Somewhere around March I knew I was not going to pass and although I really did spend a lot of time (in hours) studying, I knew that the quality of my studying was not the best. I am a CPA by trade (for a venture capital firm) and was a bit overwhelmed with some of the finance/investment topics. I only used Schweser to study and a bigger mistake on my part was not taking one day a week as a “review” day to go back and actually study previous topics. My goal when I was studying was to get through the material as fast as I could, completely wrong approach. My new approach is to start early, probably first week in November, go slower and use the CFA text. As I talked to some CFAs that I work with, I realized that I should really try and study more actively, making my own notes from the CFA texts and working through the CFA questions and EOCs carefully. I probably should still buy a question bank, is this ELAN website really that good?? Any thoughts on the new approach as a re-taker? I am dissappointed, but not discouraged.
DO NOT BUY A QUESTION BANK L2 is all vignettes and so no point doing one question at a time. I tried the Schweser one and a couple of topic exams through I realized how useless it really was. BEST ROUTE (if you have ample time) - CFAI books + EOC GOOD ENOUGH ROUTE (if you have a finance background and are fresh out of college) - Schweser
I received a band 5 last year, and then passed this year. The difference for me was more EOC questions and (as suggested by OP) making my own notes. I created by own question bank - a Word doc with a two-column table. Questions in the first column and answers in the second column. I found that this worked well as asking yourself questions reenforces the material better than just reading pages of paragraph-style notes. Just don’t give up!! Best of luck for next year.
Your note taking process is very interesting and does seem more useful than just plain old paragraph style notes. Thanks for the advice!
Hi dlanuez, Here is my thought. Even if you go slower, you are bound to forget what you read in Nov. by Jan. So, in my opinion, the key is to review whatever you have read twice in the last 6 weeks. Do EOC questions a second time around in the last 6 weeks. dlanuez Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Somewhere around March I knew I was not going to > pass and although I really did spend a lot of time > (in hours) studying, I knew that the quality of my > studying was not the best. I am a CPA by trade > (for a venture capital firm) and was a bit > overwhelmed with some of the finance/investment > topics. > > I only used Schweser to study and a bigger mistake > on my part was not taking one day a week as a > “review” day to go back and actually study > previous topics. My goal when I was studying was > to get through the material as fast as I could, > completely wrong approach. > > My new approach is to start early, probably first > week in November, go slower and use the CFA text. > As I talked to some CFAs that I work with, I > realized that I should really try and study more > actively, making my own notes from the CFA texts > and working through the CFA questions and EOCs > carefully. I probably should still buy a question > bank, is this ELAN website really that good?? > > Any thoughts on the new approach as a re-taker? I > am dissappointed, but not discouraged.
I suggest being done with the first round of solid comprehension (including end of chapter problems) by March without notes. Schweser comes out with their Secret Sauce by march April. That is a 200-300 page small size booklet with almost all the formulas you need to know. They do the work for you, get that. In my experience taking notes takes a lot of time and doesnt really add a lot to your memory in the process. Revisit the curriculum for a second round of comprehension (revisit end of chapter problems). Now take additional notes on the Secret Sauce and personalize it. Memorize and nail the updated Secret Sauce. Use the time you were initially planning to take the notes here to spend time with the Secret Sauce. take revisit practice exams, take revisit mock exams. You are ready to nail the CFAI Exam come first week of June. This is how I will do it knowing what I know now. All the best guys and gals. never give up! P.S. I passed L2 in 2009, very close. I took over 400 pages of notes for L2. In hindsight I would have been better off spending that time on other things and just use the Secret Sauce.
How do you expect to pass dlanuez if you keep violating ethics? :PPP … Your plan seems good man, all the best this time 
The+1Guy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I received a band 5 last year, and then passed > this year. The difference for me was more EOC > questions and (as suggested by OP) making my own > notes. I created by own question bank - a Word doc > with a two-column table. Questions in the first > column and answers in the second column. I found > that this worked well as asking yourself questions > reenforces the material better than just reading > pages of paragraph-style notes. > > Just don’t give up!! Best of luck for next year. I failed Band 6 this year, studied 15 days before exam from CFAI EOC and Notes. Couldnt complete the syllabus, Derivatives exclusively done from videos without practice, Alternative not done at all. So deserved the result, i just have 1 query though if i solve CFAI EOC Qs and make mistakes, i have a weakness that i get disappointed very easily and never attempt it again. How do you guys pursue the same again and again ? or do you guys make no mistakes at all in CFAI EOC Qs ?. I will be surprised if the same is true since CFAI EOCs are pretty difficult IMO.