How to Pass the CFA Level 2 Exam
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- čas přidán 5. 08. 2024
- Ryan O'Connell, CFA gives his breakdown on the most efficient way to study for and pass the CFA Level 2 Exam. He covers the following topics:
1. When Should You Take CFA Level Two?
2. What Study Material Should You Use?
3. Which Prep Providers Should You Use for Base Study Materials?
4. How Should You Study Most Efficiently?
5. The Importance of Spaced Repetition and Practice Problems.
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You can find the link to download the free flashcard app mentioned in the video (Anki) here:
apps.ankiweb.net/
*Disclosure: This is not financial advice and should not be taken as such. The information contained in this video is an opinion. Some of the information could be wrong. This channel is owned and operated by Portfolio Constructs LLC. Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
📚 CFA Exam Prep Discount - AnalystPrep:
► Get 20% off CFA Level 1, 2, and 3 complete courses with promo code "RYAN20". Explore here: analystprep.com/shop/all-3-levels-of-the-cfa-exam-complete-course-by-analystprep/?ref=mgmymmr
🎓 Tutor With Me: 1-On-1 Video Call Sessions Available
► Join me for personalized finance tutoring tailored to your goals: ryanoconnellfinance.com/finance-tutoring/
Thanks for this mate, just starting Lvl 2
Thank you for your tips. I find it quit interesting. Yeah I did so by deactivating my social networks accounts and stay focused. Self-discipline is the key.
I'm glad you found it helpful! Deleting social media from my phone and diverting my urges of constantly checking my phone to checking notecards instead was extremely helpful
This was super helpful, thank you!!!
Glad you found it helpful!
Thank you. Great Video.
I'm glad you enjoyed it Diogo!
Thank you Ryan. I just finished my level 1 exam on feb 15, and I have a certain degree of confidence on passing it. I did use third party perp provider but in Chinese(mother tongue in mandarin), and we coincidently both used Anki note on reviewing for its amazing automatic reviewing function! After watching your video, I plan to walk out of my comfort zone and go english base prep in my level 2, and I‘m going to do it on August! Thank you again, Ryan, you are my mentor.
I'm really happy to hear that you feel confident passing the Level 1 exam! One big advantage of using an English prep provider is that the practice problems will be written in the same language as the test so you should be more comfortable with answering them come test day. Best of luck with the preparation for Level 2 and please come back and let me know how it goes!
Hi Ryan! Thanks for the video, I'm looking into third party materials myself right now and could use your advice. Everyone I have talked to recommends Mark Meldrum but I have found that I work best reading material first, then watching a lecture on it. I passed very high above the 90th percentile with Kaplan for L1 this past November following that strategy. Since you brought it up in your video, would it make sense to buy both Kaplan and Meldrum (reading Kaplan then watching a Mark lecture, rinse and repeat)? Let me know what you think and thank you!
Hello Keane! Sorry for the late reply. I used both Kaplan Notes and Mark Meldrum videos for Level 2. I had a similar approach to you. I'd read the Schweser notes first and then watch the videos after. I found it worked very well for me!
Just subscribed! 1000th subscriber :P Congratulations on 1k
Wow, thanks for helping me hit the most important benchmark! 1,000 is when it really pays off because now I can sign up for the partnership program. Anyways, cheers!
Hey Ryan great video! How many hours would you say you studied to pass level 2? I'm taking level 2 this upcoming May! 166 hours in so far.
Hey Mark, I'm glad you enjoyed the video! Man, I spent 400 hours studying for Level 2 at least lol. I didnt keep track of hours so it could have been quite a bit more. With over 160 hours, three months before the test I think you're in great shape to pass the test!
Also, I took a look at your channel and see that you make pretty similar content to myself. You present your videos very well, I will take some notes on how you edit! If you are interested in collaborating in the future, send me an email at portfoliocontructs@gmail.com
Great info! How do you suggest approaching the Level II vignettes/question sets? Did you find it best to read the vignette first before reading and answering the questions? Or instead, better to read the first question then find the answer in the vignette, and repeat for each subsequent question? Trying to optimize my approach in terms of reducing the time needed to complete each question set without sacrificing accuracy. Thanks for any suggestions you may have!
Thanks Eric! Man I wish I would have mentioned this in the video, but I would absolutely recommend going straight to the first question, reading it, and then going back up to the reading to find the answer. Typically, a vignette will have the same number of paragraphs as there are questions. So the answer to the first questions can be found in the first paragraph, and the second question in the second paragraph, and so forth...
When I first started studying for Level 2, I would read the vignette first and could barely finish a problem set. When I switched to reading the questions first I had plenty of time left over and it was easier on my brain.
@@RyanOConnellCFA i hope this works. This sounds like interesting advice.
May I end my comment by giving ALL the glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
@@kobushauman3310 Good luck, I hope it works for you as well!
@@RyanOConnellCFA thank you.
Could you make a video on how you made flashcards for the test? I am trying to make anki cards as I go for the L2.
Edit: did you make Cloze cards or basic cards?
Hey Ferguson, not sure I'll be able to get around to making an entire video on how I made flashcards but I found the Anki flashcard app to be extremely helpful in both making flashcards and handling the spaced repetition for you. Anki will be a good software for you to check out!
amazing
Glad you think so!
Hi Ryan, I’m from India. I have found the CFA online questions considerably tougher than the EOC ones. Could you please tell me, whether the actual exam is similar to EOC questions or the online questions?
The online topic test questions are definitely tougher than the EOCs. The test is closer to the EOCs in my opinion
Hi Ryan, for the EOC questions, is it possible to get those without shelling out the money for the textbooks? In other words, where can i find them on the learning ecosystem?
