Advice from Level 2 Retakers who passed

I’m debating whether to do L2 again for the 3rd time next year. I must suck so bad because for my first 2 trials, I got Band 2. I was expecting at least an improvement, but no. Both Band 2. I dunno if it means I’m just a real idiot or unlucky. Some encouragement would help. It’s a choice between L2 (for the 3rd time) and GMAT in 2013 (I plan to do MBA in 2014).
HELP!!!
 
My CFA Level II ordeal:
2009: Fail! (Band 0) My reaction: F#%! CFA Institute!
2010: Fail! (Band 0) My reaction: F#%! CFA Institute!
2011: Fail! (Band 8) My reaction: F#%! CFA Institute!
2012: Pass! My reaction: Bring on Level III!
The material I relied on most:
  1. Schwesers 2012 review notes.
  2. Schwesers 2012 secret sauce.
  3. Schwesers 2010 video lectures.
  4. Review problems from Sharp CFA Seminars.
  5. CFAI Sample exams.
  6. Schwesers 2012 practice exams.
I took a break in March to get married.
Other notes about my experience, note that my overall strategy has not really changed materially;
  1. I got divorced in late 2008.
  2. I commute about 300 - 500 miles each weekend to see my son.
  3. Started a new job in December 2008. I was the only team member till december 2010. (I used to work at Lehman).
  4. Focused my studying in the 6 weeks just before the test (problems, problems, and more problems).
  5. Was the only person on my team till December 2010, the whole company is 4 people, we are now 3 on my team.
  6. I would have passed in 2011 if I had only done better in Ethics. I learned my lesson.
If you’re taking Level II again, good luck. Don’t give up - I failed in Band 0 twice. If I could pass, you probably can too. Figure out what factors are interfering with your ability to focus on studying, and find ways to modify them in your favor.
 
omg… i think i just got lucky with EI, Derivatives, FRA and Ethics then… I find those reasonably okay…the other 6 categories are depressing for me…
i wonder how long i am gonna be depress for… wonder should i try again…(band 9)
 
My tryst with CFA would be one of an Epic Kind. Passed Level 1 on Dec 2009 in first attempt, gave up my job to prepare for June 2010 Level II but it was too late till then I guess. Failed with Band 7. Jobless and this failure was a crushing blow.
I applied like crazy to every job that would suite my profile but couldn’t even manage an interview and realized that clearing CFA Level 1 didnt even matter with most employers if you are not already on a job. Gave an interview for a Fixed Income back office kind of job which could pay okay but nervousness bought me down in this interview and couldnt answer even basic questions. By this time I had lost whatever information I had gained in Level 1 and was totally distraught.
I also started preparing for Banking Examinations in India and gave almost every banking exam during this period . I reappeared for the June 2011 examinations got caught in a Violation for exceeding the time limit. I was confident I would pass but a mistake cost be dearly and my dream of completion of CFA just went a step back due to this mistake.
Later I got a call from a big MNC in manufacturing, which is mostly the industry that I have back at my place barring the other IT ones which are plenty here. I just didnt want to get stuck in a company however big but operating in Non-finance domain. Fortunately I got a call from this Public sector Bank and now I am a Credit Analyst there.
This year was comparitively much better. Took some weeks off at the fag end of the examination month, though there was constant duress about taking a long leave , which is of course a big issue at a traditional Credit oriented Dinosaur Bank. Solved the whole Schweser CD and read all the CFAI curriculum in the Last month and this time it paid but still not with the matrix I expected.
Now I have faith that Justice has been done after a Big Opportunity and Actual Costs. My advice is dont be too adventurous and keep realistic hopes of passing only when you believe you can give your best and probably while you are still with a job. Best of Luck!
 
