Road to Level II

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Mr RS

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Hello everyone!
Firstly, I am delighted to have managed to pass level one and do intend to continue. Because I have started a new job at the beginning of the year and do not have a background in finance (I studied politics), I have decided to sign up for level 2 next year, however.
I genuinely feel that my chances to pass the exam will increase with more time to prepare for the exam.
It would be of great interest to me, whether you would have any tips to share for my preparation. I do know it`s early, yet the earlier I know how to approach the preparation the better.
On that note, I have a few questions:
1) I only studied with Schweser for level 1 and felt pretty good. I scored >70 in 5 topics, between 50 and 70 in 4 and 1 below 50 (Alternative Investments)
2) Can you teach yourself (again) all the material with no background in finance? Or would you recommend taking a course for this exam?
3) Will there be a CFA Level II Mock Exam before the exam similar to Level I?
I am looking forward to hear from your experiences and to receive some very useful tips!
Thank you for your help!
 
Hi Mr RS,
congratulations!
Iam in the same situation. I passed level 1, since january a started a new job and I do not have a background in finance (I am en engineer).
I decided to take the exam for level 2 this june because if I fail is not a big issue (I will just loose the money..), but If I am lucky to pass it I will not loose a whole year!
Cheers
 
Cheers mate! Congratulations to you as well! Hope you celebrated in style :)
It would not be an issue to fail level 2 for me as well, but I feel waiting is the right call.
Think I have got the discipline and willpower to study 7-8 months for one exam.
Best of luck to you!
 
Hi Guys, as I see you are based in Switzerland? Wanna catch up? I am taking level II as well and looking for some peers.
Best
Sinus
ps: working and living in zurich and taking cfa II although my profile tells otherwise…
 
Mr RS wrote:
1) I only studied with Schweser for level 1 and felt pretty good. I scored >70 in 5 topics, between 50 and 70 in 4 and 1 below 50 (Alternative Investments)
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Studying for Level II exclusively from prep provider materials such as Schweser or Wiley is fine as well, although it’s highly advised you complete all the practice questions from each reading in the CFA ciriculum, and go through the blue box examples as well. Videos can help with topics you have difficulty with but are not required and could be a poor use of time for some.
Mr RS wrote:
2) Can you teach yourself (again) all the material with no background in finance? Or would you recommend taking a course for this exam?
Click to expand...
Definitely to your first question. A background in Finance can certainly help in some areas, but it’s not required for Level II self study. If you have the time and desire to supplement with classes is up to you.
Mr RS wrote:
3) Will there be a CFA Level II Mock Exam before the exam similar to Level I?
Click to expand...
Are you talking about a live mock? If so, I’m not sure about that. CFA does provide one full written mock exam that you can take and is available now.
The key for Level II, especially if you’re just starting to study for the June exam, is to work diligently and efficiently when going through the readings, then, and most importantly, practice. Tons and tons of practice. Be sure you leave yourself enough time to do all end of reading questions, blue box examples, practice questions available on the CFA site under candidate resources (go through them twice if possible), and from my experience, make it a goal to get 4 full mock exams done. Practice questions, particularly mock exams, will help you get familiar with the vignette question format and learn how to quickly identify and extract the relevant information to each question. The nature of the vignette format creates more chance for error and more room for the CFA Institute exam writers to really test your knowledge of a subject by slipping in distractor information.
Pushing for Level II after getting a December Level I result is a steep hill to climb but not impossible. I tried it last year, and missed the MPS with a Band 9 fail. It was worth it though. The whole experience got me that much closer to a successful result this year.
Good luck to all!
 
my concern is i read a lot about how some material in the notes are not well written, and get people confused easily. I am going to take video course and combine that with practices from notes and orig??inal book. And only do notes+notes practice+video tutorial +book practice for the 3 main sections like fsa equity and fixed income. Thoughts
 
Thank you @Jaywill for the words of encouragement and general tips! As the syllabus will
have been slightly amended, are you still using your ‘old Schweser book’. How do you access the
new topics? Band 9 is very decent, I am sure you will nail the exam this year mate!
 
On one hand, I am really tempted to sign up now. Indeed I could try pushing hard for 4 months and even if I fail, this year`s experience will come in handy next year.
On the other hand, I prefer studying for more than 4 months for any CFA exam. I like to go thoroughly through the books and make notes. This time I will focus more on practice questions though; your learning curve increases dramatically once you touch mock exams. Given the difficulty of the exam and my non-existing background in finance, however, I just can`t help but think it`s best to wait.
Any advice/tips would be highly appreciated. Many thanks.
 
If I were you I’d take Level 2 while still retaining Level 1 material. The longer you wait, the more you forget. Some Level 2 material is based on Level 1, especially in FRA. Not having a finance background just means you need to spend more time than finance people for preparation. If you’re ready to put in the time, doing all the exams ASAP is more efficient.
 
I registered for Level 2 after passing December 2015. I have covered some concept in Schweser, and will revert back to Corriculum for second reading, and dedicate the whole of May to Practice Questions and Mock. I hope these will be enough.. Hopefully.
 
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