Just passed Level 2 onto Level 3... Thoughts and Tips

K

Kman2001

New member
Joined
Jun 18, 2026
Messages
0
Reaction score
0
Would welcome:
Thoughts/Action Plans from fellow new candidates
Tips from Charterholders/ Charterholders to be/ Those who have failed
Course Provider: I’ve stuck with Kaplan (with Elan’s 11th Hour Guide) for the first two levels and their notes/videos have served me well. Planning on going with them again unless a riveting case is made.
When to begin: In November, I plan to start watching Kaplan videos and glancing through notes to get a feel for the materials. Around mid-Jan I will start with proper revision.
Study Groups: I’ve always been too last minute to benefit from these, but I think it could be a good idea. Will probably look for fellow candidates in London.
 
I think I will use CFAI curriculum this time as I have almost 10 months this time vs 4 months for L2. Probably skim through Schweser though after I’m done with that.
 
imho Schweser works well for all three levels, but you guys may recognize in working through mock exams, that some stuff is treated in detail only in the CFA curriculum. Don´t store the CFAI books too far away…
 
I suggest you stick with schweser and consult the curriculum only where you have problem in understanding, the better investment of time would be to do as many practice problems as you can rather than going through the bulky curriculum which will take you away from exam specific information quite often. curriculum EOCs are a mustttttt do…all of them..no exceptions here
 
Posted elsewhere (Level II forum), but thought I’d share here. Perfect world (IMHO), the following would be “best practice” keeping in mind individual best learning modalities. End of day, the below is somewhat unrealistic, however, though I’m no Dornbusch, I believe one should always should overshoot. From experience (passed Level II this year on my second attempt), better to be overprepared than out $$$ and a year of your life…
Phase 1: August - End of October/November:
Read CFAI text books (consider skipping derivatives as the variable labels are not intuitive). This read through is meant to be a once through, non-intensive exposure to the entire curriculum.
Phase 2: Beginning of November/December - End of March:
1. Thoroughly read all Schweser Notes.
2. Watch all Schweser video lecures (I tried to watch one before work each day, for example). Start these as soon as they become available. Consider starting to chip away at this task in September if possible (note that video lectures for new topics tend to come later in October).
3. Make flashcards for all end of Schweser Notes formulas.
4. Complete all end of reading Schweser Notes concept checkers.
5. Devote some time each study day to completing a few Schweser QBank questions from topics you’ve covered to keep them fresh.
6. Identify topics/concepts as you go through that don’t seem to be sinking in or are critical and make summary pages for your final review.
Phase 3: Beginning of April - End of May:
1. Re-watch all Schweser lectures.
2. Complete fully simulated practice exam each Saturday. FULL, TIMED exams. Part exams are a waste, might as well do practice problems for days you don’t want to do a full exam rather than wasting a practice one, there are plenty of practice problems at your fingertips. Review that day spilling into Sunday if necessary. This review must include each and every problem. Tests include all Schweser practice exams, live Schweser mock exam, CFAI practice exam(s) etc…
3. Read end of chapter CFAI reading summaries and work some of each practice problems.
4. Read Schweser Secret Sauce two times through.
5. RELAX day before exam day.
A couple other things to note:
Remember that we all learn differently and it’s important to genuinely identify and lean on these modes of learning that our our individual strengths (i.e. reading, listening, doing). However, no matter who you are, the more you practice, the better you get. Doing practice problems throughout your course of study is absolutely imperative. The more times you get burned, the fewer mistakes on exam day. Additionally, there is a concept of state-dependent memory, it is likely that you will not be studying in a rushed/stressful state (although some of your practice exams likely may be). Therefore, in addition to the benefit of clear thinking that a relaxed state can bring, it also helps align your study-“state” to exam-day-“state” as closely as possible. Lots of practice and relaxing the day prior to exam (maybe even a run to help ensure you’re able to sleep) all will pay big dividends on exam day. OBVIOUSLY there’s no way to eliminate the stress of this monster - by any stretch of the imagination. This process is a beast and should be recognized and treated as such.
FINALLY, AVOID BURNOUT AT ALL COSTS! Starting earlier will help avoid this, when you are feeling overwhelmed (and you have been putting in the time) - TAKE A BREAK. A day or two off and having a life will keep you moving through this grueling possible.
 
