When to start prepping for L2

Umbereen

I passed level 1, and really was not expecting to at all. In fact, I'm not even sure how I passed considering how poorly I performed on FI, Econ, and QM, and average performance in ethics, corp fin, and FRA. I don't have a financial background and my work is tangentially related to finance (my position is project management even though the industry is financial services). 

Would it be too soon to start studying in September? I don't want to burn out, but I also know that I need to give myself plenty of time to learn all the new concepts and curriculum. In January I'll do the Kaplan Schweser classes

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

edulima

It all depends on how you take the "pressure". I am a believer of starting early, so my advice would be to go ahead and start in September, especially as it seems that it may require you more time to get up to speed (and caught up) with the material. It also means that you'll have to manage your reviews, since what you'll be studying in Sept-Dec will be forgotten by April if you don't come back to it with some regularity. But you're a project manager, so I trust you can devise a pretty good plan to tackle this. Ultimately, Level II is a beast, and you need to work really hard (and well!) in order to tame it. Good luck @Umbereen!

Umbereen

thanks @edulima! What you said sounds about right to me

nar_bsoa

Nice post Umbereen...and thanks for the word of caution edulima...Although i believe i got good grades in level 1 (above 70 in all the topics except port mgmt where i score 50 to 70%) i'm not taking L2 for granted..There were mistakes i learnt about on my L1 journey like burnout, time mgmt, practice tests done in last week before exam which i should avoid this time... Considering all these and my full time work, i'm planning to register in last week of august..and start preparations from Sep. also am planning to review L1 material of each topic..

BobBarkerPlaysPlinko

I started studying for the June of 2014 L1 in July of 2013 and, with the exception of getting sick over the winter, I was pretty faithful to my study plan.  I barely passed L1 (max score was 70.2%).

Anyway...EVERYTHING I've read suggests that you're better off doing 300 1-hour study sessions than 1 300-hour cram session.  The risk of burnout negatively affects you faster than the risk of forgetfulness.  If you take your time with the material on the front end, the back end review is more efficient.

 

kungpow9960

Agree with all this. It all depends on how you study most effectively. But I'd suggest starting earlier (pre-2015 certainly) rather than later. Since you're doing Schweser, you could register soon and get your curriculum and do a read through in the fall at a slower pace, seeing where you're picking things up more easily and where it's just going in one ear and out the other. Then step away for the holidays to decompress. In January, get the Schweser books and start back up in earnest, pairing them with the curriculum.

If nothing else, you'll have a bit more confidence having already seen the material once in the fall, and the Study Notes and classes are helpful in pulling out the most important concepts. And there's no pressure in the fall to rush through the books.

Just my two cents.

Umbereen

Thank you all for your advice.
I'm going to start reviewing the CFAI material this week (a full month later than I had originally planned, but I just couldn't bring myself to open a book and I really needed to take care of other things I had been neglecting), planning to complete my first read-through by the end of the year, review in January, and start Schweser live classes in late January.
I've realized I'm the kind of person who just needs to keep reviewing, and am a slow-and-steady type learner, so I think 8 months should suffice.

nar_bsoa

All the very best @umbereen.

nar_bsoa

@ all...how's your prep going on?

Umbereen

I completed my first review of the material this past Monday, and started Schweser classes last night. QM really does make more sense after just the first session, and the instructor confirmed something I suspected about Derivatives.

updates from anyone else?

Stuj79

Well I took the Dec level 1 exam so I haven't even found out if I have passed that yet, but I thought I'd hedge my bets and start level 2 studying anyway. I'm about 70 hours in, having gone through Quant, Equities, Alt Inv and I am about 1/3 through FRA. I wish I could have started earlier, but I am hoping to finish my first read through by February 20th....I have a two week business trip to Hong Kong during that time though, so I'll have to be strict with my timetable. I'm using the CFAI material for my first read through doing all BBs and EOCs, then will use Schweser for my review and then spend the last 45 days or so doing just mock exams and pinpointing areas of weakness.