I am very confused as to whether I should register with MM or level up. Considering that money is not an issue for me, which one would be of better quality?
I used MM and he was fairly good. The notes were bad, but I am planning to study from the curriculum anyway (for the first time). His mocks for L2 were full of mistakes, but people are saying that his mocks for L3 were good.
On the other hand, people praise Marc a lot and say that for L3 he is absolutely the best! But I wont be able to attend any bootcamp due to location, so I will just get the videos if I do register with him.
Do both of them teach how to solve the AM session questions in their videos?
I only used MM for all levels, can’t speak for Marc. MM L3 mocks saved my ass for exam. Mark’s walkthrough AM sessions were useful and helpful for me during the preparation. I was using the MM grading service as the grader was S2000, the combination of both Mark and S2000 was the best of the best for me.
From personal experience save yourself some money and go with Mark Meldrum. I used Marc in 2018 (fail) and Mark in 2019 (pass) and there is really no reason to spend 2,000.
Just read the CFAI books and get the MM videos and you will do fine. 2,000 + travel expenses vs 280 => really hard to justify that difference.
https://www.fitchexamprep.com/dates-prices/level-3/june-2020/review –> only $50 for his great website with Quiz to use as complement with CFAI Qbank –> set up great base for me even without reading the curriculum –> i signed up in the early May (1.5 months before exam)
https://www.bloombergprep.com –> goes for essential only –> upgrade another 2 mock exam, contact support (totally become 8 mock exam) –> the greatest item set mock –> very similiar nuances with real CFAI Exam –> very rush just annotated the answer while looking the solution 10 days before real exam –> because before that i don’t know it can be printed out.
true. MM’s notes were bad but if you fill in the gaps as you watch the videos, they become ok. The mocks were great. They were written by the one and only @S2000Magician
By the end of the day, it all comes down to willing to grind. No provider can do that for you.
Agreed, MM’s notes were too general and high-level, you need to the gaps as you watch the videos. I used MM and Kaplan notes. They kinda of make up each other. around 4 Mock exams from MM, 4 from Kaplan, plus CFAI’s mock exams. If you crushed all these, I am sure you will get pass it. Not saying that MM has option that someoen will grade your mock exam at least one.
Used MM for L3. Watched the videos as my first pass through the material, then the cfai materials for the second. Did 10 official mocks, plus the MM 4 mocks, and had one graded. Whatever trainer you go for, incorporate it into YOUR own plan and don’t let it lead you to think that the onus isn’t on you to study.
Kaplan notes are basically the 6 books they provide? That will be too long for notes, I think I will just make my own notes/summary using the curriculum, I was never the type who was able to rely on others notes anyway, I’ve never touched the formula sheets provided by providers etc and all that stuff! When you say CFAI mocks, you don’t mean the past exams mocks, right? You mean the one mock (mock A) provided by CFAI on the study platform. You didn’t do past exams?
I agree that no provider can make you pass, you need to put in the efforts.
Guys, to those of you who tried MM for L3, what is your opinion in hid question bank? Did you feel it was good? - I wasn’t so impressed with his QB for L2 but it wasn’t bad too.
The “AM walkthrough” is basically apart of his videos package? I wonder if s2000 will be grader still, but I think that s2000 provides separate grading services.
The AM walkthrough is a part of his videos package. And yes S2000 provides seperate grading service. By the way, wish you the very best for next year L3.
I used videos from Schweser, Marc (Levelup), and Mark (MM) for level 3. 2017 (Band 8): used Schweser. Their videos are very much supplemental and only hit the main topics and ideas. The only person worth listening to is David Hetherington, especially his take in the derivatives section. Their PM mock exams were okay, but i found the AM written mocks were garbage and nothing like the actual exam. 2018 (fail): decided to try Levelup as Marc’s level 2 videos were amazing when he was still with Schweser. His level 3 videos are very detailed and he often tries to explain it in a different way than is presented in the textbooks. His videos appear to drag on, but this is because he generally starts with a 5 to 15 minute top down overview of the chapter, as well as a wrap up of important concepts near the end of the video. He mails you a booklet with his notes, which is very high quality. He highlights sections of his notes where previous exam questions were asked which I found useful. I also emailed him a couple times and he was quick to answer. I can’t speak for his bootcamps, but maybe I should have went as I was under prepared for the AM.
2019 (pass): Used MM. In my opinion, his videos are on par with Levelup in terms of quality. I found his videos shorter, but more concise. His notes are typed up from his video slides and downloaded as a PDF. They aren’t colour coded and customized with pictures and diagrams like Levelup. One advantage with MM is the platform he uses for his videos. Features like adjusting video play speeds, a 15 second fast forward/rewind button, and ability to skip directly to a specific LOS were all very convenient. There are short quizzes after each video lesson, which provided a nice little review of each chapter. Lastly, MM provides you with 4 Mock exams which I found to be very good practice as it matched very closely to the language and format of the actual AM exam.
In terms of value, you can’t beat MM given his price point. If money isn’t an issue, I would still lean towards MM as his videos provide a better balance between condensing the material and covering the concepts that worked for me. If you have more time and want more detail, I would go with Levelup. Neither Marc or Mark is better or worse, it really depends on your study style.
Thanks a lot for the detailed and honest feedback, it is very useful. I am also starting to lean towards MM, I can use the extra money to buy some supplements from other providers like a summary, mocks or AM walkthrough etc. I do have time as I am planning to start in September, but that still is not a reason on its own to use level up, meaning that even Mark’s videos are detailed and long (they were in L2) and so I could still use that time with Mark. I will do some little more research before registering.