CFA Level II

I have the Schweser notes for Level 2 right now, they are a huge help compared to the lengthy CFA Institute notes.

I say stick with what worked.

Is taking a prep course a waste of money if preparing for CFA 1? Is preparing with the schweser notes sufficient?

You won't need a prep course. You've already got the CFA books and the Schweser notes, so I would advise against it. Stick w/ the notes and do the practice exams and Qbank included by Schweser.

I took Level II last year. Schweser skimped on the portfolio management section so make sure you read the curriculum especially in this area...for the other areas, I thought the exam was fine, but do practice a lot and review the CFAI documents for ethics and PM. It's obvious that CFAI is trying to make the exam more "proprietary" as evidenced by the requirement to now bundle the curriculum with the exam.

Thanks numi, much appreciated. How'd you find Level II compared to Level I in terms of difficulty and study time needed?

Analystforum.com is a better site to post/search CFA exam questions. A few thoughts:

1. The questions are coming out of the readings so make sure you do the end of section of questions and review the examples in the actual books.

2. Schweser is fine but expect to put in more time to prepare. It's also good to put in the time early in the event sh!t hits the fan at work and you're crunched for time later.

3. There is always a chance the exam will test you on something Schweser glosses over. Happened last year.

Edit: Don't want to encourage bad study habits.

you CAN NOT pass level one on 1-2 weeks prep. That is the dumbest shit ever. There's a 39% pass rate playa, and underpreperation is the one of the reasons for people not passing this shit.

Wingman - I agree w/ Ratul. 1-2 weeks prep for Level I is absurd, no matter how familiar you are with the material. The knowledge base is so broad that there's almost no way you've seen most of it in classes and can familiarize yourself with it in such a short period of time. Hopefully you mean 1-2 months prep. You've got to have enough time to absorb the material.

That being said, Ratul - the 39% pass rate is a little misleading, as nearly have of the people 61% who "fail" are no shows for the test because they're underprepared and don't show up for the test.

That being said, Ratul - the 39% pass rate is a little misleading, as nearly have of the people 61% who "fail" are no shows for the test because they're underprepared and don't show up for the test.
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nystateofmind, where did u get this info? thanks!

nystateofmind, i think you might be wrong? chech this out. page 13 far right column...it says they only include those who showed up in the stat

http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/overview/pdf/IntoOur5thDecade.pdf

but maybe they do include those individuals who give up after ten minutes...who technically "sat" for the exam?

Fair enough - you and Ratul are right. Was a stat I saw somewhere back in November, although I clearly misread.

If i'm not mistaken, that statistic does not include those who fail to come in and take the exam. That would mean that the pass rate is actually significantly lower than that which has been reported.

Or am i mistaken?

Don't underestimate the amount of time needed to pass Level II - it is quite a bit more challenging than Level I. A lot of the stuff in Level I, I either learned in college or during my experience in BB equity research. Best advice I can give you is to take a lot of practice tests, do not procrastinate, and understand how all the key concepts relate to one another (rather than getting too caught up in the little minutia). I put in about 125 hours of study time for Level I and probably around 200 hours for Level II. You seem to be pretty on top of stuff so maybe it would take you about this much time too, but just don't let anyone tell you that you can "get by" doing a certain amount of hours...you have to figure out what's right for yourself.

Also, I second an aforementioned poster's suggestion to read AnalystForum.com. Actually, this is where I've posted most frequently, since given my experience in equity research, I've generally had more to contribute there (and in a similar fashion as WS Oasis where most people don't work in IB/PE, most people on AnalystForum also don't work in ER/HF and are trying to learn). However, you'll see me more on these boards now that I'm working in PE.

By the way, thanks again for your advice on the PE stuff that I asked you about a while back. I ended up taking a job at a large middle-market buyout shop and just started recently. I'm sure I'll be seeking your advice again once I get settled in, as far as what I need to do as a new PE analyst in order to (1) move up the learning curve quickly and (2) be seen as a leader and contributor rather than someone who just does what they're told, and I think a lot of this has to do with understanding what is important to deal teams, which is something I don't really understand yet. I'll make a separate post about this in the PE forum when I have a chance to collect my thoughts a little.

Much appreciated - great advice. Best of luck in the new job - you'll have to let us know how it's coming along.

Edit: Don't want to encourage bad study habits.

Guys, please help! I am studying CFA and wonder if there is any kind of score report for each level you pass? I think this might help in many cases. Thanks alot!

Yes there's a score report indicating areas in which you scored over 70%, b/w 50-70% or below 50%.
The specific grades DO NOT MATTER, you only need to pass the exam.

Generally true, although you cannot pass the exam without passing the ethics portion. Know a girl who thought she could blow off the ethics section. She ended up passing every section except for ethics, causing her to fail the entire exam.

I hope no one considering the CFA program takes the war stories of Wingman and his coworker that seriously. I passed Level I in December given 4 months of study (Schweser) and an undergrad Finance degree and by no means was it easy. I worked with people who passed Level II and III last summer, both of whom recommended doing the full CFA curriculum rather than Schweser for anything above Level I.

Schweser was great, but Level I, as comprehensive as it is, can be passed with a very good superficial review of the material such as Schweser, but I'm not banking on that to pass Level II and will take my sweet ass time.

Lame as it sounds, the CFA isn't designed as a program for people cramming to pass a test (here's looking at you CPAs), but rather for people who want to expand on their Finance background to gain professional credibility and refine their knowledge base.

Can any one send me 2008 CFA Level 1 ebook link or advice me from where to buy? Earlier i bought from www.elitebook.net but never got the schweser books link. The seller has simply disappeared after withdrawing my money from western union.

I am in NY. If any one want to form study group, they are welcome. I am appearing in december exam

The need to pass ethics to pass the exam is a common misconception. A former exam grader told me that failing ethics will not cause you to fail the exam. However, anyone who is slightly below the pass/fail threshold that does really well on ethics generally passes. I know several people who have failed ethics on every exam and now have their charters.

PM'd you