So I looked at the syllabus change from last year from Finquiz website and it seems that most of the changes are only superficial Source http://www.finquiz.com/cfa_level_2_curriculum_changes_2010_2011 Examples 1) QUANT "d. differentiate between the dependent and independent variables in a linear regression; " changed to "d distinguish between the dependent and independent variables in a linear regression; " . So they changed the language from DIFFERENTIATE to DISTINGUISH 2) ECO "g. define and discuss absolute purchasing power parity and relative purchasing power parity; " changed to "g discuss absolute purchasing power parity and relative purchasing power parity; " So dont define any more just distinguish (for real!!!) and the list goes on… The new only new topics I see are under FRA: 21 Inventories: Implications for Financial Statements and Ratios 22 Long-lived Assets: Implications for Financial Statements and Ratios There are a few topics deleted but I dont see anything major. Please let me know if I missed anything. Thanks
Disclosure to this post is that I am a L2 retaker. Some feel this may reduce the credibility of whatever I share, all the same here are my two cents from what I learned from my mistakes/ experience. I put an absolute herculean effort into L2 the first go around. Read all CFAI texts and completed all EOC problems. Then took the schweser online course, read all notes and completed all question sets and self tests. Took four practice tests (3 schweser, 1 CFAI mock) and then just restudied questions that I missed and/or had a hard time with, along with selected study session notes out of schwez I felt I would most certainly need to review. Wound up with a Band 9. Some of my problem was distraction by all the granular detail in the curriculum (basically getting bogged down in mechanics and missing some big picture items), I also believe (and this is only my personal opinion) that relying to heavily on prep materials rather than official CFAI materials and EOC handicapped me in the last 6 months leading up to the exam. Think I also just had alot of pre-test anxiety and beat myself, by over-preparing -it’s paradoxical I know, but believe me it can happen. It’s time consuming but if you are starting early do yourself a favor and study primarily out of the CFAI, and practice, practice, practice EOC. The LOS can be your friend(s). Test writers have to perform what is called LOS compliance. If a particular study session is giving you trouble look at the LOS and try to use some “strategery” about whether you are caught up in something that even matters or just help clarify what the hell you are suppose to do with the mind numbing amount of material thrown out at you. Key words like “distinguish”, “define”, “discuss”, “differentiate”, and “calculate” can seem arbitrary at first glance but can be the defining characteristic between having what you will read about in here as a “good and successful” test experience, and feeling as if the test writers “tricked you” or that you felt as if you studied the “wrong material”. All the same, you may come away from the exam feeling as though the L2 test is less a test about being a competent analyst and more of a test touching on some peripheral trivia in the curriculum. I k now I felt like this coming out the exam hall. I think it’s just a fact of life that this is how they differentiate between candidates and more importantly a pass/ fail. You will undoubtedly hear that schweser alone is perfectly adequate, this post may even be replied to with successful 1st attempts using schweser alone. Good for those that pull this off, unfortunately this did not work out for me so here I am giving this another shot and trying to learn from the past. If nothing else keep this very important concept in mind: If you are starting this early give your self plenty of breaks and rest from studying. I’m all for working hard and starting early, but burnout is a very real risk in preparing for this exam and something that I think I experienced and disadvantaged myself with by being too hard on myself.
I worked the other way around started too late and left too much for the end failed fsa with a band 9, so i am going to pace myself this time around to be done comfortably before exam time instead of cramming in the end. I am going to focus on CFAI more than Schweser to avoid a fail this time round,appreciate the detailed reply
Did either of the two replies above have anything to do with the OP? Anyway, I agree with you, Nomad. It looks like a very minimal amount of information was changed.
The post above says the change in wording in LOS is actually material, so yes it has quite a lot to do with it. Granted there was some extraneous material in there, but that was to try and illustrate the point I was making. But hey you’re obviously much smarter than I, so just ignore what I wrote and have fun come exam day.
jblamb Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Did either of the two replies above have anything > to do with the OP? > > Anyway, I agree with you, Nomad. It looks like a > very minimal amount of information was changed. +1
I definitely appreciate your advice, Andrew3032. I revisited this site to look for a detailed response just like yours and found it right on the first page, thanks to you. Cheers!
