To Outline or Not to Outline

@GBrianGarrison I am studying for level 2 as well and I am taking fairly extensive notes. I did this for level 1 and I found that writing the concepts down helped me remember them, and it makes reviewing a lot easier since i can read through all my notes in a relatively short period of time. Currently i’ve filled one 100 page spiral and I’m just started study session 9.

Hi @Gbriangarrison, it’s good that you’re actively thinking/reviewing the effectiveness of your study method.

Based on your observation of your revision, I would say go with your gut feel, meaning forgo outlining the material this time for the sake of speed. The amount of material in Level 2 is more intense than L1, and it would be tight to cover it twice in 4 months, let alone making additional notes. Priority should be to cover your bases, you can discover loop holes in your knowledge doing the last month doing practice questions, where you can easily go back and make detailed notes of sections you’re weaker in the. I’d say go for it!

Hey @Gbriangarrison, that sounds like a solid plan. With 4 months left, I’d be inclined to go with your hunch – leave the notes out this time. From what I can see from my revisions so far, a lot of them are formula/calculation-based, so it would be my guess that you’ll strengthen your grasp of it during practice paper sessions anyway. It’s quite a lot of them to cover, so at best for note taking, you can do brief ones writing down the formula for example if it helps to cement it in your memory. I don’t think there’s much time for extensive notes cause L2 is pretty extensive itself and less conceptual!

@Gbriangarrison I would agree with the other recommendations and forego the notes. During my studies for Level I recently, I started out taking notes, but then stopped as I was consuming too much time. Instead, I opted to highlight the text and take notes in the margins, that way I can quickly review the material by skimming and focusing on only the highlighted key points. This worked for me, give it a shot, may work for you too.