I am here in Toronto, Canada looking to write CFA level 1 in 2014. Has anyone ever taken the University of Toronto’s “Passing the CFA” course by Michael Hlinka? How good is it? Its quite expensive. Can anyone tell me if there is a that better or worse thanSchweser? Is it a good idea to take both? But the cost goes really high.
I took the course. For CFA Level 1 and 2, I think the honest answer is it depends on how good you are at self-study. If you’re pretty diligent, can manage your potential distractions and focus with good prep material like Schweser, you should do well without the course since you can mark yourself objectively on a multiple choice exam. Otherwise, the course would be very helpful at keeping oneself in check. But definitely pick either Schweser or this, not both as you won’t have the time or energy. Best part of the course are the constant checks through almost weekly quizzes along with several exams covering multiple study sessions and a final exam replicating actual exam conditions. Key were the tricky questions so even if you bomb the quiz or exam, you can learn from them vs on the real exam. The tricky questions were much better than Schweser. Schweser’s course seemed much weaker in mock exams. Other people find the course’s audio podcasts, lectures and notes useful although I didn’t find them as useful. The instructor’s perspective is that the course offers many tools to its students and it’s up to each student to utilize the ones they find useful. Either way, it’s a lot more than what Schweser offers in its course which helps to justify its cost. Many people do feel the instructor speaks very quickly which can be a problem when learning. Another big plus which helps to justify the cost is the instructor is basically your own personal AnalystForum. The instructor will answer most of your questions within 48 hours which you can do by email, phone or office hours. But unlike AnalystForum, you know the instructor’s answer is positively correct as he lives and breathes the course material. If you’re still not sure, pay for the course and attend the 1st two classes for free and see for yourself. After that, you can drop out with a full refund if it’s not for you. But if you don’t book a spot, you won’t have the opportunity to check it out as the class often becomes full. Besides for income tax purposes, the course gives a tax credit so the effective cost of the course is less. For me, what really won me over to take the course is at the end of the day, the instructor is a good guy you would want to know. Very sincere and honest person. With someone like that trying to look out for your best interests (instead just after the big payoff from student tuition), the chances of success seemed higher.