41 Comments
 

Thought it was OK. I was a retaker and thought it was easier than last year's exam. Came here to talk about it since AnalystForum they will sell you out to the institute if you talk about specific questions. Surprised there isn't more discussion. Where do people talk about this stuff?

 
Coldhands

Thought it was OK. I was a retaker and thought it was easier than last year's exam. Came here to talk about it since AnalystForum they will sell you out to the institute if you talk about specific questions. Surprised there isn't more discussion. Where do people talk about this stuff?

You're in violation of CFA Code of Conduct - reporting immediately.

 

I was just waiting for this thread. Agree w/ PEinvestor, IIRC you're in Chicago and I was there too for Level 2, noticed lots of empty seats especially in my (our? haha) section. Feel mediocre about it. Like most, I expect I'm doing it again next June.

Blue horseshoe loves Anacott Steel
 

What amazed me were the amount of internationals. There was a girl taking the test who I was behind in line for at lunch and she was unable to tell the workers what kind of pizza she wanted. How can she pass the CFA but not know how to order pizza!?

Blue horseshoe loves Anacott Steel
 

Girl sitting next to me in level 1 did not come back for the afternoon session - that being said I think the exam went pretty well

"I am not sure who this 'Anonymous' person is - one thing is for certain, they have been one hell of a prolific writer" - Anonymous
 
GoHuskies

Girl sitting next to me in level 1 did not come back for the afternoon session - that being said I think the exam went pretty well

That is brutal...
Rarely will any of my posts have enough forethought/structure to be taken seriously.
 
RepThyBananas GoHuskies:

Girl sitting next to me in level 1 did not come back for the afternoon session - that being said I think the exam went pretty well

That is brutal...

Same thing happened to me when I took L1. I don't understand, if you've paid that much to sit for it, might as try and get something out of the experience.

 
Best Response

L2: It was definitely a lot more doable than the 2013 mock exam that was provided through CFAI. I got discouraged because i literally didn't know how to do half the thing. Ethics portion is always tricky and subjective. AM was easier than PM.

For those people who are going to study for level 2 I would suggest the following: Do All the Schweser reading first, get a copy of their secret sauce and Elan's 11th hour guide and read those periodically to reinforce the material from time to time. Do the CFAI end of chapter questions along with your first reading of the material. For the last 2-3 months: get a hold of about 15 mock exams either from schweser, Elan, CFAI, BSAS etc (last year's is fine, but skip the questions that have been removed from the current year's curriculum), do 1/4th of each test everyday. Mark questions that were difficult or you think are likely to show up on the exam and go through those difficult questions the last couple days/weeks leading up to the exam. And type up a word document with the relevant formulas and concepts and difficult questions so that you can review and revise from time to time to reinforce the material.

 
sharpie19

L2: It was definitely a lot more doable than the 2013 mock exam that was provided through CFAI. I got discouraged because i literally didn't know how to do half the thing. Ethics portion is always tricky and subjective. AM was easier than PM.

For those people who are going to study for level 2 I would suggest the following: Do All the Schweser reading first, get a copy of their secret sauce and Elan's 11th hour guide and read those periodically to reinforce the material from time to time. Do the CFAI end of chapter questions along with your first reading of the material. For the last 2-3 months: get a hold of about 15 mock exams either from schweser, Elan, CFAI, BSAS etc (last year's is fine, but skip the questions that have been removed from the current year's curriculum), do 1/4th of each test everyday. Mark questions that were difficult or you think are likely to show up on the exam and go through those difficult questions the last couple days/weeks leading up to the exam. And type up a word document with the relevant formulas and concepts and difficult questions so that you can review and revise from time to time to reinforce the material.

Info would've been nice a few months before the exams -_-

 

I sat for L1. I felt the morning session was quite hard but felt a lot more comfortable in the afternoon one. Hopefully everything went well!

 

Fwiw, if you don't sit both sessions the test doesn't get graded so you can keep up the whole "Passed each test the first try" thing. I highly doubt that's why most people do it though.

 

Wrote CFA Level II, I'd say the exam verged on easy. Took me 1.5 hours in the morning (reviewed for 30min), then took an hour and fifty minutes in the afternoon (plus 30min of review).

So I either a) killed it or b) failed it. Haha

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
 

For L2, felt like a boss in the AM session, then felt like a child who shit the bed in the PM. I suspect I’ll be taking it again in 362 days.

Fuck me . . .

"Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper’s bell of an approaching looter."
 

L2 - thought am and pm exam were straight forward but I ran into a time crunch (quasi guessed on 4-5 questions that I was looking to go back on but didnt have enough time). There was a girl behind me in a Starks jersey (Hilton NYC) who was def a looker.

 

Level 2: How do I say this without violating the code.....When Schweser tells you not to worry about memorizing a formula, fuck Schweser and memorize it anyway.....

 

Do the mods here give up identities for people that talk about the exam the way that AnalystForum does? Will the mods here delete threads?

 
Coldhands

Do the mods here give up identities for people that talk about the exam the way that AnalystForum does? Will the mods here delete threads?

Doubt it; we're not snitches.

 

Laborum velit beatae voluptatum magni corrupti quisquam eos. Dolorem et ut dolorem voluptatem commodi et. Excepturi incidunt assumenda magni iste. Quia optio voluptatem nisi facilis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”