CFA Level 1 vs Level 2

Is the level 2 CFA exam really that much more difficult? CFA L1 vs CFA L2.
If you have an idea of something you want me to cover in depth, please let me know because I take your requests seriously. Will be back with more CFA Exam tips in a couple of weeks so please submit more questions you would like to hear answered. Love you all!
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[@wowZhenek]

I think the main idea about CFA lvl 2 exam vs CFA lvl 1 exam is that if you did well during the CFA 1 exam preparation and actually understood most of the concepts instead of learned them by heart, CFA 2 might turn out to be not that bad. Best example of understanding vs learning is how to calculate the, say, 95% confidence intervals. One would be like "Ok, so I always take alpha/2 according to this formula I memorized" and another would be like "Ok, 95% of the area is covered, so 5% area is left, since I got 2 tails, I take 2.5 each, which, respectively, yields alpha/2"

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I would generally agree with this point.

[@siddhant_mutha]

Loved seeing you just staying grounded all the time and follow the work ethic of grinding for unlimited hours like a regular smart guy which you are not if you ask me. You are a hell lot more insightful, purposeful and enlightened than any ordinary person walking in this planet. But your humility has given you an even further bigger edge in my opinion. I am just trying to appreciate your persistence, dedication and self-awareness in some way I guess here. Keep going, man. The world needs more people like you.

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Thank you for the kind words! I will keep grinding!

[@billsimmons8983]

There is something to be said for being more prepared in advance of level 2 than for level 1 because you had never encountered level 1 before, so you had to really make a huge commitment and step up your study game and devote time and effort. Going into level 2, you already know that you have to put in effort and hard work, so I think that prepares you more.

[@TOP10HUB_]

FIRST EVER TRUE REVIEW ABOUT CFA LEVEL 2 EXAM!! YOUR VIDEO IS A GEM!!

[@pejpm]

Glad to have found someone who shares my view. L2 is hard, but I think everyone wears it as a badge of honour. It’s not as bad as people say.

[@garyobrien8387]

Just starting my level 2 study...this vid gives me confidence...all Im hearing is horror stories abiut level 2...

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Work harder than those people sharing horror stories, and you will beat them.

[@igazii6258]

Don't worry brother ,i am a chartered accountant in india first attempt with sheer hard work it has pass percentage of 8% now preparing for cfa level 2

[@preetishgungabissoon1761]

Hey AJ, i have been watching your videos for sometimes now. I have recently passed level 1 and am thinking of attempting level 2 in August 2024. Did you read through the entire CFA curriculum for L2 or was it just reading from Wiley and doing EOCs from the curriculum?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

CONGRATS ON PASSING!!! I used Wiley video lessons, a small amount of Wiley study notes, then BBs and EOCs from the CFAI.

[@bendalimostefaoualid2281]

Loved that vision!

[@qualitytime7398]

-studied 471 hours level 1 and >70% 9/10 -studied 640 hours level 2 and at 70th percentile if >55% is passers

[@AxieTipsFlystewie]

The man reason I believe you did not find CFA L2 more difficult is most likely expectations. If know one told you L2 was supposed to be harder, most people would assume they would pass because they passed CFA L1 (which was already known to be hard). That wall of confidence after L1 gets shattered by a lot of people who did not realize how much harder L2 would be. However for all the people who had the shit scarred out of them because of the horror stories of L2, it makes sense that those people were WAAAY more focused going into L2 and found the "this test is hard" hype overblown.

[@Purpleurklesmurkle]

Thanks a lot for the video, has helped calm my nerves a little as i begin planning out my studying for Level 2 this june. Just a quick question, do you have any background in Finance prior to undertaking the CFA? and are you currently working in a role that 'flexes' the muscles learnt in the curriculum?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I studied financial management in college so yes I have an academic background. I work in wealth management now so I probably use 10-20% of the material in my work now.

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I studied finance in college and I work in wealth management where I used about 10-20% of the curriculum my work.

[@gregorybainathsah7284]

OMG your dog is adooooorableeeee lmao

[@littletank2842]

Hello, I'm curious, can you estimate how many more hours you'd probably have to study for level 1 if you haven't had any education background in Finance to begin with? The amount of hours you mentioned you put in for level 1 and 2, even with a background in Finance is causing me worries because I'm only finishing up my Canadian Securities Course Volume 2 (without any finance background) and plan to take Level 1 in December and pass it in 1 go.

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I think I could have still passed L1 with 470 hours studied even if I didnt have a background in finance. Its a hard question to answer, but studying that much should get you there.

[@RR-ek8nl]

Did you read the entire Curriculum for level 2? I've heard a lot of people say that no third party material will work for level 2 apart from the CFAI Curriculum itself. Is it true?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I didn't read any of the cirriculum. I used Wiley study notes then did all the CFA blue boxes and EOC's. Check out my other videos.

