For those of us laying out the groundword 2012, please share your thoughts about third party prep providers (Schweser, Stalla, etc.) Specifically, it would be helpful to know how effective they are at Level III given the changes relative to Level II.
I used Schweser for reading only for all 3 levels BUT exhausted the CFAI text EOC ?s. I didn’t even touch the Schweser Q bank or EOC ?s for L3…complete crap compared to the exam IMO. The text for Schweser was pretty good, but they had a couple of errors that you would catch working the CFAI EOC ?s. Consider the Creighton University L3 boot camp too…probably made the difference for me.
Was satisfied with Schweser at all 3 levels. Though Level 3 you have the unique opportunity to see actual AM test questions from prior years, and you’ll definitely want to avail yourself of that and study the depth of the answer key no matter which 3rd party provider you might use.
i went with schweser (secret sauce, notes, and qbank) and supplemented with prior year essay exams. Did CFAI EOC questions twice. I passed, but my essay scores werent the greatest (cleaned up on the item sets though). disagree on qbank being “complete crap” - there are not enough questions, but it does help to drill in concepts, particularly on the more mathematical/formulaic type stuff (using derivatives to change your asset allocations, dollar duation rebalancing, etc)
If i had to study for it all over again I would do this (total hours ~500)… Nov - March - Read Scheweser, take notes, refresh often, and read CFAI books for important sections (IPS, ethics, GIPS, behavioral finance, Asset Allocation). April - Do all of EoC questions in CFAI texts, make sure you get 80% of them correct and understand them, refresh subjects May - Do 2003-2011 pratice tests and refresh subjects. Also do the PM samples from last year. i was getting 50-60 on AM and 70s on PM on my pratice, and from my score breakout i think i passed by a good margin. Good luck
Used Schweser, EOC Q’s, CFAI mocks, schweser tests, and the schweser live mock. I went through CFAI ethics as usual, but only did schweser GIPs.
I see where you are coming from…maybe “unrealistically simple” vs. The exam is more accurate, but I see how they can help master formulas as you move along. smileygladhands Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > i went with schweser (secret sauce, notes, and > qbank) and supplemented with prior year essay > exams. Did CFAI EOC questions twice. I passed, but > my essay scores werent the greatest (cleaned up on > the item sets though). > > disagree on qbank being “complete crap” - there > are not enough questions, but it does help to > drill in concepts, particularly on the more > mathematical/formulaic type stuff (using > derivatives to change your asset allocations, > dollar duation rebalancing, etc)
- Schweser + CFAI questions must be good enough - never waste your time on qbanks - past papers, mock & sample exams are important - squeeze at least 4 months for the exam
morning session is gonna be tough but dont give up after the morning session!
Haha. Thanks for being patient, newbies. My two cents: There is only one rule - You HAVE to put in the time and effort. The material is a factor, but a secondary one. I would say budget 400 hrs. It’s ambitious and difficult for some given work, home life, etc… but in my opinion time is the best asset. And only count actual study hours. If you sit down for six hours but spend one or two on the web/staring at the wall, don’t count the full six… it will lead to false confidence. I used Schweser. No complaints. I was a Stalla user for levels I and II, but I switched when I heard Olinto no longer did the videos. EOCs, old exams, and schweser mock exams were the best tools for myself. I used the Qbank (Which some hate), and I found it useful to use up until mid-March or so (Topic recallability). After that you should be ready to focus on the EOCs. But the bottom line from my experience: There are no shortcuts. Most strategies will work if you put in the time.
Redo CFAI EOC and examples as many times as possible (very important), memorize if you could. FI section examples I reviewed just one day before the exam day helped me. QBank was a waste of time. I can’t recall anything from qbank that helped me in the exam. Schweser video helped some with the big picture.
I read CFAI for Individual PM and Schweser for everything else. I started in October. While reading I would create a notecard for each LOS. After reading every chapter I would complete the Schweser EOC, then CFAI EOC and finish up with QBank. Then move to the next chapter. How important things were for me in my pass IMO (I used each of them) 1) Schweser Windsor Week (great comprehensive review in May) 2) CFAI EOCs (I completed about 90% of them with ~65% correct) 3) Old CFAI morning exams and the CFAI mock (2008,2009,2010 and 2011 mock) 4) Schweser Practice exams (I did the first four with average score of ~74% in morning and ~76% in afternoon) 5) My note cards (I had created a handmade one for each LOS and used them once finished reading) 6) Schweser EOC (I completed about 90% of them with ~75% correct) 7) Analyst Forum (Invaluable for both prep and morale) 8) Q bank (I answered 50% of them with 81% correct) I passed Level III the first time, but I took Level I twice (CFAI books only) and Level II three times (Schweser books and prep only). The difference for me for both my pass at Level II (3rd attempt) and Level III (first attempt) was the week long review at Windsor which I did last year and this year.
Used Schweser for 2010 and Stalla for 2011 but I thought that Schweser books were better overall as they seem to delve a little deeper into topics than Stalla did. Stalla videos are worthless, don’t get “The System”. Stalla Iphone flashcards for $150 was not really worth it. Make your own flashcards. Do all CFAI blue box examples. Do all CFAI EOC problems. Do all past CFAI AM Exams you can find, multiple times. Do all CFAI Samples and mocks. Do some schweser and stalla practice exams, but they have a lot of errors. Do the Creighton Boot Camp. Start in January. Take a week off from work the week before. Give yourself at least 4 weeks for review.
