CFA Level 2: the journey and the outcome

When you feel from within that you are writing a post only to increase the counter, there is certainly something wrong. This post has been long due and somehow, I could never build up the mood and the tempo. Well, here it is ... Finally!!!

26th July, 2010 was a historic day in my life. It was my first day at The Smart Cube and on the same day, CFA Level 1 result came out and I had passed the exam. The euphoria and the pride did last for few moments, but then it was the next obvious thing. Registering for the CFA Level 2 as soon as possible.

Well, Level 2 has historically been the most difficult of all the three levels. Yes, Level 3 is said to be easier. This prompted me to start studying from Day 1 and try to have a huge buffer time for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th... revision and solving question papers. I registered for the exam somewhere around mid-August and the 6 glossy, shiny books arrived back at home in Lucknow.

There was a time when I loved new books (context: school), only because they were new. Who doesn't love new things? But that love soon faded away when there was a realization that those have to be read also. Times have changed. Now, I waited to look at my new precious possessions only to start with them without wasting much time.

It would have been mid-September when I started the cramming part. I made up the time-table as to which chapters needed to be read till what date, then further breaking the chapters into number of pages to be read in a particular day, etc. etc. Swati (Parikh) advised me several times to get rid of the heavy volumes of CFA material and start reading the Schweser's notes, but my philosophy was different. I thought notes would never build the concepts, they can only enrich you with a limited knowledge that you will pass the exam.

However, I kept reading the books. The further I got, the more I started forgetting what I had read. It seemed like a task that I need to spend 10 minutes on a page just to read the lines, not understanding them at all. Finally, I tool 6 months to read through all the books once. It was already March end.

2 months into the exam, and I re-opened Book#1, just to find that I couldn't even recognize some terms which I had already gone through. Had it not been for those pencil marks, I would have been sure that I skipped the books completely.

Though it came as a depressing shock to me, there was something more waiting. From April 6, I was staffed on a project at my company which somehow, made me to work 14+ hours a day. Even on weekends, I went to the office. The scope of the project said that it will end somewhere in the last week of May, i.e., a week just before my exam was.

I took the first opportunity to bring it to my manager's notice that I had already applied for a 2 week leave in May and I requested to make it 3. Request Denied.

My last resort was to quit the eccentricity (read: books) and pick up Schweser's ASAP. I tried to study PDFs in every 5-10 minutes break I could steal in the office and then from 11pm to 2 am when at home. Those were really tough days. I compared it with Level 1, where I was at home for full 45 days. Here, I seemed to start from scratch in April and with just 2-3 hours a day, there seemed to be no end. Talked to Kaushik, who was also to give the paper, he told that he had withdrawn because of the lack of time. I thought to do the same, but something stopped me.

Vaibhav Jain can never fail. This is what I just kept on saying to myself. I negotiated with my manager and somehow, on 10th May, I was allowed to leave. That left me with 23 days to study. No sooner did I reach Lucknow than I picked up the Schweser's hard copies and glued myself. It started with 10 hours a day to finally 16 hours daily. My sleeping hours shifted everyday by 1 more hour, like it was 4 am to 11 am on one day, then on next it was 5 am to 12 noon, and so on. My breakfast had become my dinner, lunch my breakfast and dinner my lunch. Moreover, I never before heard my father say to me that don't study so much and find time for yourself. Haha!!

31st May and I finally completed 3 rounds of going through all the Schweser notes. 3 days left and so many test papers to take. For Level 1, I gave myself 10 days to solve the test papers and I knew that only helped. And for Level 2, just 3 days. Anyways, not giving up the hopes, I continued with solving test papers. All through, I knew I have fallen short by atleast 3 days.

Couldn't comment on the level of my preparation, I went for the exam on June 5th. Well, the morning paper was a torture, a black fate that seemed to be have written when I turned down Swati's suggestion. Would you believe it, I missed 20% of my paper because of lack of time. Since, CFA doesn't do negative marking, I just plainly ticked the remaining questions after quickly just glancing through them. It came as s huge shocker and my morale was so down that I was demotivated to do well in the afternoon session.

The good thing was, everyone around me was depressed with their performance, even Swati whom I met in the exam hall during lunch break. The afternoon session started, and I moved on strategically, not wasting too much of time on a particular question like I did with Derivatives (spent 45 minutes on just one set of question). I started with my strongest area - Quant, but somehow even that simplest of question looked out of my reach.

Disgusted with myself, as I use to impart tutorial sessions at my company on the same concepts. I, however, could complete this paper on time and I could say it went better than the morning.

Thought a lot about the exam for some days and then completely forgotten, taking it as a surety that I have flunked. I started looking for alternative exams that can help me move onto my dream of landing up in an investment bank.

26th July, 2011. Exactly 1 year later than that historic day was my result scheduled to arrive at my mailbox. It gave me tremors. Although I knew I had flunked, yet the surprise element always remained. I applied for a leave on 27th, as I thought I couldn't face questions of my colleagues - pass or fail??

The result had to come by 6:30 pm. I continuously refreshed my inbox about 10 times a minute. Parents and sister had come to my home at Noida for few days, and my sister's first question as soon as I came home was - what about the result? I just said, I have failed.

From 6:30 to 8 pm, I was chatting with Kushal. He, too, was waiting for his result. At around 7:45pm, he said that he passed, result had arrived. Next 15 minutes were more horrifying for me. And at last, at about 8 pm, I received the e-mail. PASSED!!!

Thank you Maa, Papa, Anjali, Arunesh, Swati, Manica and all those who played small roles in motivating and encouraging me. Love you all!!

Level 3 is on June 3rd, 2012 :)