CFA LEVEL II - 4 months of prepartion

C

CFA_level_1

New member
Joined
Jun 18, 2026
Messages
0
Reaction score
0
I wanted to know if 4 months of preparation was enough for level II?
I am planning on taking Level I this december, and then level II on June 2013… But I noticed that grades do not come out unitl late January…
Please let me know what you think! Thanks!
 
IMHO, give it all for those four months and write the exam. Reason is else you need to wait for 16 months for your next crack at the exam.
There is no guarantee anybody will clear the exam in first attempt. So give it a shot and if you clear fantastic, else you gain the experience and have a better understanding of the topics anyway!
 
I passed LI last December and just took LII in June. It is doable, however be prepared to not have a life for those few months :(. Then again there is no guarantee you will pass. I was freaking out 5 days before the test as I failed a practice exam. I took some time off work though and somehow crammed an additional 75 hours of study time in before the test!! I’m glad I did it in a way but I don’t think I could have kept going much longer before I had a mental breakdown lol! I think it really just depends on how bad you want the charter. Good luck regardless of what you decide to do.
 
It’s really not enough time. I didn’t finish CFAI readings and EOCs until 2 weeks before the exam, and only had a chance to do about 3 or 4 practice exams. What you could do though is buy one of the L2 Schweser volumes and start reading in early January, before you get your scores. I did that, but wasn’t motivated enough to study, because I actually thought I failed L1.
 
It’s definitely possible. I just did the Dec 2011 - June 2012 turnaround and it was not fun, but it is very possible. It also helped that most of ethics and any other overlap was still fresh. Obviously I do not know if I passed yet, but I am not sure if another month of study time would have improved my chances much; probably just would have made it less stressful. It’s probably worth mentioning that I used only CFAI texts and work full time. Using Schweser would probably ease the time commitment a bit.
 
Buddy - These exams are beasts! I would only worry and solely focus on passing L1 in December. Don’t get ahead of yourself or you’ll be spending another 6 months studying the same stuff and trying to pass L1 again in June 2013.
I’m a repeat taker and these exams are not easy. Take one level at a time
 
My opinion is “No, absolutely not”…at least, not for me anyway. There’s not a chance in hell I would have been even close with only 4 months study time.
However, with that said, if you pass the December test and only have 4 months to study for L2 in June, I would say DEFINITELY just do it anyway. If you give it a good go, it will be invaluable preparation for the next time you have to take it (if you do).
 
I agree with you and that was my mindset for taking LII this past June. The positives are I have a chance of passing this go around and will have almost a whole year to study for LIII; or if I fail I am already way ahead of everyone else for LII (however I can retain a lot of the material unlike some). Definitely worth taking it as long as you realize the social costs that come along with it.
 
Hard but has been done before, as long as you stick to your study plan. You need at least 400 hours of prep, so that’s 100 hours per month, 25 hours a week. If you’re able to take some time off before the exam all the better.
 
I hear you man. I went through the same dilemma last year. After my December L1, I asked myself what do I lose if I took and failed the June L2, and I got my answer. Just make sure that you walk out of your L1 exam with confidence and get on with your L2 prep as soon as you can. I should warn you though, putting 3 hrs daily and consistently for one whole year is excruciating.
 
I tried that, didn’t work so well out for me. But there are people who do it.
 
Not impossible, my L1 study partner did it and passed. But then she wasn’t working then…so it depends
 
If you are from finance background, it is doable, if not, will have to really bend it hard to finish all the EOC and Papers ….Certainly Doable
 
I tried it last year. I started studying on Jan. 2(2011) half heartedly and turned it up once I got the pass lvl 1 email. It is very very hard to accomplish the wrap around. I know because I did not lolly gag those 5 months. Lvl 2 is a monster and lvl1 now seems like bambi to me.
What you have to keep in mind is that you will be in full throttle learning mode for 3 months(that’s if you can read that fast) and then you will try to be recalling everything that last month. The 4 month plan is hard because you feel like your not even practice exam ready until the final 2 weeks in May. The final week puts you on that marginally nervous breakdown region.
My recommendation is to lightly study the last week in December and the weeks leading up to the results. Then assuming you pass, you must crank it up. I would do Monday-Thursday 3hrs (continuous hours e.g. 6-9pm) and then Sat/Sun (12pm-5pm) each. Take Friday off. This schedule will put you in the 350 hour range, still keep your sanity and a marginal social life.
 
Give it a shot, Level II is a vast landscape, by far the biggest amount of material out of any of the test. You want to familiarize yourself with unit roots, currency swaps, cmos, economic pension expense, partial consolidation, H models, etc. It will take you one run through to get an idea of what the hell this whole curriculum even covers. God I’m shuddering at the thought of failing L II while typing those terms.
 
yeah level 2 is a beast! all the best guys/girls… results aren’t too far away…hope everyone does well!
 
Studying level 1 and taking 2 weeks to finish one book (i.e for Quants, FRA and Equity&Fixed Income) total 6 weeks and l sure the other 3 will fit in 1 month, hence a total of 10 weeks to go through all the books.
Also thinking of sitting for level II in June 2013 if l pass Level I in Dec 2012. I think the best is to come out of the Level I exam confident enough, break for a week or two and start on the Schweser notes going on slowly till the results are out then crank it up. I bliv its achievable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top