Andrew3032 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Disclosure to this post is that I am a L2 retaker. > Some feel this may reduce the credibility of > whatever I share, all the same here are my two > cents from what I learned from my mistakes/ > experience. > > I put an absolute herculean effort into L2 the > first go around. Read all CFAI texts and > completed all EOC problems. Then took the > schweser online course, read all notes and > completed all question sets and self tests. Took > four practice tests (3 schweser, 1 CFAI mock) and > then just restudied questions that I missed and/or > had a hard time with, along with selected study > session notes out of schwez I felt I would most > certainly need to review. Wound up with a Band 9. > > Some of my problem was distraction by all the > granular detail in the curriculum (basically > getting bogged down in mechanics and missing some > big picture items), I also believe (and this is > only my personal opinion) that relying to heavily > on prep materials rather than official CFAI > materials and EOC handicapped me in the last 6 > months leading up to the exam. Think I also just > had alot of pre-test anxiety and beat myself, by > over-preparing -it’s paradoxical I know, but > believe me it can happen. > > It’s time consuming but if you are starting early > do yourself a favor and study primarily out of the > CFAI, and practice, practice, practice EOC. The > LOS can be your friend(s). Test writers have to > perform what is called LOS compliance. If a > particular study session is giving you trouble > look at the LOS and try to use some “strategery” > about whether you are caught up in something that > even matters or just help clarify what the hell > you are suppose to do with the mind numbing amount > of material thrown out at you. Key words like > “distinguish”, “define”, “discuss”, > “differentiate”, and “calculate” can seem > arbitrary at first glance but can be the defining > characteristic between having what you will read > about in here as a “good and successful” test > experience, and feeling as if the test writers > “tricked you” or that you felt as if you studied > the “wrong material”. All the same, you may come > away from the exam feeling as though the L2 test > is less a test about being a competent analyst and > more of a test touching on some peripheral trivia > in the curriculum. I k now I felt like this > coming out the exam hall. I think it’s just a > fact of life that this is how they differentiate > between candidates and more importantly a pass/ > fail. > > You will undoubtedly hear that schweser alone is > perfectly adequate, this post may even be replied > to with successful 1st attempts using schweser > alone. Good for those that pull this off, > unfortunately this did not work out for me so here > I am giving this another shot and trying to learn > from the past. If nothing else keep this very > important concept in mind: If you are starting > this early give your self plenty of breaks and > rest from studying. I’m all for working hard and > starting early, but burnout is a very real risk in > preparing for this exam and something that I think > I experienced and disadvantaged myself with by > being too hard on myself. really helpful to read anecdotes such as these, thanks for taking the time to write.
Thanks for sharing.
Somehow by now I would have expected the current financial crisis to be interwoven into the material. I guess not.
I think SS 5 & 6 have been merged and a new ss had been added covering the Inventory and long term fixed assets
I agree with Andrew3032 that L2 candidates got plenty of time and need to make progress at their own pace rather then pushing themselves too hard at this stage. Develop a weekly schedule, study 2-3 hours daily in weekdays and practice EOCs and curriculum examples at weekends while taking enough time out for recreational stuff (this approach worked for me and I passed L1 in Dec 2009 and L2 in June 2010). However, I din’t solely rely on CFAI curriculum. Initially I tried to use CFAI text books a primary source of prep but there was too much information to retain. So I adopted a mix approach. I used Schweser notes as primary reference materail and after giving it 2 readings I went through CFAI text to identify areas that were left out by Schweser or were not explained enough particlularly in FSA, Fixed Income and Portfolio Management, u’ll need to refer to the curriculum, a lot. But this strategy helped me a lot and I had plenty of time left for practice for which I used CFAI examples/EOCs and mock exams together with Finquiz practice questions. I recommend everyone to use mix approach in studies, i.e. Schweser + CFAI curriculum. However, one may have different opinions. Whatever ur approach is, just don’t compromise on practice, particularly CFAI questions. DO as many questions as u can. Good luck!
I used Stalla first time around and failed. Re-took it and used only CFAI material. I realized why I failed the first time after just using Stalla. Like Andrew said, many people have successfully just used Stalla and Scheweser and passed with flying colors. However, I was not one of them. I learned that there were no short cuts (for me) and I had to put the extra time in. To be honest, the CFAI material is pretty interesting. They circle back to topics often in different books, which really helps in reinforcing topics you learned months prior. It’s like you’re reviewing while learning new material at the same time. As I was reading the CFAI material I kept one thing in mind, I never met anyone who read the CFAI material and failed only those who used prep providers and failed. I am sure a ton of people will now reply and say I used CFAI and failed! lol but whatever, like Andrew, just sharing my story…