@rhino6187
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I don’t smoke (besides a very occasional cigar) but I chewed 4 mg “stop smoking” nicotine gum during my Level II exam (and passed) although it’s worth noting that I also had caffeine in my system. I would not recommend chewing it during studying, as chewing it every day would lead to addiction. It’s worth noting that you really don’t “chew” the gum per se, but chew it briefly and then stash it between your gum and cheek, moving it occasionally. I did feel like this had a positive effect, but for a different reason-nicotine is a stimulant, and in small amounts (like the gum) will enhance cognition, memory, alertness, and focus. However, if you ingest too much nicotine, the effect changes from stimulant to sedative, so don’t go chewing four or five pieces at the same time.
Passed Level 2!! I’m surprised based on my score bands though:
Less than 50%: Alt. Investments & Quant
Higher than 70%: Economics & Portfolio Management
50-70%: Everything Else300Hours estimates my score at 60%, with a max at 68.3% and a minimum at 53.3%. I don’t think I got a 68%, because I didn’t think I scored perfect 100% on economics or portfolio management, although if I got lucky on the one or two questions I made educated guesses on, then maybe it’s possible. I do think I scored near the top of the middle band on equity and accounting. I was very surprised to see my ethics score in the middle band, I must have been only one question from 70+% there. But that’s important, because it has implications for guessing the MPS this year, because my middle-band ethics score indicates I didn’t pass simply because of an “ethics adjustment.” I think my barely-passed result here is an important piece of data. I was also surprised to see less than 50% on quant, because I figured I got about 65% of those right. I must have been near the top of that band.
I think we can safely conclude the Level 2 MPS was less than 68.3% this year. It must have been somewhere in the mid to low 60’s. Interesting stuff. I’m just glad I escaped with a passing score. I’ll need to step my game up one more notch for Level 3.
I was a Band 6 fail last year on Level 2, so don’t give up! I did spend a little more time studying this year, but I think the most important point was how I studied. I am a CPA working in a tax consulting role with seasonal spikes in workload, so my work schedule during spring (70-80 hours a week) really makes studying for these exams very difficult. As a result, I have to do more with less time and less energy. The most effective use of time for me is to skim the chapters and/or their summaries, and then just go right to work on practice questions from the Schweser Q-bank, and dig back into the curriculum for areas that are weak points in my question answering. I would honestly love to spend more time reading the curriculum, but given that goal is to pass the exams and January-May is a brutal time for me professionally, I have to do what it takes to pass- in this case, about 2,000 practice questions. I’m not saying you shouldn’t read the curriculum, but you must leave time for a lot of practice questions. On exam day, you won’t be reading or watching videos, but answering hundreds of questions…so during your preparation for exam day, answer thousands of questions.
“Every real racer knows, it doesn’t matter whether you win by an inch or a mile- a win is a win.” -Dominick Toretto in “The Fast & The Furious”
(extremely corny, but true lol)
@Justinturner @edulima @Sophie @Zee thank you all for your words of encouragement. I’m really not that down about it because I honestly did not have enough time to give it my best effort and I knew that going in.
When I found out I passed Level 1 at the end of January, I figured I’d give Level 2 the old college try in June so that I wouldn’t have to wait so long between exams and risk losing the knowledge I’d learned, and I figured there was some chance I’d pass. I don’t consider it a waste at all though. Now I know what I’m dealing with. Also, I’m now going into Level 2 with 11 months to study and a solid foundation in much of the Level 2 curriculum because I did learn much of it this time around.
I registered for the June 2015 Level 2 exam the next morning as soon as the website opened back up. I’m coming back reloaded, with adequate time to prepare and study this time around. I won’t be trying to rush through everything in 200 hours and then take three practice exams. I’ll have plenty of time to actually read all the material instead of skimming and skipping. I’m looking forward producing to a solid pass next June. I actually do find most of the Level 2 curriculum (except quant) interesting, and I believe it will be beneficial to my career to take time to understand it better instead of squeaking out a borderline pass, which would have been my best scenario this time with four months to study.
Here were my results by the way:
Alternative Investments 18 *–
Corporate Finance 36 –*
Derivatives 36 -*-
Economics 18 *–
Equity Investments 72 -*-
Ethical & Prof. Standards 36 –*
Financial Reporting & Analysis 72 -*-
Fixed Income Investments 18 -*-
Portfolio Management 36 *–
Quantitative Methods 18 *–
Your 40/60/80 score is: 58.3%
Your minimum score is: 45.8%
Your maximum score is: 69.2%
@justinturner‌ got my results…failed Level 2. Can’t say I’m too surprised. I didn’t get Level 1 results until 1/28 so I only had four months and probably only got 250 hour of studying between all the weddings and overtime. Taking time off to study wasn’t an option because I have to hide from my job that I’m taking the exam so they don’t fire me (long story). My weak areas were quant, Econ and PM. Scored less than 50 in those three, which makes sense because I didn’t put enough study time into Quant or Econ. My attitude right now is that I know with a full year to study I’ll be able to put in adequate time and get a pass. I know what I’m up against, and I have a solid foundation in the bigger areas like equity and financial reporting. I’ll go back and put in more time next year and get the pass.
