if you passed L1 in Dec and took L2 .....

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solotallboy

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how are you feeling? I gave it my best shot but just didn’t have enough time for the material to sink in.
 
Passed in December, started studying for level 2 the day results came out. Ended up getting in 300 hours and feel like I should pass. I think it’s good to keep going after level 1 because you retain more of the material
 
Kinda felt the same way OP… Took long enough to go through the material and didn’t really have enough time to review the forumulas, etc… Used Wiley which I like and will use again pass/fail.
 
passed in Dec on first attempt, started learning as soon as I got my results.
Used Schweser Notes and QBank, but realized that the time was not enough.
It is not easy to learn with half the time for preparation (compared to L1 in June),
  • read Notes to get a basic understanding
  • re-read notes and did the QBank (3600 q is massive, do 50 a day properly and it takes 2 month alone!)
had to skip:
  • re-reading notes and fill in the blanks
  • do mocks as much as possible
Hoping for a close pass, keep my fingers crossed
 
Passed L1 in December, and started studying in early March.
I used Elan videos, blue boxes/EOCs, mocks from Schweser, and then drilled the online practice assements and mocks available to us from CFAI.
Got to about 500hr, and feel pretty good about my effort on Saturday.
 
Passed in December on my 1st attempt and started prep for Level II on Feb 1st. I managed about 350 hours with a full time job, family, and a move in early April, but I still didn’t have enough time to feel fully prepared and get strong in enough readings. I felt strong in Equity and Corp Fin, moderate in Quant, FRA and FI, and questionable in Econ, Derivatives, Alt Inv and PM. I had strong areas in each of my weaker subjects but was very vulnerable to what was actually tested. Unfortunately it seemed like the exam caught most of my weaker knowledge areas in my weakest subjects.
If I were to throw out a wild guess based on how I feel right now, I’d say I failed somewhere around Band 7 or 8. I studied with Elan/Wiley and do think their materials and videos did a great job (except for the FI videos … c’mon guys we need something better there … no particular offense Darren if by chance you read this). I’ll be using them again if I have to retake next June and have no qualms about it. Although I’ll probably buy more mocks next time around. 3 just wasn’t enough, but it was all I had time for along with final review.
Anyone considering going Dec to June with a full time job has a very steep hill to climb. It’s definitely doable, but extremely difficult for your average candidate I’d say. Still, it’s totally worth the attempt and the money in my opinion.
 
Passed December, knew I killed it. Started studying for L2 a week later. Took it easy until results came (5-10 hours a week). Once I got the pass, I ramped it up and did about 10-15 hours a week. I took the last week off of work before the exam and went into hermit mode and got an extra 40-45 hours in.
Although time was an obvious constraint, at the end, I didn’t feel like I needed more time to study - even after the exam. I read the Schweser books three times over.
I finished each exam about 45 minutes early and gave me time to review. I felt good walking out of the exam. I didn’t crush the exam like L1, but I don’t think I failed either. Hearing other people talk about the exam makes me worry. Not sure how to take it. I am going to stick with my instinct that I did well enough to pass.
Glad I did the December -> June line up. Saved time in some areas of L1/L2 overlap.
 
Started studying for the CFA in September. Passed L1 in December. Was hesitating about L2, but finally enrolled and started studying in the mid February. I used only the oficial CFAI textbooks and tests available on-line. The closer I was to the exam date, the more I felt that I didn’t have enough time to get a really good grasp of the material.
The exam was suspiciously easy. Perhaps because of my underpreparedness, but will find out in a couple of months when the results will become. I finished each session about 40 minutes early and had time to go over and double check everything. English is my second language and often CFAI makes it very difficult to understand cases and questions, especially when you are under time pressure. I found and fixed some mistakes I did because of misinterpretation.
Have mixed feelings about results. Hopefull for the best and planning for the worst :). But as many mentioned here already, December to June is quite a stretch.
 
I felt well-prepared overall. Another month wouldn’t have helped, that’s for sure. I gave it my best, and the amount of prep was sufficient imo. Exam was tricky in some areas though, and i might have failed.
 
Passed in December. Start studying the day after the result. Stat a new job 10 days later. Overall I study exactly 330 hours. Read only the curriculum and did the Mock Exacm and practices questions. Confident about the results but you never know.
 
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