Thought schweser was helpful for levels 1 and 2 because the reading material was so massive. With level 3, I didn’t have an issue with completing the reading directly from CFAI text, so that’s what I did. I used schweser for both sets of mock exams, which is always helpful for understanding the material. The prior three years of actual AM session Q&A is definitely one of the most important pieces of study material you can use, so make sure you cover this multiple times. Schweser flashcards help the details stick. All in all, you need to put in the time. I’m pretty sure I put in at least 400 hours for this exam.
I passed L1 first time, but took L2 3 times and passed L3 on first try. Background: I am 40. I have 2 kids, 60 hr/week job as an FA. After failing L2 twice, I didn’t want to take any chances. I started L3 back in September and was working at it diligently for about 6 months. When March came around I had that feeling of being a bit overconfident. I was doing all the EOC’s, Blue Box samples and was feeling pretty good about myself but felt “too good” for my liking. So I took the plunge and did Windsor Week. Wow! was that an eye opener. I was NOT READY and I had 5 weeks to get my stuff in order or else I would have failed. I got 50% on their mock at the end of the week. I was not feeling that great and pulled up my socks and got going those final 5 weeks. What got me over the hump was: 1) being humbled at Windsor; if you feel over confident going in WATCH OUT! 2) having a week straight ( i figure it was 100 hrs that first week in May) to study by myself with no distractions; that focus week was invaluable 3) Practice Exams 4) Schweser Exams 5) Being rested for the Exam 6) 600hrs plus of going through CFAI; I didn’t use Schweser other than Windsor and Exams. 7. A little luck I found Windsor Week was the key for me. Filbeck and gang did a GREAT job. I was comparing CFAI and their notes throughtout the week and they covered 95% of the curriculum. I don’t know about the 3 or 5 day ones but the 7 day one was worth it! This whole process was very arduous and was very hard on my family. But I am done. I think i am only going to read comics from now on:). To all those that are writing next year, good luck. The L3 test is the most difficult to write but not insurmountable if you sacrifice. The journey was funner than the destination but I am SO GLAD it is OVER.
- EVERYONE has different methods of learning, so no matter what use what is best for you. There is no one size fits all. Now for my method: I hate reading. I find it horribly inefficient use of my time. So I don’t waste my time reading CFAI texts or Schweser Notes. For L2 and L3 I got my “broad” knowledge by watching the Schweser videos, and I took really good notes from those videos. I learned more in 50 hours of video/note taking than I would have in 200 hours of reading. To suppliment that I did a good amount of qbank questions. Now the qbank isn’t a good test of your knowledge, but it is an excellent tool to learn. I do as many as I can, as quick as I can, while always using the setting to show me the answer and work after I pick my answer. I use it as a learning tool. I also used the Quicksheet and Secret Sauce as supplimental material. Not a whole lot of use, but just when I didn’t have a lot of time but wanted to pound some material into my brain. For L3 I also did the 3 day weekend Schweser workshop. Honestly it wasn’t worth it, but I didn’t have to pay for it. So if your work pays, do it, if not, then just study on your own. My main difference between L2 and L3 was L2 more qbank and L3 the 3 day workshop. Now I did not do ANY EOC questions or mock exams. Again, not a good use of my time. I don’t really believe in testing myself. What good is it to find out what I’m scoring on the exam prior to the exam? Isn’t my time better spent…improving my score? Don’t get me wrong, I track my progress pretty heavily through qbank on each section. The difference is in doing one practice exam, which say takes 10 hours between doing the test and reviewing all the answers, I can do maybe 800 QBank questions. While I don’t get what I’d score on an old exam, I do get more knowledge by hammering more topics. But then again some people have 600 hours to study, and some people learn better by reading. To each his own. Also one thing I would recommend to everyone, take a week or so off before the exam, and cram big time. Shove as much as you can into your brain. Also what helped me tremendously is creating my own “quicksheet”, basically I’d write down everything I thought was pretty important (formulas and high level qual stuff) on like 4-6 pieces of paper. You can review and pound through that real quick and it’ll help drill any formula and key definition/list into your head. IMHO the key is breadth and not depth on any of the three exams. Know all the equations and all the quant steps for every type of question and then have a solid base of knowledge on everything. No need to become an expert on anything.
Sorry just to add to my above post. I also used the Schweser MP3 series and had a formula sheet (think this is a given for all). But I echo matthann, that week of cramming (in isolation) is critical. I have to say that the reason I failed L2 twice I think was that I focussed on the big point topics BUT you do need the BREADTH vs. DEPTH menatlity to pass this thing. As soon as I had a handle on the things I hated (quant, der, PM I started doign better). Peace out!
I passed level 3 on my third attempt, i was close to giving up. lots of sound advice on this thread, what i will add which i think helped me over the hurdle was the exam technique i adopted. i wrote the am paper back to front to avoid being tempted to fall into any time traps on the beginning IPS questions. best of luck, perseverance will see you through this course. make the effort, read the curriculum, do the EOC, use the schweser study guides for review, be ready to destroy those IPS questions. avoid my experience. signing off, i’m off to margaritaville.
> For those of us laying out the groundword 2012, please share your thoughts about third party > prep providers (Schweser, Stalla, etc.) Specifically, it would be helpful to know how effective they > are at Level III given the changes relative to Level II. You’ve passed 2 levels. If you don’t have your own view by now, you never will. And you will never be a decent analyst either as most insightful analysts calls are based on much less info than you have to answer your own question.
Wow, thank you Bucephalus for that warm welcome! I can see that passing Level III has been a humbling experience for you. Bucephalus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > And you will never be a decent analyst either as > most insightful analysts calls are based on much > less info than you have to answer your own > question.