Order of Studying for Level II

Personally I think there is no such a thing as ideal order of study. I agree with gansub’s last comment though – it is important to review Ethics before the the exam.

For instance, I prefer to start with the topics I struggle – which are FI, AI and DER. This helps take the pressure away – as there isn’t any time constraint. Also, it helps with confidence and a better overall understanding. After you tackle your difficult topics then the easy ones start making much more sense.

Regardless of the order you choose, the most important thing is to stick to your plan! Aim for 75% overall and you should be good to go.

If you have an accounting background then start with FRA, then Equity and then Corp Fin.  That should be ~50% of the weight.
Then go for FI, Derv (do not use CFAI materials for Derv) and AI in that order.
Then PM, Quant and Econ.
Lastly Ethics about 2 mths before the exam so it is fresh in your mind.

I would recommend not leaving derivatives until the end….it can be a relatively “hardcore” session (depending on your background of course) and can take a little more brain power to assimilate than some of the others sections. You may need a couple of runs through the material before it clicks, but once it does it’s like “free points” on the exam. If you know your stuff, it’s not impossible to get 100% on the exam as whatever questions they ask, they will all rely on the same base techniques of calculation. Once you master those techniques, you can answer any question they throw at you.

I followed the pattern followed by Arif Irfannullah. His videos are in the order of readings of CFA notes but he sometimes goes non-linear while covering topics which is great in the long run. I did my entire syllabus using his books. I wouldn’t mind sharing those videos with you along with his presentations. Email me at salilmathur1690@gmail.com if you’re interested. 

I’m starting with corporate finance and going in order from there.  Much of the beginning like quant and econ have a lot of memorization where later, it seems more concepts based. Concepts stick better with me so im saving the beginning for the end so to speak.

Totally agree to start with FRA or Corporate Finance. I also always leave Quants till the end