Has no one else had it up to here with all these tips, thoughts and tricks?! For Goodness sake, it’s all f**king the same! Same as your bloody level 1&2 – study, do practise questions and hope for some luck!
and stop pissing others off with questions on tips, tricks and thoughts!
 
GothamSenator wrote:
End of day, the below is somewhat unrealistic, however, though I’m no Dornbusch, I believe one should always should overshoot.
Click to expand...
I lol’d. I have problems
 
cfai instead of schweser/elan. people, you realize there are essays this time around, right? you need to be able to explain these concepts, which is much harder than the hazy understanding required for multiple choice exams.
 
agree with the others that repeating whatever has worked for you so far but with the exception of:
start early, there’s less material but a lot of it is connected so ideally you want to spend enough time on it to really grasp the big picture.
also, plan to leave more time at the end of your prep for just quesiton practice as morning paper technique is very important for level 3.
but yeah, maybe ask in 2 weeks time when we know if our strategies were successful
 
So I can discuss Level 3, finally!! After all these years, *whew!!*
I’ve also used Kaplan Schweser for both L1 & L2.. I look forward for preparation tips for L3. Thank you
 
bloodline wrote:
Has no one else had it up to here with all these tips, thoughts and tricks?! For Goodness sake, it’s all f**king the same! Same as your bloody level 1&2 – study, do practise questions and hope for some luck!
and stop pissing others off with questions on tips, tricks and thoughts!
Click to expand...
My sincerest apologies “bloodline”. Next time I want to voice an opinion or start a discussion, I’ll be sure to run it by you. I’m glad there are people like you who are taking a stand against such nonsense. You’re an inspiration to all of us.
If you’re free any time in the future let me know and I’ll buy you a popsicle and a pack of Gummie Bears to smooth things over.
 
First time poster, so feel free to ignore me if you want.
For the level 1 and 2, I learned concepts almost exclusively from the Kaplan video series. All excellent instructors, so i’m going to attempt the first run of my studies by doing the same thing. Never cracked a spine in the CFAI books…
Level 3 looks like a very different animal, so I don’t know how successful the same approach will be.
 
My two cents re timeframe,
Phase 3: Beginning of April - End of May:
Absolutely register for the bespoke Marc Lefebvre course for Level III at Creighton in early May. Absolutely the best organized, most detailed, and most focused on problem-solving of any of the review courses. It will not substitute for learning the material, but honing in on solutions, approaches, analysis, math, etc. etc. gathered together in a thoughtful, structured manner that relies 100% on working with actual CFA problems direct from the books … . you can’t find better.
You should only hope he holds the course again this year and you should only hope you get in early, as there are seating restrictions due to lecture venue limitations.
And, no, I am not Marc.
 
Auburn wrote:
My two cents re timeframe,
Phase 3: Beginning of April - End of May:
Absolutely register for the bespoke Marc Lefebvre course for Level III at Creighton in early May. Absolutely the best organized, most detailed, and most focused on problem-solving of any of the review courses. It will not substitute for learning the material, but honing in on solutions, approaches, analysis, math, etc. etc. gathered together in a thoughtful, structured manner that relies 100% on working with actual CFA problems direct from the books … . you can’t find better.
You should only hope he holds the course again this year and you should only hope you get in early, as there are seating restrictions due to lecture venue limitations.
And, no, I am not Marc.
Click to expand...
How much Marc paid you? :/
 
^^ Satisfied customer, is all. Newbies to LIII are groping for some direction and advice and generally all they hear is Schweser, do the problems, etc. etc. It does help to have a review guide who puts it all together, identifies the most critical problems to know within the curriculum, points out where a morning question was buried in the CFAI text but most people never saw it coming, etc. If you want to get down from Everest alive, it helps to have a Sherpa carrying an extra set oxygen tanks for you – think of Marc with that analogy in mind.
Also, to the prior poster, “Course Provider: I’ve stuck with Kaplan (with Elan’s 11th Hour Guide) for the first two levels and their notes/videos have served me well. Planning on going with them again unless a riveting case is made.”
I don’t think Elan does LIII yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top