had to marry my then-girlfriend as she got upset about being a CFA widow (because I basically abandoned her). : )

Good luck.

#17

I don’t know if you want to emulate this or not. I’m just average intelligence, have 5 young kids at home, coach sports year-round, and work full time. As a result, I’ve always started late and then had to kill it the last 45 days or so. I also use multiple prep providers, which costs $$.

My first tip is to start early, like now. You really have to get deep into the material or you will have a hard time passing. IMO, L3 was the most difficult level.

My early season study went like this:

  1. Schweser video class before reading anything. I’d make DIY flashcards and populate the formula sheet as I covered each video. If you want a good notecard study method, look up the “Leitner Method” for studying notecards. Start on formula sheet from the beginning, and revise/re-write it often. Understanding the “Why” behind the concept is crucial, and videos are the best way to get an explanation if you’re wired that way. The Schweser guy was really good–David Heatherington, I think. I hope he’s still doing the videos if you’re using them.

  2. Read the Schweser Notes. I found that for L3 I had to hit the CFAI much harder than before. So be careful about leaning too heavily on prep provider materials.

  3. Create small Q-Bank questions and do them throughout the day. Nothing crazy, just a few. Keep it limited to the LOS you’re currently on and increase the volume of questions/LOS’ as you move along. Hit the CFAI questions as well. Many of these were really hard, and if you’re stuck on a concept, the CFAI text is difficult to decipher. That’s where the prep providers came into play.

Stagger your practice! Don’t save all the questions for the end.

Once you get through the material, step up the practice big-time and book a boot camp.The earlier the better on the boot camp.

For L3 I used Schweser as the main prep provider, thought they were excellent. The videos were the most crucial aspect of my early study. The Q-Bank is a monster as well in terms of volume. Their 3-day bootcamp was pretty good too. I also went to the LevelUp bootcamp in April. Totally worth the investment because I got focused on some things I wasn’t advised on with the other providers. I used Finquiz a little bit, and found their summaries to be excellent items to carry around for ad-hoc study. I know we’re talking a few thousand extra dollars here, but it’s better than failing.

Review, Practice, Remediate. In the beginning, do more Review than Practice. Then start doing more Practice than Review. Equally important is Remediation, where you are reviewing and re-practicing what you got wrong in the most important areas. Consider actually writing down in one of those composition notebooks the logic and rationale for the correct answer. .

Take the last 10 years’ AM questions. Then repeat them a few more times. Doesn’t have to be done in timed sessions. In fact, don’t worry too much about timed sessions because then you’ll put off doing mock exam questions until you have a 3-hour block of time. Repeating mock exams is an effective retention method. I think it deepens the level of preparation and increases the confidence level. I must have done these seven or eight times. The guy at LevelUp, Marc Lefebvre, put together a notebook with exam questions going back to the nineties, partitioned by study session and with the irrelevant questions removed.

Towards the end, know what to abandon and what to keep reviewing.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Cheers

Mike

#18

Expect to know the nitty gritty, and sometimes, very small details that you thought would not be tested might be there …

#19

Thanks Mike that was an awesome post. Quite thorough, and shows just what one needs to do in terms of commitment. Thank you for being so generous with your time and your advice.

#20

Round 1:

I passed L1 in December, my contract ended, and I moved by March. I started studying for level 2 in April, but I was able to study full time while looking for another contract. I relied exclusively on Schweser due to my shortened schedule. Failed Band 9. I started to panic near the end as I knew I was close but I wasn’t going to be able to get over the hump. I felt like the Q Bank was a waste of time.

Round 2:

Registered and began to study but my job function changed so I abandoned the CFA to deep dive into SQL/VBA.

Round 3:

I started studying in December this time around. I read Schweser, but used the CFAI EOC rather than the Q Bank. I think that really helps as the CFAI has a different way of asking the same type of questions. I think Schweser puts on some training wheels by providing you with the inputs. The CFAI tends to make you derive the inputs. Not sure if that makes any since to you but I think that is an important distinction.

What did I learn?

Use CFAI EOC & CFAI Online Assessments. You should use every single one of these questions.

Don’t use the Q Bank unless you have an abundance of time.

Take multiple mock exams. Keep track of how you do so you can target your weaknesses.

Sit for a live mock if you can.​