Ok, I know you are all probably so sick of the prep providers talk… But I just need to make a choice soon and I am worried once I pay up, I will regret it…
To those of you who used MM for level 3, can you please be kind enough to advise on the CONS? This is what I am interested in, the negative side. Something in his course that you did not like and felt that impacted/would impact your performance.
Thanks
I have not used anything for LIII, however I listened to some of the MM videos back at LII (there was an option to pay only for a month, then). I found them great, but I realized I still have to read the whole material, and then listen to the videos to reinforce things.
And I don’t know how anyone finds time to read the whole curriculum, listen to video lectures and do hundreds of mocks on top. Additionally they claim they studied less than 250 hours. Hard to believe.
So I think con is, you won’t have time. Unless your background education covers the CFAI material and you can jump directly to the practice and you just want to beef up your knowledge with the videos (and not read the curriculum).
But then everyone says the curriculum is important to pass LIII, and I agree. You kind of get into the language they expect by studying from the CFAI stuff.
I can completely relate to what you are saying regarding people doing all kinds of things and then saying that they only studied a few weeks before the exam lol (sometimes it is just very unrealistic what they are saying!). I don’t understand why are they not completely transparent so that other candidates will not follow them thinking that it is a successful strategy!
I honestly never studied the entire curriculum (only did a few topics in L2), but I plan to study it in L3. Not because I think L3 cannot be passed without it, but because I don’t want to take chances. I used MM for L2, the videos were great, but I wonder about L3. I will start early to gave enough time do everything, probably early next month!
If you didn’t use MM in L3, what provider did you use?
I passed level 3 in first attempt and only used MM along with CFAI curriculum. I used MM only for level 3, so I can say that his material is great. I believe that for level 3 you need to make sure that choose the provider who follows curriculum closely. I do not think there are any cons, he has great videos (which he updates faster that any other provider). The comment box helps to understand the ongoing questions. After watching his videos you can relate to curriculum content easily. Last, I think the price and options he is offering are great and reasonable. No matter which provider you are going to use there is going to be cons of almost everyone, but if you work hard I think you can pass without any provider. It is completely up to you, you have to study, you are writing the exam, not mark! So study hard and practice. Good luck!
you cannot compare apple with orange.
MM Mock 2019 written by S2000 and we don’t know who will help MM write Mock 2020.
I didn’t use any 3rd party material, that’s what I’m saying. I had bought the MM Mocks, but never could use them due to lack of time.
I read the curriculum, made my own (handwritten) notes - oldschool, I’m 45.
Did BBs and EOCs twice, did 6 past AM exams (not timed though), topic tests on CFAI website 2x, CFAI official mock. Was reading this forum, asked and answered a few question, or just looked at answers for other candidates’ questions. I logged this as study time as well.
And that came out almost 800 hours. And I passed. With an overall score of 70%, which is not something excellent, but still very comfortable. My PM suffered from my Ethics score, but on AM I did much better than I had expected despite the fact that I left 21 points entirely blank due to time constraint.
Hi,
I used MM material extensively and found it to be extremely helpful. I would print the pdf of the notes and make additions to it as I heard the videos. Having said that there are some cons:
not all the BB egs. would be covered (he does explicitly tell you to read the curriculum though). He would cover all the important ones but make sure you atleast glance thru the ones he’s not covered - you never know what may come in the paper.
certain topics eg. the ending of fixed income credit strategies, while explained, could be done in more detail. (This may not be one of the more important areas of the curriculum)
the equity section, I found it a bit too brief. You would have to rely on the curriculum for this section.
All said and done these are minor points. MM gives you a very good base. Just make sure you cover the remaining stuff (BBs not covered, certain topic areas) on your own. I say this because the paper may test some of the more abstract stuff (eg certain formulas this time).
It’s difficult to point out what is bad specifically because each person looks for different things and dismisses others when looking for a provider.
I mainly searched for a provider that would help me understand the content in a level of detail necessary to not only pass the test but also synthesize the information. MM did this for me in the most economical way, so from this perspective if I was forced to critique I would agree with the previous poster in that I had trouble doing that with the equity section videos and also slightly with the monitoring/rebalancing/attribution videos. The other sections were all great.
I know a lot of people complain about the MM question bank, which is valid because I remember the level 2 one was riddled with errors (I think last years Level 3 was marginally better) but I never really cared about a providers qbank after level 1 (I thought the CFAI official q bank for 2 and 3 were decent and sufficient), so the bad q bank wasn’t an issue for me. Might be a make or break for you.
His level 3 mocks last year for AM were very good, but after all the tea that has been spilled the last couple days it seems that the magician will not be contributing this year so who’s to say how good they will be. Honestly there are so many past AMs available though that can still give good practice for parts despite the big curriculum changes this year.
