Where to Start with for Level II

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Gram

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Hey Friends,
I just cleared my Level I exam in December and i applied for Level II this June. I wanted some help from you. If any of you could please share in your tactics on how you were able to cover the portion within 4 months and pass; then it would be quite motivating. I have made this a general thread, so passed candidates can share in their experiences and we can gain.
Please give us hints on what was your main strategy, did you do CFA curriculum, examples from curriculum, did you prefer Curriculum item sets or Schweser Qbank item sets, which helped you the most to score, what was your worst subject, how did you ace it. Do you prefer reading and understanding from Schweser or Wiley and just doing Curriculum questions? These are just some random questions every LEVEL II candidates wants to ask. So, be it; lets comment here…
 
I will suggest you to study topics in natural sequential order (with only exception of ethics) because certain thesis and topic are keys through entire L2 curriculum. Example, in Quants you should learn usage of regression and various models, in Econ you will find calculations of currency qoutes. Later in FRA you should apply those previous learnt material on many cases and samples such as financial ratio analysis or impact of exchange rates on BS and P/L in company’s international activites. I am quite sure that same approach is continuing in further topics.
 
Flashback wrote:
I will suggest you to study topics in natural sequential order (with only exception of ethics) because certain thesis and topic are keys through entire L2 curriculum. Example, in Quants you should learn usage of regression and various models, in Econ you will find calculations of currency qoutes. Later in FRA you should apply those previous learnt material on many cases and samples such as financial ratio analysis or impact of exchange rates on BS and P/L in company’s international activites. I am quite sure that same approach is continuing in further topics.
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I agree that Quant and Econ appear in other portions of the curriculum (either directly or indirectly). If people tell you that there isn’t a connection between various portions of the curriculum, they’re missing (quite a bit of) the big picture.
That being said, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to knock these two out first, but it shouldn’t be too bad if you go out of order.
 
did you guys start with curriculum or your relied on schweser notes….what did u do…and which item sets did u do…schweser or curriculum or both.
Thanks
 
did you guys start with curriculum or your relied on schweser notes….what did u do…and which item sets did u do…schweser or curriculum or both.
Thanks
 
I have started with Schweser in L2, opposite to tactics in L1 when I started with official curriculum. My plan is switch on curriculum in later phase but only for some topics or chapters. This is because I have no plenty of time what was situation during preparing L1 in second half of previous year. Otherwise, I would read entire L2 official curriculum.
 
Gram wrote:
did you guys start with curriculum or your relied on schweser notes….what did u do…and which item sets did u do…schweser or curriculum or both.
Thanks
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I started at the end of February and used the official curriculum books. I did all practice problems available from the CFA Institute (EOCs, candidate portal questions, and the mock). I didn’t touch any material from Schweser, but I did purchase the Wiley 11th Hour guide to use after I read the curriculum. I found the 11th Hour guide to be helpful. I felt well prepared on exam day.
 
Doing official curriculum EOC even by reading Schweser only seems a good tip. Mock and portal topic questions are strongly recommended, IMO.
 
You have 117 days at your disposal from now.
Knock out last 15 days for revision and 3 mock tests.
Target to finish the stuffs(first pass) in 2 months along with CFAI EOCs.Lets say you study for 200 hrs, apportion it across sections based on the weigtings.(40 hrs each for FRA and Equity, 25 hrs each for Derivatives and Corp Fin, divide the rest across other areas)
Revise the enitire syllabus in the next 30 days(redo EOCs, and attempt CFAI sectionals).
Take 2 mock tests in the remaining 10 days. You will pass by a margin.
 
Gram wrote:
did you guys start with curriculum or your relied on schweser notes….what did u do…and which item sets did u do…schweser or curriculum or both.
Thanks
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I follow Schweser.
However, Schweser did little poor in a few areas IMO. (FRA,Fixed Income,Derivatives)
 
Deal_Clincher wrote:
You have 117 days at your disposal from now.
Knock out last 15 days for revision and 3 mock tests.
Target to finish the stuffs(first pass) in 2 months along with CFAI EOCs.Lets say you study for 200 hrs, apportion it across sections based on the weigtings.(40 hrs each for FRA and Equity, 25 hrs each for Derivatives and Corp Fin, divide the rest across other areas)
Revise the enitire syllabus in the next 30 days(redo EOCs, and attempt CFAI sectionals).
Take 2 mock tests in the remaining 10 days. You will pass by a margin.
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Nostradamus has spoken.
 
Gram
I’m a re-taker (band 7 last year) so take my advice with a grain of salt. I used Wiley the entire way through using the CFAI material only for BBs, EOCs, online questions, and of course the official mock. Sadly, I came up short. This year I’m putting more weight on the CFAI curriculum using Wiley/Schweser only for Mocks (subject to change). I actually enjoy the CFAI material a lot more than 3rd party sources because I’m given a more comprehensive outlook on all subjects. Some of it is def fluff but its giving me a clearer understanding of what’s going on so now, hopefully, all I’ll need to do is drill down questions. I felt I was left with big gaps in knowledge/understanding when I relied soley on Wiley. Thats just me though.
With that being said, I would’nt recommend the CFAI material for you. You simple don’t have enough time IMO. Read Schwesers books doing the CFAI EOCs (skip the Q bank and Schweser EOCs) as you go. Make sure you give yourself at least 4 weeks to review (6 would be better). Try for 5 mocks and don’t wait until the last 2 weeks to do the online questions.
Best of luck.
 
Bachatero wrote:
With that being said, I would’nt recommend the CFAI material for you. You simple don’t have enough time IMO. Read Schwesers books doing the CFAI EOCs (skip the Q bank and Schweser EOCs) as you go. Make sure you give yourself at least 4 weeks to review (6 would be better). Try for 5 mocks and don’t wait until the last 2 weeks to do the online questions.
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Hi Bachatero, when you will reach the state of ‘memorize every formulas & rules’ without lag for this year ?
is it 1 month before exam ? or maybe 2 weeks before ?
 
Realy appreciate your help…All the best to you also
 
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