I am looking for some input from some level III candidates. Everyone on this board has been an invaluable resource. I took level I in June and passed. I put in 5 solid months for the exam. I used only schweser except for Ethics (used CFAI). I completed all the schweser readings with 4 weeks to go only to feel like I remembered nothing. I then revised everything again over the next two weeks. Once everything was fresh in my mind again I went to the practice exams, all the Book 6 stuff and a 3 CFAI exams. I am concerned I might have problems with the level II format. Here is my gameplan: 1. Read all the CFAI text first doing no problems 2. Read all the schweser notes doing concept checkers and problems at the end of CFAI chapters. 3. Review schweser notes if needed 4. Lots of Q bank 5. Book 6 and CFAI exams I have read Quant, Econ, part of Port Man and just started FSA in the CFAI texts so far. I apologize if you are getting a bunch of questions like this from level II people. Flame away…
How would/did you adjust your studying from level I to II. Is there a way to prepare for the vignette style or is getting the concepts down pat sufficient?
Looks like ur already ahead of the game …and seems like you have a pretty solid gameplan … Good Luck !
i think doing the problems with the readings really helps you learn the material. Its too easy to read stuff and forget it later, but doing the problems really helped me retain material.
Be careful with your time management. I studied with a guy who went through the original material, or at least tried to. He ended up skipping several sections and failing level II. My suggestion to you would be to focus primarily on the schweser notes to learn the information and work all the original problems and examples along the way. If you notice a disconnect between your understanding and the original material, simply read the section(s) for elaboration. The key is not necessarily how many times you read the material or what material you read, but rather how many problems and tests you complete. Study hard.
use schweser for everything but PM and ethics.
oskigo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > use schweser for everything but PM and ethics. Agreed… For level 2, i only used schweser books… Failed PM but overall pass
Thanks for the comments. I am going to tweak my plan based on your feedback.
I’d second the advice of reading the prep books first and then going back to the CFAI books for context/details. And I’d look over the CFAI books to see which topics the prep course skimmed over. When I took level 2 in June, there were a few “word for word” questions from the text - they would use terminology straight from the CFAI text and those were easy marks for people who read their material (I wasn’t one of them, but managed to pass anyway). Good luck!
I was rushed for time with LII as I passed LI in December. I tried to use the CFAI books; however, they weren’t really helpful. I focused mainly on my prep course as that was what helped me pass LI the most (I read all of the CFAI readings for LI…). I short, read the CFAI stuff if you have time, but focus on what got you through LI. This will change for LIII, but it will work for LII. Good luck. (FWIW, I aced LI with the CFAI readings and my prep course, not as easy of a pass for LII…)
how about exam day strategy for item set type qs ? should you go over the 6 qs first, then read the vignette? also what about taking notes, or will underlining important info in vignette do? share some of the strategies you LIIIs used!! thank you
IMHO: CFAI book = Gold standard; detailed, question format, presentation format all approximations of the exam style of material and many of the questions. Also with the level of LOS turn over there may be a clear lack of appropriate focus by study providers (i.e. new reading seeming to ask you to know A B and C (while the content going into additional detail covering A, B, C, D, E and F), but study prep. provider covering too little or focusing on the wrong part. I used CFAI books and supplemented with Schweser. I will certainly be repeating for L3.
JP Can you clarify what you said. You begin by saying that CFAI book is gold standard, and then end by saying that you used CFAI books and will be repeating L3?
What I mean by Gold Standard is if you study the CFAI books, and know them as per the LOSs you will be sitting pretty (relative just Schweser), i.e. better chances for the exam. Having said that Sch. is great review material and that’s what I use it for. For clarification, I used just the CFAI material for LI plus supplemental notes plus Qbank (sch.) and passed 1st time out. Then for L2 I used CFAI and Sch. notes and Qbank and passed 1st time out. This is my 1st time doing L3 (and I’m hoping for a hat trick), so I plan to use the same strat for L2 minus the Qbank (the Qbank was underutilized, because, although it was very good for review and very challenging at times, I found that there was already plenty of good material in Sch and the CFAI stuff and questions available with the notes and the CFAI material and exam books). IMHO, there is a risk with using only Schweser or any other study provider exclusively; namely that with liberalization of the program material and LOSs (30 -40% change over with the bundled material year after year thus far), that the study provider will underestimate the CFAI requirement for an LOS or misinterpret what the CFAI would be looking for in a topic or reading. There is also the chance that the CFAI may pick out a section they feel was under-covered in Sch. for instance and hammer it home on the exam visa-via an entire Vignette on the exam or a question or two. That is one good reason I am relying less on Schweser as I would have if I took exam pre-2006 (pre-bundled material), when the material was from the same general sources (i.e. texts for L1 - L3).
Gotcha, thanks JP