CFA CFA Level 2 My Strategy for Level 2, give me guidance!

My Strategy for Level 2, give me guidance!

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    • Avatar of ZaydZayd
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        • CFA Level 1
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        Hello Again, I have come back for some advice. So my plan for studying the level 2 consists of starting either monday december 15th or monday the 22nd, leading for about 23-24 weeks of study. I do, however, plan to read the CFAI material and use schweser only for the practice tests and possible review. Now the CFA text is about 3100 pages, very rough and intimidating in my opinion. I plan on studying monday thru thursday about 1.5-2 hours a night and 5 hours both saturday and sunday (because I work full-time), doing this for the 18 study sessions. This will leave me about 5-6 weeks of review. My concern is that I will not be able to accomplish the CFA material in that time. Does anyone have any advice on the time i have allocated? Has anyone read the material in 18 weeks by allocating 15-18 hours? What about the strategy I am using, can you add or provide a suggesstion? I believe the CFA material will give me a better understanding of the material because of the thorough explanation involved and I believe schweser will give me an easy review and jam concepts via practice tests.  I’ve heard the level 2 is very hard and I am not underestimating it at all. Also, I am currently taking some math courses online which will be the reason why I am starting in decemeber and not earlier.

      • Avatar of ommthreeommthree
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          I agree with @fabian and @WesMantooth‌. It seems doable. Any particular reason not to start right now?

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          Hey @Zayd‌, I haven’t gone through your calcs in detail, but it seems to imply 18 weeks for 18 study session, around (I’m conservative) 1 hour each Mon-Fri, 5 hours each Sat & Sun – that gives you 15 hour per study session? That doesn’t tell me much as study session can vary in length.

          Looking at it another way, 3,100 pages with 270 hours (15 hr x 18 weeks) implies 11.5 page per hour. I think on average 10 pages per hour (including doing EOC questions) is about right, so the timing is a little tight, and doesn’t have any buffer for emergencies in a way, although you’ve budgeted 6 weeks (more than the std 4 weeks) for doing practice questions/last minute revisions. Overall it seems about right, with a tight buffer.

          Indeed L2 is the beast of them all, however it’s due to the sheer amount of material and things you need to remember/recall. So your plan is achievable with CFA curriculum reading, but bear in mind that you need to be disciplined and stick to your schedule, meaning if you’re behind schedule that week you need to catch up, or skip that few pages, mark them as unread and move on to keep pace. Good luck!

        • Avatar of ZaydZayd
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            • CFA Level 1
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            @Sophie‌ the plan is shooting for 1.5-2 hours during the weekday so that should increase my leniency a bit. I get home from work anytime between 6:30-7:30 so I should manage an at least an 1.5 hours a weeknight. I have been excited for level 2 since I started level 1, so I hope with that mind set I will be over studying rather than barely making the cut :). 

          • Avatar of WesMantoothWesMantooth
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              Sounds like a viable study plan. I did a similar study plan from Feb-Jun this year for L2 and it worked out, except I did the opposite with regards to study materials used. I read all Schweser and only used CFAI for EOC questions. Your comment about the CFA material giving your a better understanding is definitely debatable, but that is your choice to make.
              Only you can know how long it will take you to get through the material, reading and comprehension speed is very individual. Starting in December is totally reasonable to get through the material, even the CFA texts. The key will be to make sure you are monitoring your progress early on to ensure that you are keeping pace with where you need to be. Be aware that some sections can take longer than others depending on your familiarity in the subject.
              Breadth is the beast to overcome in L2 so its good that you have a plan, just be prepared to adjust if required! Good luck!

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              @Zayd‌ sounds broadly solid to me. I tend to estimate things by CFA books, and 18 weeks gives you 3-4 weeks over book, which should be fine. Only thing I’d say is that you could push the number of hours for weekends up a tiny bit 🙂

            • Avatar of ZaydZayd
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                • CFA Level 1
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                @WesMantooth‌ @fabian‌ Thanks for your input! I am definitely willing to adjust, and If I have to switch over to schweser because of the volume of the text I’m okay with that as well. I majored in finance so I’m hoping nothing is too abstract for me. 

                @ommthree‌ The reason is because I’m taking calculus 2 and linear algebra classes at a community college to build my pre-requisites for graduate programs in either finance, economics, or quant finance. I am a nerd and love learning 🙂 

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