Hey Brian, I believe that when you register for a CFA Exam they give you the Ebook version of the curriculum for free. You can access all the end of chapter questions through those ebooks. They provide you with a link to the ebooks once you sign up and it was some 3rd party software back when I took the tests
Hi Ryan do you recommend doing both EOCQs as well as Institute questions?
Or only Institute questions?
Personally, I would do both. Any high quality questions that are freely available are worth doing in my opinion
taking in consideration what you are saying, do you think CFA level 2 MPS will go as much higher as current L1 exam? ie72 - 73%?
Man this is a good question and a tough one. I can't say one way or the other but I think there are two most likely scenarios:
1. The CFA increased the MPS for Level 1 because they want the program to be more prestigious. In this case, I'd expect them to raise the MPS for Level 2 as well
2. The CFA wants to treat Level 1 like a weed out course and only let people through who they think will pass Level 2 and 3. In this case I wouldn't expect the MPS of Level 2 to change
1 month to go before Level II 😬 with two mocks under my belt; keep doing and reviewing mocks, or less focus on mocks and instead really crunch formula/example memorization?
Hey Eric! I always spent the last month working a ton of problems: end of chapter questions, topic tests, and mocks. In my opinion, the last month was best spent applying what you've already learned. It never hurts to take more mocks
Hi. How many mock exams have you got on your cfa official account? I can only see one.
Hi please tell me from where to get schweser books for level 2.
This is the link I used: www.schweser.com/cfa/level-2/study-materials/schweser-notes
Hello. I am appearing for level 2 in May. When I appeared for level 1 I did schweser and cfai EOC questions and cfa online practice questions and mock. What I found out at exam was that real exam was actually at par with EOC and online mock and practice were difficult than EOC and actual exam. Currently I went onto practice questions online and it was brutally difficult than EOC. How do you think real exam difficulty would be like? I know practice makes better but I don't want to cram into very difficult stuff and maybe miss out on easier ones you it happens, you'll be thinking of difficult concept to apply whereas it is asking for simpler thing. As of now my accuracy with EOC is 80-90% they are good and as per my experience difficulty should be around that. What do you say ?
I would agree that the End of Chapter questions are close to the difficulty of the actual exam and that the online Topic Tests are far more difficult than the actual exam.
In fact, there are a lot of people joking on the internet about how insanely difficult the Financial Reporting and Analysis Topic Tests are for Level 2. I think they are worth practicing but just keep in mind that most people find them very difficult and not to get discouraged
@@RyanOConnellCFA thank you for your response. And yes, I started level 2 online practice with FRA when commented that because how difficult it was and some questions were poorly written too. But now that I have gone through quant,equity,fixed income I have realised that they were indeed difficult and also that I'd keep FRA in my weakness.
Have a great day ahead !
@@eatyourcarbs A few years ago I did the FRA Topic Tests before the others and they left me feeling like I was sure to fail the exam lol. And then same as you, I did the others and realized that FRA was just an outlier. Goodluck studying!
@@RyanOConnellCFA okay so I'll take FRA as weakness for most of us lol. Anyway, thank you for your insights, I feel much comfortable and relieved.
@@eatyourcarbs Not a problem, and you are certainly not alone! I think it is more that the Topic Tests the CFA put on the website for FRA are just insanely difficult and not that we are weak in the area
How many flash cards in total did you make in the end?
Flashcards were my primary method of note taking for Level 2, so I had over 1,000 flashcards in total by the time I took the test. I would make roughly 10 to 30 flashcards per chapter while going through the reading or video lecture
What's better to get, an MBA or a CFA?
Can you make a video that gives the pros and cons for each?
Hey William! I can do a video like this and reply back to your comment when I post it. I'm also planning on doing a video on MSF vs CFA in the near future
CFA
@@SH-yk4ft I'd agree with you but I am a bit biased haha
Depends upon the MBA program. If the MBA is from top 30/35 ranked Business Schools like Harvard, IIM, Stamford, then MBA is valuable
If the MBA is from an university that no one really cares about then CFA is valuable.
Do you mind sharing your level one result? Were you close to 90th percentile?
Sure thing! Back when I took Level 1 in 2017 they didnt disclose whether you were in the 90th percentile. I did however get over 70% on 8 of 10 categories so it is most likely that I was above the 90th percentile of candidates overall
Sorry what’s the name for website for study materials and videos?
Here is the link to the study notes that I recommended:
www.schweser.com/cfa/level-2/study-materials/schweser-notes?10901_activeOption=0
Here is the link to the study videos that I recommended:
www.markmeldrum.com/product-category/level-ii/
@@RyanOConnellCFA website name for videos
@@RhythmRebel679 www.markmeldrum.com/product-category/level-ii/
Brutal exam.. sitting in May if it doesn’t get cancelled again...
I am too! I was wondering where you can access the end of chapter questions. I see the practice section on the CFA website, but I don’t know where the EOC are?
@@judahspinner6040 They are actually in the textbooks. You have to find them as they aren't all in one places annoyingly
I have failed this exam three times using Kaplan. Never broke the 50% mark. Passed the CPA exam on the first try.
I'm sorry to hear that. It is likely due to not spending enough time. If you are interested in attempting it again you may need to double the amount of time you dedicate to the 4th attempt
Just failed this exam for the fourth time in November. @@RyanOConnellCFA
Honestly it's not don't work hard work smart
It's work hard as fuck+work smart as fuck
Lol I can agree with this, it definitely takes both