I’m unsure how to approach the nightmare that is Level 2 Derivatives. I don’t want to waste two months mastering it all when there is so much else to review in the rest of the curriculum. At the same time, I don’t want to leave the whole section up to chance. If it’s weighted at the maximum of 15%, and I run in to trouble anywhere else on the exam (which I’m sure I will), then those marks could be the difference between passing and failing.
So what to do?
I’m currently leaning towards something like this:
Total study time = 400 hours
400 * .15 = 60
I could burn 60 hours, and at the end of that time, forget it and move on whether I’ve mastered Derivatives or not by then. Or am I overestimating the difficulty of this section? Any thoughts?
L2 derivatives on first viewing can seem a little intimidating, but if you stick at it you can have that “aha” moment and then find it relatvely easy to score 5 or 6/6 on item sets.
Once you get the calculation methods down, no matter what specific question they ask you it can be ruduced to a plug and chug formula meaning potential easy points.
There is a whole lot of info in that section but really it boils down to a handful of calculation methods that you can drill and become familiar with.
I’d say definitely give it a chance…you may surprise yourself.
S2000magician has a great site that helps explain derivative calculations in a clear and logical way…I highly recommend you check it out:
Don’t sweat L2 derivatives. It’s a beast, but you have to master it. Derivatives are heavily tested in L2 and 3, so you can’t avoid them. Besides, it’s a pretty easy section once you study it and get some help. You’ll find that there are only a few formulas to learn, and there are others that spin off of these formulas. Peter Olinto at Wiley has some tremendous videos on these.
I would highly recommend to use Irfanullah videos for Derivatives. You can buy section videos too. He has made it so simple. I was happy to see 70+ in Derivatives level 2. ( btw am a failed candidate Band 10)
Thank you for the valuable advice. Where can I find the videso from Irfanullah? I purchased this year’s Schweser’s material. Is he the one instructing the derivatives section in the on-demand section? I have not looked at them yet if they are. Thank you!
I hear the Wiley videos are good too, but the reason I suggested Irfanullah is due to the fact you can buy individual/sectional videos I believe and not have to buy the whole package if it’s just derivatives you are interested in.