photoguy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > For me, nothing but CFAI texts, EOCs, and the CFA > practice and mock exams. No third party materials. > Same strategy as for Level 1. This is the best strategy for passing L2 and L3.
I got 70%+ on all but ethics. I watched the schweser videos, no notes. The CD one’s are a bit better bc you can skip around, but some of the instructors are beasts, specifically this heavy set woman who takes ever chance she can get to put down the curriculum. After watching the videos, I went through the Schweser books, did EOC questions. Strangely, I did none of the end of topic area tests, although I did them for level 1. After I completed all the books, I went back and did the EOC in the CFAI material. I think my time may have been better spent reading the ethics stories. I did not find the CFAI EOC questions particularly helpful. Oh, I also went through the CFAI books looking for things that weren’t in Schweser. Then I took all the practice tests, I think I didn’t finish the second half of the last test. I also did the mock exam. Plus I made some flash cards, that was pretty helpful. Note to people in a rush, reading the Schweser books while watching the videos was very productive for me, I did this toward the end because I was behind pace. All in all, I would probably say that I studied 125 -> 175 hours, definitely not over 200. Its hard to really count how many hours you spend studying, most of my time was spent studying in front of a TV, sometimes during breaks in Call of Duty.
Passed with all >70% but not in FI and AI. Used CFA books & Schwester books. Started to focus since last week of April.
Danwsim Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > All in all, I would probably say that I studied > 125 -> 175 hours, definitely not over 200. Its > hard to really count how many hours you spend > studying, most of my time was spent studying in > front of a TV, sometimes during breaks in Call of > Duty. I was playing poker a good half of the time I was ‘watching’ the videos. I took notes though which really helped.
Failed last year, passed this year. 2009: - read Schweser - Schweser EOC - Q Bank - 3 Schweser Practice Exams - CFA Mock 2010 - only read the new chapter nothing else - CFAI EOC - Q Bank - 5 Schweser Practice Exams - CFA Mock - Schweser 16 week online course - Windsor Week (live instruction was helpful for me)
mcap11 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > CFAI texts and EOC questions - over and over and > over +1 billion and NEVER EVER EVER UNDERESTIMATE this exam, the official mock is NOTHING compared to the real deal
schweser mostly
A friend gave me his Stalla and Schweser 2009 books and the Schweser DVD’s. I think the Schweser stuff was much better. I did all 6 Schweser mock exams from the books, every CFAI Mock/practice I could find. The BSA Mock is junk don’t bother. FOR L1 & L2 I DID NOT USE CFAI AT ALL FOR READING UNLESS I DID NOT UNDERSTAND SCHWESER. MY ADVICE AS FOLLOWS: 1) Uses Schweser DVD’s read chapter, take notes and make your own notecards. Then do Schweser EOC’s followed by CFAI EOC’s. Then move on to next reading. 2) Every 10-14 days go back and read notes on prior chapters, note cards etc, and do some questions again. 3) Save Ethics for last, do Derivatives early and often. Don’t underestimate FI. 4) When you think you are good at FRA and Equity, go back and do the CFAI EOC’s again because you probably are not good enough, Remember this is about 1/2 of the exam. 5) Make a schedule and stick to it, in the last 90 days you need to be hitting the books 7 days a week. 6) Quant is not, calculation intesive, it is concept driven and actually allot of memorization. Do the CFAI EOC’s and every Quant item set on the Schweswer mock exams and you should be all set to score 75%+. 7) Make notes on every question you get wrong. 8) For your hard subjects you should probably do the CFAI eoc’s 3 times. 9) On the exam no matter how hard you study there will be questions that will kick your but. If you get the that item set, skip it and go back later, get as many answers on the board as you can then go back and do the hard questions. The exam is a real PITA good luck.
Schweser text+scheweser practice exams+CFAI EOC (very very important)+CFA Sample Exam/Mock
Passed with >70% on all topics. Did not touch the CFAI textbooks and EOC at all. Read through Schweser and tried my hardest to memorize as much as possible. Think i read the full Schweser text 4 times in 4 months! Also did all the Schweser practice exam questions + CFAI free mock exam.
I am sorry for being such a noob… but what is EOC?
If I had to do it again I would do more questions. with this test even if you know the material, it’s getting the vinette style down that is key. The more you do, the faster the answers come - not to mention you will learn the material as you do them! Also, doing the vinette style questions will give you an idea on the different ways the same question can be asked. you’ll think you have an easy formula down, then you get to the test and they asked some random question that you can’t get the answer to! It’s really fustrating - and if you dwell on it too much could affect your performance on the rest of the test.
Read all Schweser (general did not read CFAI chapters unless it was a really tough topic), took condensed notes of really important facts and formulae. Went back over notes, then completed all Schweser and CFAI EOC problems, reviewing the ones I got wrong. Typed up notes in Excel for use in iPhone cue card program. Reviewed notes and virtual cue cards again. Read Handbook in full (examples very helpful!) Did several practice exams.
WAT is EOC??
EOC = End of Chapter
thank you!
I did every single question I could. QBank, EOC & Mocks. Learn the curriculum, but the key is being flexible and agile with the tools you’re given. Reading comprehension and the ability to pick out twists and tricks are also factors that separate failure from success.
Schweser, some of the CFAI text, book 1 to be precise, secret sauce before bed. QBank, 1500 questions.
I ended up >70 (second try at the L2) on all but 3 sections by hammering EOC’s I barely used Schweser except to help me clarify something in the CFAI texts. So, I watched the Schweser videos to get the 10,000 foot view, or to see particular problems worked out. I read the CFAI texts. Then I hammered as hard as I could Qbank at the rate of about 60 a day PLUS every EOC in the book once - this really helped me figure out what I was weakest on. Then I went back through EOC’s over and over until I more or less ran out of things I didn’t understand. I also listened to the Schweser MP3’s a ton riding to and from work, etc - helped me not forget things I had studied long ago. In my opinion, the test was no surprise at all if you did as many actual CFA q’s that you can get your hands on. Schweser is great to augment, but there is nothing like getting it straight from the horse’s mouth. The EOC’s for me was the difference between a difficult fail in 09 and a far easier time the second time around and a pass as a result. Not that it was easy, I’m certainly not saying that, but there were far fewer surprises and a much smoother test experience than it was when I relied heavily on 3rd party materials. Also, don’t let the vignette format scare you, its really a bunch of individual questions melded together to form a narrative, it, in my opinion, is really no more difficult than individual questions.
Read all Schweser Books, and followed the weekly live classes, mostly watched the recording though. Did all concept checkers and EOC questions twice, and tracked every topic I got less than 80%. At about 3 month before the exam, after FRA, I rehearsed with Schweser Secret source Final month was Schweser Secret Source for the second part of the curriculum and QBank, followed by more EOC. Final two weeks were samples mocks and almost exclusively FRA and Equity since I was at a point to get 80%+ in the other areas. I also occasionally reread some topics in the CFAI curriculum. Final weeks was repetition with secret source an final day ethics. I used the CFAI curriculum for every tiny bit of EOC questions I did not understand. I also practiced formulas by creating my own formula cheat sheet and then writing two or three pages a day from memory each day. On the final day I wrote them all from memory and made sure I got 90% correct. EDIT: BTW, I only took advanced QBank questions to practice the vignett style questions. And also, the Sample exams have the question dificulty you need to be prepared for, the CFAI mock exams seem fare too easy compared with the real exam.