Study advice - tough schedule

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sglondon

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Hi everyone,
I was hoping I could get some insight on what you think is a study plan that will give me the highest chance of passing L2, given a bit of a tricky situation I’m in.
In January, I’m moving to the US for a 4-month work term with my employer. I’ve been told to expect 80+ hour weeks the entire time I’m there, so I’m anticipating having zero time to study from January 01 until the end of April.
My general study style is to overprepare, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable deferring studying until May and cramming everything into one month. I have started studying already, and am planning on getting through all the CFAI text material/EOC questions by the end of December. My plan was to do a week of review in May, and spend the next 4 weeks doing practice problems exclusively.
I’m worried that over the 4 months i’m away for work, I won’t retain a lot of what I’ve already studied. Do you guys have any insight on how I can tweak my current study plan, or any tips from someone who has been in a similar boat?
 
I would try and review on the weekends or your lunch hour to keep the material somewhat fresh.
 
I would definitely forget a lot of what I learned. I agree with bostoncfa2014, try some review and practice questions during lunch and on weekends.
Also, if you’re working in the investment industry, your employer should give you study time. I work for a Canadian bank and I get time off (in addition to vacation and miscellaneous days off) to study for industry tests including the CFA. Can they give you a day off every second week to study or something?
 
keep solving problems, and reviewing material multiple times whenever you can.
you might want to consider making notes / flashcards that you can often refer, and get a better handle.
the material does sink in better when reviewed multiple times.
since you are traveling - not sure about your luggage restrictions - so maybe carrying the cfai / other material may not be an option - hence good notes that will give you a handle - is better.
I, personally, would not keep problem solving and review to a later date. I believe material is picked up better thro problem solving once at least immediately after studying the material, and later as and when needed, as a review.
 
You are in a tough spot. My suggestions is to not truncate your preperation in between. Best is to sart early and build a good momentum by the time January rolls in. From January to April try devoting 30 mins every day to CFA prep. 30 mins every day in 4 months is equal to 60 hours. The challenge is to keep the material fresh by the time May arrives. Cramming in last 1 month would not be useful.
 
I know bankers working 90-100 weeks, and still passed all 3 levels in one shot
 
I don’t think you’ll be able to retain much info that you studied from today till December if you’re not planning to open the books from January-April. There were a lot of people who started studying as early as October till May yet they still failed the exam. And if I was a betting man, I’ll bet that you wil fail if you don’t study during those four months.
Why not try to spare at least 2 hours reviewing from the time you start working. If that 80+hours include the weekends then 2 hours isn’t that much in a day. All you need to do is wake up 30min earlier, devote another 30 min during lunch and sleep an hour later. If the 80 hours are only weekdays, then you can study during the weekends.
 
itera wrote:
I know bankers working 90-100 weeks, and still passed all 3 levels in one shot
Click to expand...
It’s possible, but few would choose to sacrifice their life for corporate slavery and using their free time to study thousands of pages.
 
itera wrote:
I know bankers working 90-100 weeks, and still passed all 3 levels in one shot
Click to expand...
Good for them, I personally cannot replicate that.
Thanks for the insight from everyone else, I appreciate it
 
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