Question for you level 3 candidates

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RayJay

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Sorry, I know this doesn’t belong here but I wanted to see from all you guys who passed level 2 and not from retakers.
For those who used Schweser Notes/Mocks and CFAI mock, where they sufficient for you? If they were is there an important tip or key thing to remember when im taking the actual CFA exam? on level 2 forum as you know people swear that Schweser doesn’t prepare you enough but you never hear back from the people who passed cause you guys/girls dont really go back to the level 2 forums.
 
for l2 the best way to pass is CFAI mocks do as many as you can and memorise them all. I studied everything from schweser and only did the EOC once before the exam
 
read the entire CFA curriculum once (didnt help much) – read schweser + did schweser mocks (got through 4 of them). Also did the 2012 CFAI mock –
Put in enough hours you’ll be good to go
 
Schweser, all CFAI EOCs, and 6-8 mocks are all you will need for L2. Avoid the CFAI online sample exams as they simply aren’t that good and definitely not worth the $$$. Time becomes a more critical factor at L2 so you need to practice the exam format again and again to get a feel for it before exam day. You’ll learn soon enough, but each level of the CFA requires completely new study and test taking strategies.
A lot of people blame Schweser for its shortcomings when they fail, but most of these candidates fail to put in a quality effort and simply think that Schweser is a viable shortcut.
Also, some study aids are hit or miss at different level. Schweser QBank was gold at L1, but I didn’t find it useful for L2. I never bothered with it for L3. Don’t buy flashcards, make your own.
 
I only used CFAI material and the BSAS practice exam. I felt well prepared for the exam. Schweser’s best efforts are in prep material for Level 1 in my opinion.
 
Plenty of people passed only using schweser. I don’t think it matters. I dont know a lot who passed only using CFAI, but I don’t think that matters either.
What matters is the “hidden study session” which is the exam. You need to prepare like hell for the actual exam. This means doing lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of problems.
Just reading the books isn’t gonna get you through. People who fail the exam usually fail because they spend too much time reading the curriculum and not enough time doing practice questions and tests.
 
Read CFA books provided by Institute.
Focus on Equity, FRA, Ethics. Master them.
Approach exam questions in order of desending weight they carry. (higher to lower)
Start early and finish early
Parctice the problems by actually solving them. Never trust yourselves that you know n let it go.
Memorise formulas in advance. Practice EOCS, Blue BOX n CFA mock exams.
Pray God
 
Schweser videos + EOCs + a lot of CFAI mocks did it for me. I did read the material as well (50/50 CFAI books and schweser when CFAI became too wordy).
I really think that the biggest factor that determines passing each level is getting enough practice questions in.
 
I passed L2 using only Schweser Notes and EOCs. I did just two or three mocks I guess. I found that the mocks of the past years are not very useful to this year’s exam, they focus on different topics. But this year’s mock is a must.
Schweser Notes is enough to get all the information and points (except for the pension part), but you MUST do the EOC. They are VERY important. EOC tells you what questions will be like in real exam, but in Notes, it has just some brief questions which will never show up in exams. EOC will help you get used to those long passages. If you could understand all the EOC questions after reading Notes, it means that Schweser Notes provide you with enough information. If you find you could hardly understand even the explaination of a question in an EOC problem, then maybe the Notes is not sufficient, you have to refer to the curriculum.
FYI, I major in Finance. I think the different backgrounds will result in different advices. I feel L1 is quite easy and L2 is a little big challenge as I have to remember soooo many fomulas. But the material is not hard to understand. This is my situation. I hope this would help you.
 
In my opinion, CFAI books are enough to cover the material. I passed both L1 n L2 without reading any study notes, besides CFAI. My tip is to just get over the material as fast as you can, to maximize the time you get to practice with mock exams. Finish at least 6 mock exams. Schweser mocks dont have the same “feel” the actual exam has, but they are still the best way to review for D-day.
 
I agree with most people on this topic. The key to pass any lvl of CFA exam is “practice, practice, practice…” use whatever material that is easily understood so that you can have more time to practice.
My approach has always been, first read Schweser, then try to do EOC questions, if I can’t answer some of them, go back to Schweser, if I still dont understand, read the actual text. The problem I had with reading text alone was I would definitely forget what I had read in the beginning when I am on the last few pages. Also, when I read the text with a specific question in mind, I will retain the info longer.
When you are done with EOC questions, work on blue/black box questions. After you done with that, do Schweser questions. After that, you are ready to do as many mock exams as possible.
I would suggest leave one entire month to practice mocks if possible.
Good luck
 
The Righteous Hacksaw wrote:
Plenty of people passed only using schweser. I don’t think it matters. I dont know a lot who passed only using CFAI, but I don’t think that matters either.
What matters is the “hidden study session” which is the exam. You need to prepare like hell for the actual exam. This means doing lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of problems.
Just reading the books isn’t gonna get you through. People who fail the exam usually fail because they spend too much time reading the curriculum and not enough time doing practice questions and tests.
Click to expand...
+10
But watch the videos on sections you are unsure of. And do all the EOC’s as well.
 
I don’t know where this “Schweser isn’t enough” idea came from. Just put out a decent effort and any of the main providers would be sufficient.
I passed doing this:
Feb. 1 to Apr. 30: Read Schweser, taking decent notes as I went. Did NOT do any practice problems during the readings, which I regretted during revision.
May, weeks 1-2: Qbank quizzes all day e’ry day (after work, I mean)
May, week 3-4: All 6 Schweser mocks and the CFAI mock (had these weeks off work)
I didn’t kill it per se, but I passed so that’s all that really matters. Probably should have done the EOC’s as I went though, it woulda made things easier.
 
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