If your concern is not having the time to do a detailed study of the entire curriculum/not time to watch all the videos, I’m sure, as with any provider, you have the freedom to focus on whatever parts you want, but Level III really requires it so it all just all depends on what level of confidence you are okay with walking into the test with.
I started prep back in mid-March, used only MM’s materials (videos/practice/mock walkthrough). I only go back to the curriculum when I need more clarification or practicing the questions. Passed on 90th percentile; however, my background is fund management so use my advice with discretion.
Ha, you really want an excuse to use Levelup over MM.
I agree with CFA_Indias comment in that not all blue boxes are covered in his videos.
In addition, his pdf notes were kinda weak. I found it difficult to follow without the videos. I made my own notes so this wasnt a big deal.
MM was good for L3. Maybe not as useful to me as for L2 but that’s mainly due to the content at L3.
Read the textbook. No way around it here and the readings are not as dry as L2… except maybe fixed income and the new equity reading.
I used MM for L3 as a supplement. At first I’d read then watch, but as someone else pointed out that’s time consuming. So last going off I’d only watch his vids on areas I needed help with (good luck with the carry trade in fixed income).
Never once used his notes so can’t comment on those. But the videos and explanations are worth the 400 bucks or whatever it is. Not overly expensive compared to other prep providers.
He is a little cocky in the comment section and the online qbank questions were a bit quirky but I hammered out over 1000 of them and thought it was great practice to drill certain topics in.
Overall good value and I have no problem recommending him. Just don’t let the videos replace the textbook.
My only gripes were: 1) I found his PDF notes to be totally useless. They are just print outs of the slides from the video with markings all over them that don’t make sense without the overlaying audio. Plus, they were hundreds of pages per topic so not even worth printing. 2) I liked the idea of the Q&A section underneath the video lectures that had time stamps for your question that he would respond to. However, as others have said, he was kind of an *** in responding. I asked 2-3 very specific questions that were met with vague answers, and in one instance he answered my question with another question. I understand he’s getting tons of these questions + emails etc, but don’t offer the service if you don’t support it.
In all, I used CFAI books and supplemented confusing topics with his videos on 1.5x speed which worked wonders. Also his ethics quizzes and ethics practice question walkthroughs helped me hit 90th percentile this year in that particular section. He’s got a great method for attacking ethics questions. 1 of his 4 mocks felt like the real deal, the others were significantly harder than the real exam. But I wouldn’t do more than a couple mocks, and specifically use CFAI.
Ahhhhhh I am soooooo glad, finally someone else is mentioning the cocky attitude of his!! Yes, he is a bit sarcastic/cocky in answering people’s queries, that pissed me off, not the attitude of a teacher. But is not a deal breaker for me since I am not the type who asks questions, i usually look for answers myself, much easier.
Thank you very much for the advise, confirmed everything I had in mind about MM service and L3, I also think that his videos would be very helpful and that it is essential to not ignore the text books!
Very much agree with everything! Thanks for the feedback, advices and kind wishes.
After surfing 1 hour in this forum, I can already foresee that you should not have major problems passing the exam. All you need is to keep this intensity going- most of candidates don’t work so hard and that for sure maximizes your chances…
Good luck!
CONS:
The pdf docs were filled with errors (I think he outsourced it…the errors were to blatant that no one who has basic working knowledge of finance would make them).
The videos are long (yet informative) and it takes time to go through them. Pro tip: watch them on 1,5x speed to save time.
He is too cocky for his pedigree (but who cares if he helps you to achieve the Charter)
PROS: (even though you didn’t ask for them)
I used MM video series in 2018 and totally screwed up the AM exam. I just felt that the video learning way which has worked for me earlier didn’t prepare me for the morning essay questions and the language CFA uses. Moreover like others have said, Dr Mark was very cocky in his responses. His repsonses were very vague and made things more confusing. Come 2019, I stuck to the official curriculum and that was very helpful for the AM session. Also, I did as many mocks I could find. I wouldn’t give this advice for any other level, but if you can grill in and put in the hours, stick to the CFAI curriculum. A much cheaper and better option, I believe.
Indeed a lot of vague responses.
But I think he is forced to respond with very short answers because of the volume of stupid questions from lazy people.
For that reason, he removed the forum and subscribers have to use Reddit now instead 
You only used the videos without referring to the curriculum? Did you do mocks with grading service in 2018?
Thank you for the detailed honest feedback! I agree with everything you said based on my L2 experience, but wanted to confirm that it is the case with L3.
and happy that people are acknowledging the cocky/sarcastic part of his comments because it seemed that no one was talking about it except me, he responds in such a way that makes you feel you are stupid for asking, and it wasn’t just with me, not cool at all, and above that his response is vague. I think I can get past his cones though, I often like to look for answers myself and planning to make my own notes using the official books