How to pass L2 recommend, practice, although, studying, reading

hinsafdar

After reading everyones failed attempts at passing the level 2. Here is the RIGHT and ONLY way to pass level 2.
Before I give you the secret sauce, I passed level 1 and 2 first try (dec 2012 - june 2013) and I never scored higher than 68% on any practice exam or mock for LVL 1 or 2. I only did about 10%-15% of the qbank and averaged around 70% on the qbank. I also didn’t do any of the EOC questions in the CFAI text (although, I do recommend doing these). Time spent studying was about 300 hours lvl 1 and 400 hours lvl 2.
The secret sauce : read -> UNDERSTAND & CONCEPTUALIZE -> practice/quiz -> UNDERSTAND & CONCEPTUALIZE.
The emphasis is not on pounding out 25 mock exams and doing all 2 million qbank questions but to understand what you did wrong, review it, understand it and to read the section over again to solidify the missed concept.
I did 4 mock exams in the month of May. Morning on saturday and afternoon on sunday and then spent the entire rest of the week reviewing and understanding what I got wrong and filling in the gaps.
This test isn’t about memoriziation and brute force, which is how you probably got through your undergraduate degree but understanding and learning.
I used CFAI for Ethics and Scheweser for everything else.
Good luck and don’t make the same mistake you did while practicing for the exam as you did failing it.

pawn

Forget about sophisticated strategies. It is much harder trying to crack level II than just master the studies. I tried to be one of the clever guys with a great strategy based on topic weights and failed band 9 2012. This year, I put the efforts needed and passed with a pretty good score. So, sit on your a** , start early, dont skip anything, do the questions, understand what are you reading and you will pass for sure! GL&HF

anshultongia

Arrogance is the only way to lose all your real friends /relatives and
sorrounded by fake relatives/ so called friends
  But sadly so many high earners in finance get into second category

BelalM

Zinn…. to conclude your thoughts on my immaturity, I am 22.

Rasec

Here’s how to do clear L2 first shot.
1.  Seriously make the time to study and stick to your schedules (whatever they may be).  Falling behind can be discouraging and can affect your chances.
2.  Be realistic with your short-term goals in which topics you want to have mastered by a certain time.  If you find yourself losing time, make sure you know the core subjects inside and out (FRA, Equity, Corp. Finance, Ethics).  Being very confident and comfortable with these 5 topics will give you a strong shot at passing.
3.  I used the CFA Institute books for about 60% of the curriculum and Schweser for the other 40%.  This all depends on level of knowledge in particular areas, but I used the CFAI books for FRA, Equity, Corp Fin., Ethics and FI).  Made sure to read the chapters (take notes in the margins while reading) and do the EOCs afterwards along with the Blue Boxes while reading.  Use Schweser notes when falling behind.
4.  CFAI mock is a HUGE help.  In my opinion, the mock that they give you is more comprehensive than the actual exam so it gives you a chance to hit a lot of different areas (most of them won’t even be tested on the real exam).  This lets you focus on spots where you need to buckle up a bit.  I also bought the BSAS mock exam which I found very similar to the real one.  Schweser mocks are a huge gamble because each exam / session is very focused on particular areas whereas the actual could throw in 3 or 4 different concepts into one item set.  To put into perspective, I failed the CFA mock, passed the bsas mock and failed 2/4 of the Schweser mocks.  Don’t let mock results discourage you or give you too much confidence.  They DONT count!!
5. The last month is the most important.  Try to take that last week off if you can (it was huge for me) and put in 10+ hour days to get prepared.  It’s hard to not burn out, but you’re so close to your goal so might as well just suck it up.
I started studying at the end of December and took a week off in March/April (which helped a lot).  At the end of the day, it’s a marathon that mostly forces you to spring, but it’s totally achievable.  I passed L1 and L2 (2012, 2013) and was getting my MBA at Boston College part-time while working full-time at a buy side investment manager.  Obviously, some b-school classes helped, but you’re mostly on your own with L2 as the topics get very deep into the weeds.  Good luck!!

badonkus

Just out of curiosity…how old are you dkellman?

RepoToronto

Broberts06 - a bit confused: “I failed last year and passed easily this year i’m quite sure” - you posted 25th, marks were sent 23rd, did you pass? also I think you are speaking on L2 test but your name says L1 Candidate - which one is it?
Otherwise, completely agree with your piece of advice…starting very early this time around ha ha.

brainsX

Fact. Arrogance and ego are the only way to make it to the top.
@stunnerrunner - There wasn’t much on the first or second test that was foreign to me. Sure, they definitely made a lot of questions tricky, but I definitely felt prepared with Schweser. I walked out of the test thinking it was a lot easier than what I prepared for. The only thing I would of done differently was to do the questions in the CFAI text + Schweser material.
@Zinn - It all depends on where the starting point is. My first test was sub 60. I think Schweser does a good job on testing different material within each test, so you might not see that benefit on the 2nd test.

soverby

I think the best advice anyone can give is to give yourself way more time than you anticipate needing. I failed last year and passed easily this year i’m quite sure. There’s no way to anticipate where you get tripped up along the way and lose time. Whenever you feel yourself losing motivation take a look at the mock. That will scare the pants off of anybody. It’s important to really drill home a lot of the material and be able to damn near do it in your sleep, and have lots of practice writing the test, that goes a long way as well.
Another thing I would do if I could go back and restudy is really try and hammer home the material on the first readthrough, or find someway to keep it fresh. I probably ended up reading the Schweser notes 3 times so I could really remember all the points and formulae.
That’s my 2c for next years crop of poor souls. Hopefully it helps you in finding your own successful formula for passing.

wilslm

I agree that the marginal benefit of practice tests diminishes - I was more perplexed at the marks you were getting when you claimed to fully understand the material.
Using your method, the base number of practice tests would be 2 - 1 as a diagnostic, which you said you would spend a week to review thoroughly, then a 2nd test as a way to assess your progress over the 1st test. In that case, wouldn’t it stand to reason your 2nd test should reflect higher scores then 70% and 68%?