When to Begin Studying (Level II Focus – Retake)

Question

Browsing the forum and it seems that the consensus is to begin studying 6 months in advance and to adjust depending on personal commitments.

I was wondering if it may be beneficial to begin studying slowly but earlier if you have already taken the exam before. Why? Because that way I'll stem the amount of information I'll forget since I won't have approximately a fourth month gap. I was trying to recall the single monthly mortality rate and realized I'd forgotten the first part of the formula...

I propose to start in August and study for about an hour and fifteen minutes. One hour to study and fifteen minutes to memorize formulas and understand their application.

Assuming there are 30 days every month that means roughly studying 38 hours/month for a total of 380 hours before the exam. Overkill and that assumes that I don't speed up as I approach closer to the exam, which I obviously will have to because it seems silly to divide up mock exams into one hour chucks. 
To make the study schedule even less intrusive I can drop weekends and that brings the count closer to 300 hours.

Pros:
More time for the information to sink in.
Won't have to give up my social life and have the time to pursue my hobbies.
Less likely to forget the information I have already learned.

Cons:
Greater chance of burning out. 
	But what is the probability of burning out after study for an hour?
Greater level of dedication required.

Thoughts?

vincentt · Answer

I agreed with @alta12 , I think what you have to look at is to understand what went wrong.

I would imagine if you had no issues understanding the concepts in L2 syllabus, it would take you less time to go through the entire syllabus again and you would be able to hit the practice questions earlier (but not too early of course). Also, if you were to start this early maybe do a self check every now and then, return to the list of LOSs you have covered and see if you actually able to explain what the LOS wants (Describe the differences, explain, evaluate, etc).

As for the practice exams, I didn't actually spend 3 hours straight to complete each paper but to do it in chucks. For example, I would do 2-3 item sets before marking 1st and/or 2nd item set (to avoid seeing the answers for the incomplete item sets as it could be on the same page).

Pros:
- less fatigue
- the vignette is still fresh in your mind
- reason for picking the correct/incorrect answer is still in your mind

comicbookguy · Answer

@Sarah When I found out that I failed Level 3 in Band 10 yesterday I started reading Fixed Income right away. I'm taking a course that starts in November and lasts through to the end of May. I am sure that I failed recently because I cut a lot of corners thinking that I could coast through Level 3. I've learned the hard way that every little bit counts. So, even though it's only August, and even though I'm reading at a slow pace, I think it'll still count in the end.