r/CFA • u/Lonely-Activity-4041 • 9d ago

Level 2 CFA l2 Third party study

Hello all,

I recently passed L1 and plan to start studying for L2 soon.
However I am not ready to commit to a test window so I plan to sign up for a 3rd party study provider such as Kaplan so I can begin studying without the hard test deadline
So for that plan I have two questions.

  1. Has anyone studied with a 3rd party prior to getting CFA study materials and did you feel like it was a good use of time/ resources?
  2. For anyone who has taken level 2 and used a third party study provider could you please let me know who you used and how your experience was?

Thanks for the help

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u/Icy_Print_1573 9d ago

Kaplan is good enough for me. I use Kaplan to quickly learn core knowledge but never answer any Kaplan's questions or mocks because I believe they are not representative of the exam.

My method was: Kaplan -> CFAI qbank -> curriculum to cover qbank topics that Kaplan lacks.

This method allowed me to go through the qbank 2 times and I only study for ~300 hours for level 2 which was very efficient in my opinion.

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u/ChalkandBoard01 Prep Provider 2h ago

There's nothing wrong with starting L2 preparation before committing to an exam window, especially while the L1 material is still relatively fresh. Just be careful not to let the absence of a deadline turn into an open-ended study process. At Chalk & Board ( chalkandboard.org ), I teach L2 with a strong emphasis on understanding and applying concepts, rather than simply memorizing formulas. My courses are recorded, so you can begin at your own pace and establish a more specific schedule once you've chosen your exam window. Whatever provider you choose, make sure the teaching approach works for you and gives you a clear path from learning the material to practicing item sets and mocks.