I got a Band 9 last year and passed this year. If you’re having trouble passing my best recommendation is to start early. By early I don’t mean Jan.2, I mean October. Also my main problem last year was trying to learn everything. This resulted in me knowing about 50% in each topic. My last year’s scores were literally straight down the middle 50-70% range and bombing in derivatives. Here’s my method which I think works but it may be a little hardcore for some.
1. Start in October and really focus on FRA. Do all CFAI EOC’s questions in FRA. Their multiple choice and very exam like, so you have no reason not to do them. I did schweser FRA readings and then CFAI EOC’s. When I came across EOC’s I didn’t understand, I read the actual CFAI reading section to better get the concept. Reading the entire full curriculum is too convoluted imo. My life was FRA from October through December. You will start to see you’ll acquire a more natural understanding of FRA which will help greatly during review time and exam day.
2. In January work through the curriculum in this order Finance, Equity, Fixed Income, Alts, Quant/Eco/Port, Deriv. For each topic I was reading the Schwesr readings then doing the CFAI EOC’s. The reason why it’s crucial you work Quant/Eco/Port concurrently is because their so interrelated you need to see the nuances between them. Even though each topic on its own tends to be weighted less on the exam, they are a lot of main cross-related topics that can hurt you if you’re not ready. You may have run through Equity 2 or 3 times before going on to the next topics.
3. Before May 1st you should have gone through the curriculum at least 2-3 times. By May 1st you need to attempt your first Mock. I did 5 mocks from the Schwesr volume 1&2. This is the most important advice. I’ll say again, this is REALLY REALLY important. You MUST do mock exams. These Mock exams take time to complete and the final 2 weeks is short enough. I felt that the Schweser Mock volumes prep me well for the exam. People will like to say otherwise, but these mocks felt exam like to me and were not easy. Additionally please do the CFAI mock because it had tricks in it that were identically re-tested on the real exam. I did 5 mock exams from Schweser and CFAI’s 2012 mock.
4. There will be times were you will get discouraged. The below links are 2 vids that help motivate me throughout the endeavor. Good Luck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk56VxaeqEQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qllDvIa-OPo
 
I feel something like you!
After a big disappointment yesterday, I am stil unsure which path to take.
I failed level 2 (Band 10! Argh!) but I felt pretty good after the test.
For me, this is very hard. I finish school 1st, applied to grad school with perfect GRE score, graduated grad school with honors (PhD, Ivy League School), had never failed before CFA-L2. Level 2, this was the second time. In 2011, I was band 4 but did not study much as I was involved in a pretty demanding personal project.
For this exam, I have studied since Nov-2011, read all chapters of CFAI material, did all questions in the end of the chapters, and did above 80% in all mock exams I took from both CFAI and Schweser. So, for me, it is tough figuring this out.
It is kind of an internal duality facing failure in this exam as I have never faced this – academically – before.
I’m not sure I will do it again. If so, which material to use? When to start preparing?
Anyway, struggling with weird feelings. Hard to find motivation… Maybe, need more time to figure this out…
 
Your comment was great to me! I really liked the way you put it. Congratulations for passing the exam and thank you for sharing such a great advice!
 
I failed in band 10 last year and this year barely passed. I didn’t really do anything different this time around, other than being more familiar with the material already. Studying felt more like reviewing, so just doing the EOC questions and mock exams helped. I can’t really say anything else but keep doing those practice questions. With persistence you will make it.
 
Navyboy23 wrote:
Does anybody know where I can find the old CFAI Mock Exams?? I sat for Level II this year, but did not print out the exam…I would like to use this exam in addition to the 2013 Mock Exam for my study preparation. Thanks for any help you can provide.
Click to expand...
post email i will forward to you
 
I’m a retaker who finally passed level 2 this year with 3 subjects between 50-70% and the remaining above 70%.
For the past 2 years where i attempted level 2, i managed to fail each time band 9. What did i do differently this time ?
1) I used the previous year’s Schweser notes to relearn the theory. Year-over-year, there are very small changes, and those changes (if any) are usually mentioned on this forum in the January - May period anyways.
2)I did NOT do any Schweser problems. They are too short and the wording is not what you’ll find in the actual exam. So i did every end of chapter problem in the CFA books.
3) I started doing mocks early May, in addition to Sample exams. For every mock / sample exam, i simulated exam conditions (3 hours in the morning, 3 hours in the afternoon) and managed to do 2 full exam every weekend. You’ll be suprised how many questions / concepts actually came up in the actual exam.
4) When doing mocks / samples, be knowledgefull of the tiny details that you don’t understnad when correcting yourself. These details will come up in the actual exam, i can guarantee this.
5) For ethics, retype the notes and study them when you can in the last 2 weeks. I did this and read them in the subway and i truely think it helped me achieve above 70% in ethics.
I would suggest not purchasing the Schweser books if you already have them.
 
I disagree with the statement “Do not waste too much time on ethics”. First of all, the ethics questions can be very difficult. Secondly, don’t underestimate the weight ethics plays in passing. I have seen a few Band 10 result breakdowns with a mixture of >70% & 50%-70% on all topic areas except for ethics and <50% on ethics. I recommend you read the ethics section at least twice.
2009 Level II Fail Band 6
2012 Level II Pass
 
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