You have passed Level I of CFA® Test. Congratulations! Now it’s time to prepare for the infamous Level II. The reputation of Level II can be quite intimidating as many candidates consider it to be the most challenging level of CFA® Test. A big mistake you can make is to study for Level II like you did for Level I. This next level covers a lot more material and you need to be more prepared than before. Follow my tips below to prepare efficiently for Level II so you can pass.
Start studying for CFA® Test first
To figure out how much time you need to prepare for Level II, you need to start much earlier than you did for Level I. By completing this overview early, you’ll have plenty of time to know what’s ahead of you. Done it. It is also important to note which factors will be weighted more than others. If the subject you are struggling with is of maximum weightage, then you should study very early.
Schedule a study
This is the most important step to pass any level of CFA® Test. Everyone’s learning style and personal/work schedule is different. Before you start studying, what to think CFA® Exam preparation materials You want to use and plan how many hours a day you set aside for studying. For example, my goal was to finish reading all the material a month before the exam. My study routine came to about 5 hours on weeknights and 16-20 hours on weekends. As long as I read all the material, I will have a month to take the practice test. I cannot stress enough how important this is practice test There are, so make sure you have plenty of time to take these and learn where you’re going wrong.
Don’t forget the basics from Level I CFA® test
Many Level II concepts build on the fundamental concepts tested in Level I. So it is essential to understand the concepts rather than memorizing the information to crack the exam. I recommend going back over Level I concepts and making sure you have a solid foundation in them before preparing for Level II. Some test prep materials actually include a Level I refresher book specifically for this purpose. By consolidating your Level I concepts, you will be ready to tackle the new and advanced topics of Level II.
Understanding and beating item-sets
Level II is formatted differently from Level I. While Level I is 240 independent questions across 2 tests, Level II is 120 questions in 20 item-sets across 2 tests. One of the item-sets contains a vignette (also known as a case statement) with 6 questions on what the case discussed. You might be thinking, fewer questions is better. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily true even though you will get twice the time per question compared to Level I.
It takes a long time to read through the vignette as it is full of unnecessary information. The vignette is carefully crafted to confuse you and make you spend extra time figuring out what’s relevant and what’s not. with to practice, you can learn how to quickly pick out important information by ignoring the repetitive. I recommend reading the questions before the vignettes so you know what to look for while reading. I’ve found this helps a lot and significantly cuts down your time on vignette item sets.
I mentioned earlier that level I questions are independent. Unfortunately, that is not the case with Level II. Queries are now part of a 6-member family, meaning you’ll see nasty interdependent queries. For example, question two depends on your answer to question one. Not only are they connected, they have more depth because they can refer to the vignette.
If you clear a tricky concept question in Level I, you can still clear the exam. This will not work for Level II. If you do not fully understand a concept, you will answer a whole group of item-set questions incorrectly, especially if the concept is central to the vignette. I should also mention that 6 vignette questions are worth twice as many points as a Level I question. So take your time to understand the concepts as fully as possible.
Know the weight of each CFA® subject
Knowing the topic weightings for Level II is helpful in some areas that require more study time than others. Here are the weights for the subjects:
- Ethics: 10-15%
- Investment Tools (Corp Fin, Equines, FRA, Quant): 30-55%
- Asset Class (Alt Investments, Derivatives, Equity, F. Income): 35-70%
- Portfolio management and wealth planning: 5-10%
The percentage varies because some questions may cover more than one topic. Obviously, investment tools and asset classes are the bulk of the test. You must fully understand these areas if you have any hope of passing Level II.
Go and crush it!
Although Level II is known to be the most difficult part of the CFA® exam, it actually has a higher pass rate than Level I. If you stick to your study schedule and continue, you are going to kick the second level. Good luck!
