Anybody Take L1 in Dec and L2 in June? successful, months

sabaruch

If so, I assume you got your pass results for L1 in late Jan leaving you with 4 months to prepare for L2 in June. Is this enough time? Were you successful?

bolligerallstar

I did it too. Of course, it was not easy, but it's possible. Just be sure to put around 15-20 hours a week until April and put 25-30 (maybe more) hours a week until the exam. You must be dedicated and focused..
Good luck.

SeanWest

There is definitely enough time....if you are dedicated. I started studying for L2 in Jan 2010 despite teh fact that I had not received my L1 result yet. I figured that it would be cutting it too close otherwise and I felt reasonably confident of having passed. I am married, kids, and I work so it wasn't easy, but I managed and passed L2 with 7/10 above 70%, 3/10 between 50-70%. I did feel totally burned out towards the end, but if it means that I can be finished with all three levels by June 2011 then it will have been worth it. Also, I agree with bnak17 that it would be a shame to wait 1 1/2 before taking L2 since you will have forgotten a lot of the material from L1.

In summary - I can only recommend to go for it!

sameeragarwal

It's really a cost/benefit analysis. If you passed Level 1 in December, you have two options: Option 1 is to take Level 2 four months after you receive results. Option two is to wait a year and a half to take Level 2.

If you take test in 4 months, you risk not having enough time to properly study all the material. This is especially true if you have a demanding job or other time consuming obligations. You will lose your entire social life for almost a full year, and you risk getting burned out. However, the benefit is that the CFA curriculum builds on itself from Level 1 to 2, so you still have many of the concepts fresh in your mind. This will save you considerable time in having to "re-learn" information.

If you wait a year and half to take Level 2, you will almost certainly forget key material. You will have to spend time re-learning material from Level 1. However, you will have ample time to study for Level 2 and you will get to enjoy life for a little while before getting back into the grind of studying.

I was faced with this decision at the end of January of 2010 when I found out that I passed Level 1. I decided to take Level 2 in June 2010 and ended up passing. Four months of studying was enough for me, even while working full time, but there were certainly times I felt burnt out. Also, my bosses were pretty understanding and allowed me be flexible with my schedule.

For me, it was a good move to take Level 2 four months later, it might be different for someone else.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Friday, July 30, 2010 at 02:31PM by bnak17.

spreads

I took L1 in December 2008 and L2 in June 2009 and failed. The entire period from July 2008 through June 2009 sucked to say the least. But on the flip side, sitting for the actual exam was invaluable. Even if you don't feel prepared come June, I'd sit for the exam just for the experience.

NO EXCUSES

kkn006

I signed up for a login to this forum specifically to reply to your question. My answer? No, there is not enough time, especially if you actually wait for the results from L1 first. You basically have 3 months to get through 6 months worth of studying, and one month to review/take practice exams, etc. Can it be done? Looks like it, from the comments above. But I did not feel prepared going into the exam after only 4 months of studying.

19831985

BMurtaugh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I signed up for a login to this forum specifically
> to reply to your question. My answer? No, there is
> not enough time, especially if you actually wait
> for the results from L1 first. You basically have
> 3 months to get through 6 months worth of
> studying, and one month to review/take practice
> exams, etc. Can it be done? Looks like it, from
> the comments above. But I did not feel prepared
> going into the exam after only 4 months of
> studying.

I did the "Short Turnaround" too and passed L2, I would highly advise against it, the process sucked. Like the above poster I started to study for L2 prior to my L1 results. I feel for me if I had not done than I would have never passed.

I think to do 2 exams in 6 months while giving yourself a chance to pass the most important thing to do is look yourself in the mirror and do a real self assessment to figure out how much time you need to pass the exam. Notice most of the people that did it state they have MBA's in Finance etc.

Some people can pass in 175 hours some like me take 500. What you don't want to do is be the guy that studied about 180 hours and band 10 failed because they did <50 % on Ethics. The price of the few extra hours is 1 year + all the extra hours to pass the second time plus the $$ that the CFA hits you for.

It does save time but it sucks while you do it.

jarobi04

I took L1 in Dec 09 and started studying the last week in December for L2. I studied hard and passed, but you definitely have to be dedicated to passing. There is no reason to wait for your result to start studying for the second test unless you absolutely can't stand to open a book for a while. My view is why wait. . . by signing up for L1 in Dec you should have already been planning on taking L2 in June. The worst case scenario is that you don't pass L1, you have studied a little bit of L2 material, and you have to retake L1 in June. If this is the case, I still don't think you have wasted any time. You have to plan for the best case scenario so you don't short change yourself on time. Why take the chance of only putting in 4 months if you have 5 available. I wouldn't want that to be the reason I would have to wait another year to retake a test. Go ahead and write off most of your free time, and hopefully it will be worth it for you this time next year.

Side note: I have a BS in business economics and finance. Although an MBA or MS in finance would definitely help, it obviously isn't essential.

yalo

Yes plenty of time. This is on top of working full time and being a full time MBA student.

chaojimali

Did the same. My busy season at work in January/February left me with really only March, April, and May to study. I passed L2 with >70 in all but ethics, but who really cares about ethics.