I am listening to Mark’s lecures on Derivatives and he is doing a great job in explaining simple logic and walking through curriculum BB questions, my concern is should i read schweser or CFAI text on derivatives after watching his lectures or go straight to EOC?
How to get these videos ?
No, you don’t need to read Schweser after watching Mark Meldrum’s videos. I make notes after watching Mark’s videos and then do practice questions. However, I have noticed that some of his videos could be too detailed and slow. If you also notice that, then you also need to go to Schweser Notes for such topics to keep up the momentum.
Hi sbmayuri,
You can subscribe to Mark Meldrum’s CFA Level 2 videos on www.vimeo.com
It cost $17 per month to subscribe and the quality of videos is very very good. You can cancel it anytime if you don’t like it.
I have subscribed to Mark Meldrum’s Videos for CFA Level 2 exam.
Thanks Sydneyguy,
Hi sbmayuri, You are welcome 
I only watch his videos and I usually do great in EOC. I only used his videos for level 1. Never read a single book and scored pretty good so Im sticking with him. Buy his notes and follow along and you’re more than ok!
Hi All,
Just wondering, if anyone just used his videos without purchasing the Schweser Notes.
Thanks,
Hi Swong,
for Level 2 I studied purely with Mark’s Videos and Video Notes while infrequently using the CFAI core curriculum in addition. His videos are easy to understand, thorough and he is really passionate about teaching.
He provides a detailed video for every reading and an additional wrap-up video for every reading with condensed content where he also solves EOC questions from CFAI core curriculum to teach you the right approach to these.
I also used him for Level 3 and was very satisfied with the quality of his videos and notes (Hope I passed)
Typically you cannot generalize which resources someone needs to pass but I felt pretty well prepared by solely relying on his stuff.
Cheers
Hi - I’ve used Mark’s video lectures for L1 & L2, and on the Derivatives section he specifically advised NOT reading the CFAI text, as they use overly-complicated terminology (as opposed to John Hull’s original, simplified terminology, which Mark uses). Both methods will get you to the same answer - John Hull’s is just more elegant and easier to follow. I scored in the top 10% on Level 1 relying solely on Mark Meldrum’s videos, and I truly believe it’s all you need to pass (with lots of practice problems and mock exams, of course). He’s the best in the business, always quick to respond to questions, keeps it light and interesting, and costs next to nothing. I just can’t recommend him enough.
I followed Arif Irfanullah’s lectures (IFT). I did the CFAI text blue box examples and EOCs on Derivatives.
He is great at clearly putting into perspective the big concepts so you understanding why things are the way they are instead of just memorizing things. Once I passed Level 1 I knew immediately I would use him again going forward - and besides the official text I really don’t think you need any other prep provider service if you go with him. I would suggest watching his videos first then reading the CFAI text- once you have a general idea of what is going on from the videos it makes reading the text much less painful. After that I would watch the video again to cement the knowledge.
Considering quality of content I am astounded at how economical (i.e. cheap) it is - I registered for a full year access package for Level 2 last year and you get access to content for all three levels (great for reviewing or looking forward if you have time and/or interest) plus whatever level you registered for stays in your archives forever so you can still access that content (granted it does not include any changes in curriculum past the year you purchased it). If I hopefully pass Level 2 I will definitely use him for Level 3.
Any view on the quality of Mark’s other material (Q bank, mock…)?
I find his “one-fee completion” package pretty attractively priced, knowing that it’s annually updated, with archives permanently available. If the quality is that good it seems like a no-brainer to go with him.
His q-bank and mocks were outsourced last year and there were a fair amount of mistakes (i.e. quant questions not correctly calculated, etc- nice part about that was he gave $5 credit to anyone who could spot the mistakes and tell him). He admitted himself he was upset with the quality of them, so this year he and his team have recreated all of that internally according to a video he recently posted (he says questions for every reading and 4 full exams for each level I believe).
He also does these seminar videos on overall topics (usually ones people have most difficult grasping) that go a bit more deeper than what the CFAI requires which I found really information and helpful.
I was grading Level III morning session mock exams for Mark this year and was very disappointed with the exams. I’m writing the 2019 mock exams at this very moment. (Today was Level I Sampling and Estimation.) I hope that they’ll be better than what I saw for 2018.