@justinturner‌ I’m in the exact same boat. Had my Level 1 at 8:03 central time in December. Still waiting for my Level 2 right now.
@edulima I hear you. I’ve conditioned myself to accept whatever result at this point. I took Level 1 in December and got results 1/28. I had four months to study for Level 2 and couldn’t take time off work, plus had a bunch of family weddings to attend in May. I got in a fair amount of studying, but about 10% less than I would have liked. I’ll live with whatever I get. I’m not intimidated by Level 2 and I know that if I do get a failing grade tomorrow, I’ll pass it next summer because I’ll have a solid foundation built for understanding the concepts and adequate time to prepare.
@wtcollison‌ I am also a CPA and sat for Level 2 last month.
I mostly used CPA Excel for CPA prep, but I did both that and Becker for REG because I wanted to knock that awful tax stuff out for good.
I used Schweser and agree it was not cheap, but I felt it prepared me for Level 1. If I didn’t pass Level 2, I blame myself and not Schweser.
Olinto is one a kind. Hell of an instructor, but he’s a lawyer and CPA and I’m not sure how much of the CFA curriculum he teaches. Schweser has a guy named Andrew Holmes who’s great. He’s not as over the top as Olinto, but he is entertaining and does an excellent job at getting the material across to beginners. He’s also extremely intelligent. They also have a guy named Jonathan Bone who is great as well.
They have questions broke out by video session.
I think as long as you go with any large, reputable study program, it’s mostly about putting in the work. All other variables equal, I believe a candidate who completes 100% of the second best CFA study provider’s program will best the equally-talented candidate who completes 90% of the best CFA study provider’s program.
Also, be grateful for having the CPA background. The Financial Reporting in Level 2 stops a lot of candidates in their tracks and is part of what makes Level 2 so tough. It’s like 25% of the exam and to be honest, accounting is so boring that a lot of people just don’t put in the time requires to be proficient. I don’t blame them. It wasn’t my strongest point either and I’m an ex-Big 4 auditor. Being a CPA won’t make it a cake walk by any means, but it will definitely give you an edge over others.
Happy studying.
I actually had a dream the other night that someone gave me my June 2014 Level 2 result, and it read “the minimum passing score was 67%. You scored 66.67% and barely missed. Sorry.” But I woke up when I had that realization that I was dreaming, because they don’t disclose the minimum passing score.
I’m going to be on edge from now until Tuesday morning. I was right on the bubble with my last practice exam at 66%, but I had four nights to review after that. After the exam I felt like I either barely passed or barely failed.
Forgot to include my scoring breakdown, which was a follows…
>70 % in Alt. Investment, Derivatives, Equity, Ethics, Portfolio Management
51-70 % in Corp. Finance, Economics, FR&A, Fixed Income, Quantitative methods
<50 % in nothing
I used the Schweser review materials with online video courses for my review, the $1,000 package. I hated spending the money but it seems worth it now; the video courses seemed to expedite the learning process.
Professional/Educational background:
- B.S. in Accounting from a state school (directional, not the flagship state university) most known for football
- Former Big 4 firm auditor (spent two years in that racket) and I'm a licensed CPA. Been doing some real estate valuation work (pretty simple though, nothing complex) for the last six months or so.Ironically, as a CPA I still scored 51-70% in FR&A. That just goes to show how much I hate boring old accounting. I'm switching to finance.
PASSED!!!
@hobojoe thank you for the tip, mine was in my Junk folder in gmail for the last half hour! Everyone check your spam/junk folder if you haven’t received it yet.Oh man I’m so excited. 2013 was a difficult year for me professionally and personally, but this makes it all gravy!
Level 2 study mode, digging in for June, game time!! 🙂
@ Sophie @zee @dollartodonuts @sidmenon @hairyfairy
Thank you all for your best wishes. You all should see more of me starting early June once I dive in and start studying. In the meantime, best of luck to all of you!
@sophie @DollarsToDonuts @Diya @Zee
Alright…I’ve decided to go for it. I’m going to take about three or for weeks to settle into the new job (started yesterday, seems great thus far) and catch up on everything I was putting off during busy season with my firm. After that, I’ll being reviewing for CFA Level 1 December 2013.
**Cracks knuckles, pours coffee, takes a deep breath, bids social life farewell for the next 24 months**
@Diya @Sophie @Zee @DollarstoDonuts
Thank you all for you insightful responses. It seems as though you all agree that given my objectives, this would be a beneficial move for my career. It is also encouraging that many of you said the CPA would provide a complimentary background. I’ve heard some people say it would not help whatsoever. However, as investment decisions are generally based on financial statements, and auditors understand the nuts and bolts of financial statements as well as anyone, I don’t see how it could hurt.
I will make a final decision by the end of this week. I want to go into my new gig on Monday already knowing for sure.
Diya- I like your quote about flipping a coin. I may end up taking that approach, although I think I already know which side I will want it to land on.
