If you passed, how did you pass? Post results + method here only, method

koba

Passed

Method: CFA books only. EOC and Examples. No mocks. Started Prep in April

Item Set
Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70%
- Alternative Investments 18 - - *
- Corporate Finance 36 - - *
- Derivatives 36 - - *
- Economics 18 - - *
- Equity Investments 72 - * -
- Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - - *
- Financial Reporting & Analysis 72 - - *
- Fixed Income Investments 36 - * -
- Portfolio Management 18 - - *
- Quantitative Methods 18 - - *

random_walker47

I work full time and I'm doing a part time MBA so no time for studying but I really wanted to write level II. I figured I'd probably fail but I'd give it a shot anyway. I took 4 weeks off work, I still had the MBA stuff going on, and a lot of personal commitments happening as well so I realistically managed to put in at most 200 hours (probably 150 - 200)

I used the Stella lectures/software exclusively and a few practice exams towards the end from Stalla and Kaplan.

I didn't even read the Stalla study guides as I had no time and I never opened a CFAI book.

The net result is I passed but barely (<50% in 5 sections >50 and <70% in 2 and >70% in 3 (ethics, FRA and equities). My strategy was to focus on the biggest topics which seemed to pay off but this is no means something I would recommend to work consistently and I think luck had a lot to do with it.

cjs238

Long time lurker, dont usually post here. But, I would be happy to share my "passing" recipe.

Result in brief: >70 in 6 sections (includes almost all heavyweights), 50-70 in 2 sections, <50 in 2 sections

Background: Engineering + MBA in finance. (This is the first time I studied finance in my life, 6 courses)

Level 1(Jun'09): Schwesar notes exclusively+ few schwesar practice exams in parts. Studied in last 25 days @15 hours a day
Level 2 (Jun'10): Used the above method. Failed Band 10. Shortcomings - Although, finished with the entire text, I couldn't remember formulaes & hence panicked in exam.
Level 2: (Jun'11): Schwesar notes exclusively+ All schwesar practice exams in parts (i.e. never gave a mock exam in one sitting). Since i was a full time employee this time, I had to study for ~70 days. ( 2 hours on weekdays, 8 hours on weekend in beginning+ 15 hours a day in last 14 days)


Key learnings for level 2
1) Schwesar text in mostly sufficient (except Ethics), but EOC questions are horrible. At most EOC (and Q bank questions as well) help in retaining basic concepts. Only after doing practice exams, you realise your hollow preparations. Pro tip - After finishing one section, spend a day to solve practice exams of that relevant section (no need to time yourself). Revisit your concepts. Keep on making notes of important/ tricky concepts.
2) Look for new chapters which are added every year - It is almost certain those few chapters will be tested quite well in cfa exam. Also, these chapters are not tested in depth as well.
3) Dont leave a single chapter/ paragraph of schwesar text, no matter how small they are. CFA exam setters have a habit of asking a question set based on some ridiculous topic.
4) Try cramming all the formulaes & important derivations/ results. The reason being, on actual exam, you will be overwhelmed with the areas of topics tested. Even though, you will understand how some results are derived, repeating the same thing in actual exam is a different game altogether.
5) Be confident - There will be times when you will be frustated and cant understand a single thing. It is important to move on to another Section (or next reading if they are not related) and start afresh.
6) Keep an eye on the big picture. There are readings (chapter) which are painfully long. So, by the time, you are finished with reading that chapter, you will forget in few days. Here a chapter map will help. Merely listing out TOC for a chapter, will help grasp the concept much better and help you to retain it for a longer time & act as a quick reference during the last days before exam. Something like - Reading talks about point A,B, C. Point A is achived by methods 1,2,3,4 .....
7) Take some harmless medicine pills (aryuvedic). The medicines dont actually have to work, but your mind should be convinced that it working (Read - placebo) and is helping you retain terabytes of concepts.
8) Focus more on heavyweight topics. FRA+ Equity (1.5 books) = 40-50% of exam. If you ace them, your life would be easier.

On the exam day
1) Start with a comfortable section. Move back and forth to new questions as convinient.
2) Before apporaching a question set, make sure you see the section (and then reading) it falls into. Point being, with so many concepts floating in your mind, you can direct your energy on fewer concepts to crack the question set.
3) Pray that you dont get a beautiful proctor.


P.S.1. Drunk man typing
P.S.2. I can share my study plan & more tips if anyone is interested

----
It doesn't matter how many zeroes you add at the end of a bad idea, its still a bad idea. ( Greece rescue plan)

jcfa2011

Passed 1st attempt...used ONLY schweser.

Studied my *** off during weekday evenings and weekend afternoons. Sacrifice and dedication prevails.

Although I used schweser only, my only regret is not having done enough practice problems....If i had the time (i guess it flew by), I would have done the EOC FROM THE CFA CURRICULUM.... i was going to, but they looked too long so i thought meh

schweser practice problems were good enough

level 3 I plan on sticking to the CFA curriculum this time though...

yodacaia

Passed (first attempt).

My technique: start early (November), establish and maintain a study schedule (critical), work really hard, and rely mainly on the curriculum using Schweser only as a study aid.

My only regret was not starting sooner.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 03:51PM by Hank Moody.

Sunshine4ever

2nd attempt, first was with schweser only, band 8.This time with CFAI curriculum only. and that too only text and text examples. didnt do any end of reading questions. attempted 2 cfai mocks. i am definitely in band1 of passing candidates

- Alternative Investments 18 - - *
- Corporate Finance 36 - * -
- Derivatives 36 * - -
- Economics 18 - * -
- Equity Investments 72 - - *
- Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - * -
- Financial Reporting & Analysis 72 - * -
- Fixed Income Investments 36 - - *
- Portfolio Management 18 - * -
- Quantitative Methods 18 - * -

So, you can see, this isn't the most efficient way to pass. Do more questions! I did prepare the CFAI text thoroughly though

Kapie

Passed.

Finquiz, CFAI books + EOC and Schweser mock exams.

DoubleDip

All Schweser, Soft Dollar was the only thing I read from CFAI. I started in Feb. Spent the last five weeks reviewing, working q-bank, and doing mock exams. If I had to do it again, I'd definitely incorporate the CFAI EOC questions... fortunately I don't. See you on the Lvl 3 boards.

jcole21

For reading, i used Schweser exlusively. Same with level I. I find CFAI text to be longer (not necessarily a bad thing, but schweser works well for me). THat said, i def had to read and reread and do practicve problems to get a grasp.

However, i did do a ton of EOC from CFAI for Equity, Corp Fin, and Especially FRA.

WarrenB1

Spanishesk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Q#TopicMax Pts<=50%51%-70%>70%
> -Alternative Investments18--*
> -Corporate Finance36--*
> -Derivatives36-*-
> -Economics18*--
> -Equity Investments72--*
> -Ethical & Professional Standards36--*
> -Financial Reporting & Analysis72--*
> -Fixed Income Investments36--*
> -Portfolio Management18--*
> -Quantitative Methods18--*
>
> Funny thing is Econ and Derivatives were 2 of my
> strongest sections going in. Go figure.
>
> Started in Feb after taking 2 months off after
> passing LI. Seems like I am a much slower worker
> than some others here - i put in 485 hours from
> Feb till exam day, leaving the last 3 weeks for
> mocks and then reviewing them. Read all the stuff
> once in Schweser, then did it all over with
> problems and note taking. Then third time through
> on some parts. Key for me is repitition and
> keeping things fresh. If you study something in
> March and dont see it again till end of May, its
> likely you will forget it.


So you made it using Schweser only?