Hey, Having taken the Stalla package with live classes for lvl 1 (and passed) I am still in the air on jumping aboard the Scheswer wagon. Stalla Strengths - I really like their notes, and the lecture CD’s with Peter Olinto were great! - One practice exam book was given, i found it helpful. - Live classes were hit and miss but okay. Krikor (Toronto) gave some excellent hints on how to structure your question ability. In the end however, I didn’t really use his methodology for the exam. Stalla Weaknesses - As a first timer, I found the suggested study structure a bit … vague. - Passmaster software was TERRIBLE. I hear alot about Scheswer, particularly about books 1-7, are these review notes? practice exams? I suppose if I had to meld them together, I’d like Stalla notes with Scheswer questions.
I have the 2007 Stalla L1 notes and Passmaster. I have the 2006 Schweser notes and a friend recently let me test drive the Qbank. Passmaster is not bad. It just needs more questions. One of the big advantages of Stalla over Schweser, is that Stalla tells you why the other answers are wrong. Schweser just tells you why the correct answer is right. I think knowing why the other answers are wrong can help spot the tricks that the CFAI tends to pull. I do like the Qbank’s online access and LOS reviews but I also like Stalla including electronic copies of their notes within Passmaster. In terms of the notes, Schweser is very light compared to Stalla but Stalla can also go way overboard in terms of depth. Since we have to purchase the texts now, I’m going with Schweser since hopefully the texts will be able to fill in any gaps that Schweser misses. And I’ll give the Qbank a shot. Ultimately, if using one provider makes a difference in passing or failing, it would be my fault for not putting in the effort in the first place.
I also took the live Stalla course in Toronto and thought the lectures were hit and miss but they did help me stay on track and put my studying in context. I also had access to Scheweser material and found Olinto to be the differentiating factor. His teaching style is unbelievable and the concepts stick, Scheweser cannot compare in this regard. I also used both Stalla and Scheweser practice exam because I didn’t want to depend only on one provider for final review. In the end, I am going with Stalla classes again.
Ultimately I’m trying to find the course that best suits my preferences rather then finding the perfect storm. I know that I did not need classes to keep on track so if I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t have attended all of them (and spent that time on other things like self-medication), but they did make for good review. The Stalla books were just as thick as the CFAI books. I just might pick up some Schweser exams. Olinto on the CD’s was great wasn’t he? Honestly the passmaster had a ton of questions, but I found many of them too simple and possibly lacking in relevance. Glad to hear from some of Toronto’s Stalla graduating class lvl 1. Hope to see some familiar faces (though I did keep to myself the whole time).
I used both Stalla and Schweser for L2 (long story) and passed on 1st attempt…bottom line: I’ve seen both sets of complete notes side by side and you will be able to pass using either one. Having said that, I have a preference for Schweser because I think their practice tests are superior and I think their notes are *slightly* better. However, Olinto is the best for a live class (hands down), and Stalla’s Passmaster software was solid (I did not use Schweser’s Qbank). The dirty one
Anone willing to see their Stalla Passmaster (2007)?? Please let me know dinesh.sundrani@gmail.com Thanks, Dinesh S