What I underestimated about L2 is how many different models there would be to memorize in every subject area in the curriculum. It seems to be CFAI’s acknowledgement of all of the academic research that is going on in the different subject areas of the test, and wanting to make sure candidates are aware of the heavy lifters who have made prominent discoveries in economic/financial research.
If I were starting L2 study again, I’d make a running list of models (and then a couple bullet points with the key tenets / ways it is differentiated from other models with a similar purpose). I feel like besides calculation and conceptual questions, model questions are certainly an area provide CFAI a good opportunity to test how well candidates internalized and synthesized the readings.
Besides the memorization aid that this would obviously provide, I felt like ultimately knowing the models helped give me a better sense of the underlying concepts they described, especially when those concepts were unfamiliar to me.
Sharing this in case it’s helpful to someone who hadn’t previously considered the curriculum this way.
I passed the exam this year, and feel like I would have saved a lot of time on the back end if I had flagged all of the models the first time I read anything.