elan videos or schweser videos for 2015 level 2??

CFA Level II
#1

hi…i want to know which video lecture series, elan or schweser, is better for leve 2 prep??

thanks

#2

Debating this right now too… any other input ?

#3

In my opinion, elan is better in the economics and FRA sections.

#4

I had the weeky online schweser course last year (3 hours once per week starting in January) and the full schweser library that covered every LOS. For me last year I only started studying in February so the weekly course with Prof Holmes was good, but to be honest if you really want to pass you need to start earlier, and that course basically sets you on a path to finish learning the material one month before the exam and that is not enough time. With that said I thought the schweser library that covered every LOS was good and much more detailed, but keep in mind these videos still don’t cover everything you need to know, but in terms of getting the main content down they were good. The other thing I would say is don’t listen to Prof Holmes strategy if you want to pass, he will teach you to focus on the bigger areas and aim for knowing “just enough” to get 50% on the others … this is a recipe for diaster. I felt like this caused me to breeze over portfolio management (which was barely covered in the weekly online class) and if you took the exam last year you can guess how that turnd out for me. Overall schweser was a good product in my opinion but don’t rely on them to teach you everything you need to know and don’t follow their study schedule as you should allow a minimum of 2 months for practicing

This year I am trying Elan because for $400 bucks with the discount code you can’t go wrong in my opinion. Their videos seem to be longer that schweser so I"m curious to see which one I like better.

#5

^+1

Was in the exact same situation last year. With 40% discount code, I’m going with Elan this year. I think someone said that there is twice as much hours of videos than schweser.

#6

Is Peter Olinto appeared in the Level 2 video?

#7

Yes Peter Olinto presents many topics.

Keep in mind not all videos are out yet.

Missing :

Readings with Lectures releasing December 2014 Reading 1: Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct Reading 35: Market-Based Valuation: Price and Enterprise Value Multiples Reading 2: Guidance for Standards I-VII Reading 36: Residual Income Valuation Reading 20: Evaluating Quality of Financial Reports Reading 37: Private Company Valuation Reading 25: Corporate Performance Governance and Business Ethics Reading 42: The Term Structure and Interest Rate Dynamics Reading 28: Equity Valuation: Applications and Processes Reading 43: Arbitrage-Free Valuation Framework Reading 29: Return Concepts Reading 44: Valuation and Analysis: Bonds with Embedded Options Reading 33: Discounted Dividend Valuation Reading 46: Introduction to Asset-Backed Securities Reading 34: Free Cash Flow Valuation

#8

I dont understand why they are re-doing the equity videos. From what I can see the LOS’s have not changed in the equity section, all thats changed in the CFAI books are the examples, but does that mean you need to re-work all of the previous equity material in Elan?

#9

40% discount code??

#10

they have a 40% discount code…i manage to get it. hint…you might want to check with the live chat section. dont quote me

#11

Live cfa chat sounds awesome. Where would I find Such a thing?

#12

CFA ELAN Live chat videos…aren’t that great…especially if you are on the west coast. They start their classes at 5 am in the morning and give you the materials a day before. The instructor himself is working multiple jobs and has tons of mistakes in his lectures.

The Elan videos are good except for the portion with the new professor Daren mcgraffe. I never understand why would you make a video if you are just going to skip the examples on how to do them. Everytime you get to an example with that instructor he goes “oh you can do it on your own time” he doesn’t even explain the pitfalls or common mistakes candidates could make.

Elan Videos are only good with the two original professors. Peter Olinto and Basit Shanjani. Any other professor they have is a real step down and I could tell you you are better off not watching or listening to the live chat CFA videos as it isnt’ worth your time and you could be practicing practice problems instead.

#13

After spending more time with the Elan videos I can say the ones that were completed last year are great, but the ones that have a new instructor this year (the ones that were just added) are terrible. You’re time is better spent reading the material on your own then watching the video. What a shame because their other videos from last year are great

#14

I agree 100%

#15

my opinion is that schweser lecturers in L1 videos make too much comments, too much babble… Who has tried irfanullah. he is to the point majority of cases, easy to listen/follow.

#16

The newly added videos from Elan L2 really are pretty bad. But in reality those videos take a small portion of the materials. Olinto and Basit more than make up for it. Basit did great in Quant, FRA, Econ. Olinto awesome at equity, Der and FRA. Caution though the video route requires alot more time IMO

#17

I felt suffocated until Elan videos came into my life…to say the least

#18

Last year you could buy Elan videos one-by-one for like $20 a piece. I didn’t buy the equity videos b/c I thought the material was pretty easy, but Olinto’s Derivatives and FRA videos were the best investment I made through the entire CFA program so far. The man was born to teach.

#19

I just bought the Wiley videos pack for level II and the streaming quality is really poor and unstable. I don’t know if it has something to do with the quality of my internet connection. Is there any way to improve it or at least make it stable for a while?

#20

You should call them. Unfortunately the streaming quality this year has been quite bad. I was really hoping they would send a hard copy option so I could take it on the go with my laptop.

Also, Wiley for some reason hates Fixed Income. I’ve been going over the fixed income section and it’s pretty horrible.

  1. Fixed Income could be 20 percent of the exam and they have a new professor go over it who doesn’t do a good job of teaching you the material.

  2. They keep going refer to your level 1 studies. Problem with that is last year they emailed you the fixed income stuff 45 days before the actual exam date so you literally had to cram everything.

  3. They still haven’t released the fixed income problem sets yet!!!

To me it just seems Elan/Wiley hates fixed income lol…