Level II right after Level I in December? material, painful, through, advice

scruge

Hello,

I am taking CFA Level I in December. I was wondering if I would have enough time to study for Level II in about 6 months (given that I can get the study material right away and get the books around February). Is it gonna be very painful to have cram through Level II in 6 months, or I might be better off taking FRM Level 1?

Thank you for the advice in advance.

mnieman

That's the plan, level I in December, level II in June. 6 months should be enough if you put the time in and study. If you understand the material very well and put in the hours, you should pass. If you are considering the FRM, ask yourself why?

agulani

take it one step at a time.
results also come out end January - so figure out then if you
a) have enough energy
b. have enough time to commit
c. after realizing that Level II is not as straightforward and requires considerably more time to be spent...

CP

sdada

I'm taking level 1 in december too and had the same question as yours. I figured i'd take level 2 in june, if i pass i'll go for level 3 in 2012. If i dont pass, i will retake level 2 in 2012 but will go for FRM level 1 in november 2011 as i would have already covered level 2 material and probably wouldnt need as much time if i need to retake it.

homie

Sure, go for it. Lots of people do it. By mid-June you may have already moved yourself up to Level 3.

Of course, to earn the Ultra CFA designation, you have to pass all three levels in 18 months, and then score 95% on the Level 4 exam.

kamara5

Level 4 ???

johnnyBuz

Fdez Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's my plan. I'm also planning to start
> studying before actually knowing whether I passed
> L1 or not. Motivation will depend hardly on my
> feeling about my chances of passing L1 and I'm
> sure it will be hard to keep on studying after it,
> but... well, no pain no gain.


I've got the same plan. Best of luck!

pacmandefense

Of course its worth it to study for level 2 even before you find out, you guys make it seem like learning something ahead of a "predetermined schedule is a bad thing" if you don't pass level I the first time, then take it again, then once level 2 rolls around, you will at least have some foundation in it.

MythosHF

I'm coming straight out of school so first thing I'm going to do right after Level 1 regardless of whether I pass or not is look for a job. I doubt I'll have the energy/commitment to continue studying for Level 2 immediately after Level 1 while working full-time.

Daniel1985

I faced this choice earlier this year and decided to skip a year.

To do an effective job with L2, you really have to start right after the L1 test. You're exhausted and uncertain if you passed. If you don't, all that effort on L2 is essentially lost.

To add to the problem, CFAI won't even let you register, so you have to buy the books on your own (or use Schweser/Stalla).

It's not a good situation. CFAI should offer a provisional L2 registration and ship out the books.

- Robert