[@jawads.1192]

hmmm, interesting .. thanks for this video .. what do you think, TBH, I am working to have CFA II in the coming June, and already sit a plan with the same time spend for CFA I, giving that I just passed Level I, and start directly after level 2, and my expectation going for level 2 directly will cut some of the extra hours needed for it XD did you take level 2 right after level 1 ? and by the way, I was wondering what did you study as a major in university ?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Thanks for watching. Taking L2 6 months after L1 has pros and cons. The good news is you have all the formulas in your memory still, but of course the downside is you have less time. I didn't take the tests this way. I took both in June. In college I studied Finance.

[@jawads.1192]

@@straighttalks-ajsrmek323 ohh Okay, well I think I will take my chance in June, I already started and hoping for the best, hope to see you compelete lvl 3 as well 🙂

[@przemekzolopa316]

You spoke about a Reddit post in which you give a detailed description of your study plan for Level 1. Can you please provide a link, I would love to see how you approached this exam

[@omarmahmoud9179]

i just found out about this channel and i'm a candidate for the Dec 2020 exam, and i'm kinda late, many are advising me to depend on schweser or whatever it's called but when i tried it i didn't enjoy studying as i didn't understand everything fully so i went to the "Ecosystem" aka the curriculum what do you think? should i drop that and listen to those who have been talking about schweser or not really by far i'm really having fun studying from the curriculum and i can noticed the difference it also helps me since i got questions to solve after each reading which is actually good application but another question and hopefully you help me with that how to increase my pace of studying? i'm currently working for one of the biggest banks in my country so time is tight not right now actually due to the ongoing events of COVID-19

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I think Schweser can be good for summarizing the material, but the CFA blue boxes and EOC questions will be your best form of practice.

[@omarmahmoud9179]

@@straighttalks-ajsrmek323 well i do study from the online source "the curriculum" because when i tried schweser i couldn't get the full image i mean like couldn't understand everything 100% and some of the curriculum questions were very hard for me now that i started from the curriculum i do have the whole idea about what I'm studying and questions are easy for me a bit but it takes time

[@krishnachandak4537]

Hey did you attempted CFA institute official mocks for level 2 ? How much u thing is good score in mock And please put some light on difficulty of actual exam and mock exam

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Yea I definitely used all of the available material from the institute. I scored over 70% on two mocks before the exam when I passed it.

[@George_Beth]

What's that one topic that you are saying is super hard in Level 2? Valuing currency swaps? That's part of Derivatives?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

That's it, yes.

[@atkinsjarett161]

You may have received this question before. With covid19 pushing July test dates back to December, I will be taking level 1 for the first time. Is it too long between level 1 and level 2 to wait until 2022 to take level 2? I may not have enough time to study level 2 with a 6 month turnaround after a December level 1 test. How many hours did you put in for level 2?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

No that is not too long to wait. I personally would do that over trying to study for level 2 in 6 months, but many other people would try to pass level 2 in 6 months. Its up to you! I studied 640 hours for level 2 but most people do less than that.

[@atkinsjarett161]

Straight Talks thanks for the quick response. I definitely plan on putting in that much time. Damn COVID19. Time to strictly focus on level 1 now. Thanks again

[@ZacK-qu9rz]

Did you just stick to the blue boxes and eocs? One question I always see that hasn't been addressed is mocks and your scores going into the exam. Everyone is always pumping that up on reddit.

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Good point, I might make a video on that. I did blue boxes EOCs, all Wiley q bank, and also several mock exams. I scored over 70% on two mocks before passing the exam.

[@MrDeadlyCrow]

What was the one part below 70%? :)

[@49riffinator]

Anyone know the topic he's referring to @6:50?

[@nasrinsultana8515]

OMG! What are you talking about? I really scared to hear about CFA level 2 .level 1 is Soo hard for me because I don't I have commerce background.

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Level 2 is harder than level 1, but not by all that much.

[@namngoson3602]

How many hours did you study a day during L2? Almost 650 hours seems like 8 months of studying with a full time job

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

I study 3 hours each day, every day. So from November 1st to mid June there are about 225 days.

[@Feeds_]

I think the difficulty of the exams is just a function of your preparation. If you prepare appropriately you will be fine.

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

This is partly true, but then we could just compare to all other academic challenges after 300 hours of prep. I think L2 would be near the top of the list.

[@Feeds_]

@@straighttalks-ajsrmek323 100% it is near the top. If you give yourself whatever amount of time is necessary to learn the concepts well enough to answer enough questions correctly in the exam time restrictions, it doesn’t feel as difficult as what people say it is. That study time will vary for different people, for some it may take 10 hours per topic, for other 20 hours. I think what we see in academia and professional exams is a whole lot of people who build the perception of the exams and assessments who were not adequately prepared. Objectively these exams and assessments are difficult and the concepts are complex, but our recollection of the difficulty of these things are built based on a function of our preparation.

[@chiragshetty2336]

Hi..do u think eocs are enough for the exams?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Maybe... But I wouldn't leave these exams up to a maybe. My recommendation is to do all the blue boxes and mock exams as well.

[@shreyarhode]

Hey nice video...why did you stop posting?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

Sorry, I just haven't prioritized KZbin! I plan to post more soon.

[@7ascon]

Do you plan on writing CFA Level 3?

[@straighttalks-ajsrmek323]

yes, I have since passed L3.

[@peppagorge4801]

A lot of rambling...