How difficult is L2 compared to L1 understand, experience, difficult, benefits, starting

jim8z3

Let’s say someone found L1 easy to understand, but did find the curriculum vast, how would L2 compare to L1?
Would passing L2 be more difficult or would require more work compared to L1? If yes, how much more work. Please advise.
Also, can anyone point me to a thread of benefits of having a CFA? Does that help at all? How much are starting pays assuming a bit of CFA related experience and worked with CFAs in the past.

onelife1

Level 1 is to Level 2
as
a Swedish massage is to castration-by-way-of-cheese-grater

OmarAdnan

Level 1 :: Level 2
Fresh, warm spring morning :: First 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan

AndyNZ

one billion dollars, thats why so few cfa’s- most just retire

profil

you cant ask this question until after the scores are out, then people can have perspective.
“how hard is that test that you just studied your ass off for and have no clue if i passed?” i don’t know dude, wait a few months…

Kapie

Its slightly easier imo. Id say dont even study.

WarrenB1

L2 had a similar amount of material (probably just under 3,000 pages each) but the depth of the material was much greater. Also, many of the concepts are probably more foreign to the candidate (not really covered in your basic finance/econ undergrad courses). As a result, more time would probably need to go into the preparation.
I thought the item-set format was more difficult than stand-alone questions as well. Due to there only being 120 questions (as opposed to 240), it is more difficult for the CFAI to test the body of knowledge. As a result, major topics seemed to be missed on the exam while the nuances of the obscure topics could kill you if you aren’t completely prepared. As a result, you need to know everything to a greater extent (1 question out of 240 won’t kill you but 6 out of 120 might).
All in all, the two really weren’t very comparable.

IAmNeil

come on guys, can you be more specific instead of cracking jokes and comparisons with massage and movies.
in terms of studies, how much harder, and why?
was it more material, less clarity, un-interesting? too much FSA? what is it?
BTW, I am L1 candidate, and I tried mock exam L2 Ethics section. Got all 6 of them correct in under 8 minutes. Given time was 18 minutes. This one was the chinese student example who worked for her employer for free while studying for L3 and MBA together question.
I felt like L2 ethics was easier than L1, no wonders L1 passing rate is only 33% compared to like 50% or so for L2

rohitdoshi

I disagree with most people who say L2 is significantly harder than L1. It’s harder, but not THAT much harder.
I am speaking from my personal experience, and I came from a non-quantitative background and had no previous finance knowledge prior to L1 (i.e. I didn’t know A = L + E). Thus, the gap between knowing nothing to passing L1 (all sections >70) was very large. Also, I obviously don’t even know if I passed L2 yet, so maybe on August 18th I will take back what I say. But I give myself better than 50/50 odds of passing.
Now, L2 is definitely harder, but it’s manageable. For someone like you who says you found L1 easy, maybe you won’t see it the same way I did.
It’s like someone asking, “Is Algebra 2 harder than Algebra 1?” Well, if you haven’t completed Algebra 1, then of course it is. But if you got an A in Algebra 1, and you are prepared to study hard in Algebra 2, you should be fine.

soverby

Level 1 = Saw 1
Level 2 = Saw 1 + 2 + 3 + 4