Since today, everyone is on here talking about how they passed, I thought it would be a good idea to get some feedback. If you passed, what did you use, (material, study sessions, courses, etc.), and what do you believe was the most beneficial to you? How did you study? How many hours? This should help many L1ers. Thanks!
CFAI texts and EOC questions - over and over and over
I used Schweser and went to 7City course - passed
Passed with >70% on all but AI. Only Schweser Level 2 Notes and CFAI Notes for Ethics. Only started towards the end of March if I remember correctly.
mcap11 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > CFAI texts and EOC questions - over and over and > over +1
CFAI chapter summaries! I knew this strategy would work!
Lots and lots of questions. Make as many of them CFAI end of chapter questions as possible.
Schweser books, mock exams, q bank. After noticing that I had some weak topics I made flash cards to try to memorize the topics that I didn’t understand intuitively.
Passed with >70% for all but AI & PM (both were 50-70%). Schweser Notes Flash Cards (used Schweser’s, but threw out a lot of redundant cards and added info to quite a few) CFAI EOC questions - did all multiple choice, all questions in Derivs & Econ. and glanced over the other questions and the answer explanations. QBank - only did the vignette style questions from this. Book1 Schweser exams CFAI Mock Exam CFAI Mini online exams Schweser Mock exam I started in December, but really hit the books hard towards February.
honestly, i went very heavy on schweser and very light on CFAI text…i know its not popular, but i did it…lots of qbank, and read the secret sauce while commuting (about 2 hours a day)… got greater than 70% on all parts, except AI and PM, which were btw 50-70%
All Schweser… Watched all the videos, took notes. After each session I did corresponding qbank questions. I kept track of my scores and only really moved on once I was scoring pretty well, say >75% or better. Last week or two I pumped out all the videos a second time. Just to refresh. Did a bunch of ‘full test’ qbanks. One mock. Passed. >70% for all except: ethics (which I thought I bombed), alts, econ, and FSA…those 4 I got 50-70%
as many practice questions as you can do. imo schweser material sucked for level 2 this time but highly recommend their practice tests and mock exam.
Stalla lectures CD and notes. Schweser and CFA Mocks and EoC questions. I really enjoyed Stalla’s studying material and I think lectures by Peter Olinto and David Hetherington are top-notch, but I used my friend’s Schweser for mocks because I found Stalla’s a bit too easy.
I used Schweser for most of the time. Read each chapter many times over, because I take a bird’s eye view then jump deep. Hardly used Qbank. Practised the EoCs many time over… They were key to understanding the language, tone & overall feel of the paper. CFAIs mock was also important to understanding the tone of paper. Schweser is so different in the tone and feel from CFAI’s ************The key subject is FRA… No two thoughts about that… BIg picture view is of immense importance everywhere, but nowhere it’s more important than in FRA ******** Have to admit luck played a role. Guessed ( intelligently ) a few questions in FRA, got a 70+ range on the subject.
CFAI texts and Schweser . Did releatively little QBank , but ALL the EOC q , multiple times. Passed by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin : 50-70% on 5 > 70% on 5
There are so many different ways to study and so many available sources. You just have to do what is best for you. I hate reading so reading CFAI texts or Schweser texts would have been a complete waste of time. For other people it is far more helpful. You just have to know your own best study methods and know how you retain the most knowledge. Pick the sources that correspond with that.
For me, nothing but CFAI texts, EOCs, and the CFA practice and mock exams. No third party materials. Same strategy as for Level 1.
>70 on all but Econ and AI I used Stalla video lectures, passmaster and notes for the first pass then jumped into EOC and in-text examples. Finished off with mock and sample exams and more EOCs. Wouldn’t have changed a thing.
Used CFAI texts and Schweser. Qbank is pretty worthless. EOC questions many many times. It helps to see how they have tables set up as it can be quite different from schweser. I think this was somewhat of a problem for me the first time around and took up extra time/was confusing.
I don’t know how I passed but I did. Used Stalla mostly, with CFAI EOC questions at end. Somehow I made it.