Study Material-CFA II

:)) I know what you mean @boneill25!

You’re welcome @arslan19 – glad I could help!

I just wrote a post about Level 2 preparations this week, have you seen that?

On the differences vs. Level 1, here’s a brief summary of my Level 2 experience right after a Dec Level 1. In short, Level 2 is a beast because of the sheer amount of material and concepts to learn in such a short amount of time (for Dec Level 1) – but it can be done 🙂

I suggest you use a third party prep provider of your choice for Level 2 as you would not have time to complete the CFA curriculum if you pass Dec Level 1. Schweser, 7City, Elan or BPP materials are more than sufficient to pass.

@Sophie
I noticed in Level-1 Exam that there were more statement based tricky questions than the numerical ones so kindly tell me that is this Level-2 exam more numerically focussed than Level-1 or not?

Hey @boneill25, I think CFAI material will be more key in Level 3. You can use third party materials in Level 2 – the key is to start earlier and practice a lot (there’s a lot of material to cover).

Hi @arslan19 – so many questions I wouldn’t know how to answer 🙂 All we can do is wait and see for the big day, best of luck, keep me posted how it went!

I’m comfortable with Shweser as I used that for Level-1 Exam, so I think I should go for it.
Secondly I appreciate your smart study Plan.
I want to share some of mine experiences with you. Before exam I was too curious about the paper structure that God how will it be ?????? but when I saw it first, It was totally against expectations. Que were very short and looked quite easy in comparison with the two practice books of shweser. It was a reflection of the exercise que in the curriculum. The difficulty level was normal yet it involved tricky que (Thanks to A-levels and ACCA :p ). The thing which I’m still regretting alotttt is the time management in preparing the exam, I completed almost 90% of the course. Had I completed the whole syllabus and fully solved those two books (Vol 1 and 2 of shweser) I would have performed better. Nevertheless, I’m quite confident that I will hopefully clear it but I believe that lack of time for prep was a weak point for me, so I’m thinking to start Level-2 early by January and I’m also getting very scary when I’m reading your comments that Level-2 course is MORE THAN Level-1 :O :O

Hi @sophie
just appeared for Dec 13 level-1 exam, almost 2.5 weeks away from the result, feeling very curious about it. U know that I was a lot curious before the exam as well that how will the actual exam be and what will be the exact difficulty level etc etc, I even asked you before the exam 😛 but when I saw it, I found it easier than expected 🙂
A lot of my seniors who were ok in studies didn’t qualify in the previous attempts so it’s been a bit scary for me 🙁
U have been in this field from sometime, I guess, so I want to ask that how was your experience about the maximum people who appeared in the exam, does only the best pass?
The past pass rate which I saw yesterday was the lowest for Dec exams than June and even when we compare it with Level-2 and 3.
I think I did well in QM, FR, CF, PM, AI, Ethics…. and Eco, FI, Derivative went Normal and Equity was Poor as I wasn’t well prepared for that 🙁
we also don’t even know the exact passing criteria for the exam, it’s quite confusing so that has also increased my curiosity 🙁

Well That’s scary… :O
but ok i will see these 2 Things 🙂 🙂

@arslan19 – I wouldn’t know for sure unfortunately. It would tend to be more numerical since there are loads more material and calculations for L2.

Hi @Sophie
I just appeared for Dec 13 exam (Level-1). It went well for me and hopefully I’m gonna clear it. I had a chat with u on this forum some weeks back and all things you said worked for me, Thanx a Millions for that.
These days, I’m looking for to start preparing for June-14 Level 2 Exam so I want to ask you that how different Level-2 is from Level-1 in terms of syllabus, preparation, difficulty level etc? and what do you think how should I approach it?
Secondly tell me, what practice material should I use? and Is shweser 5 books enough to pass it?

Hi @boneill25 – Level 2 is a different beast as it has lots of calculation-based questions and concepts to grasp in a short space of time. I personally used Schweser only (as I didn’t have time for anything else then) – seems to work fine! In the end, it’s all about which works for you. I personally get turned off by lots of words and pages, hence I opted for Schweser, but different people learn differently!

@Sophie
My all curiosities ended up on a shining node 🙂 🙂
All Thanx to Almighty 🙂 🙂
I have officially Qualified CFA Level-1 with Flying Colours 🙂 🙂
Thanx for your advices and help 🙂
Now I’m planning to give Level-2 in June 2014…. So kindly tell me how should I approach that?
What should be my line of attack?
and how different Level-2 is from Level-1?

Yay, congrats @arslan19! Glad the hard work paid off!

I’d suggest getting your books right away, set up your study plan. I also wrote an article on my Level 2 experience which I hope helps. Get the free list of Level 2 Commandments as well. These should set you up nice for Level 2 prep, let’s just say Level 2 is a beast compared to Level 1 as there’s loads more material in there.