I read CFAI’s book 2 which was basically one big nightmare compared to Schweser. Schweser is way more to the point, way less fluff. All I care about is passing this exam, nothing more. The crap CFAI gets into is way more than is called for in the LOS’s. What Schweser manages to say in one paragraph, takes CFAI 3 pages to say. My two cents…Goodbye CFAI But I will sleep better tonight.
I have been using Schweser…very good. However, I would still read the CFAI material to get a detailed understanding of the material. The mere fact that CFAI making them mandartory this year serves as a signal to me that knowing the CFAI material is important.
either that or they wanted the extra money. noooo that couldn’t possibly be the reason.
ws…sounds like I’m in the same position as you…I’m heavy on Schweser and into the CFAI material on those sections I don’t feel Schweser has covered well enough or where I need more detail myself. But I wouldn’t necessarily say CFAI making their material a mandatory purchase makes it more important than previous years. In order to make those bundles they probably have to make it mandatory for everyone to pay for them in order to cover their costs to the authors, publishers, ect… The authors are not going to let them just take that material and distribute it out of the goodness of their hearts, and CFAI is not going to make it an optional purchase and hope enough do to end up at least covering their costs for them. I actually think it was a pretty good thing that they’ve done, and even though I’m not really using the CFAI stuff much, had no problem paying the extra for the package this year. Where else are you going to get that kind of reference material for $350. But I guess that’s easy for me to say because my employer foots that bill…but even if it were me paying for it, I really wouldn’t have had a problem with it.
"Where else are you going to get that kind of reference material for $350. " Yeah, CFAI texts will sit on my bookshelf for a long time. As for passing the test, Schweser is the way to go.
Oh, my primary source will still be Schweser, CFAI books will serve as complements, plus there are many end-of-reading questions too.
I just do the questions from the CFAI books. Do them over and over again - skip the reading. The questions should cover all aspects of the reading.
pimp Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I just do the questions from the CFAI books. Do > them over and over again - skip the reading. The > questions should cover all aspects of the reading. pimp, how about those readings without questions?
I just hope those who write the CFA exam don’t visit this site. We are many using the study materials and I hope we don’t get f*cked.
how do you know a section is not covered well by schweser? is there a “professor’s note” saying “we suck sorry, go to CFAI Book II page 66” ??!
disclosure: i used schweser for L1, CFAI for L2 and i am using CFAI for L3. Btw I totally agree schweser is more organized but less in not more when it comes to knowledge.
Could anyone who use both 2 materials share the opinion on which sections we should use CFAI instead of Schweser? Appreciate your replies. thx
I use both this yr but mainly concentrate on CFAI reading. I think the question related to the formulation of IPS-- both private and institutional is mandatory to learn from CFAI reading; also including capital mkt expection and behavior finance. Schweser should be enough for – ethics, GIPS, derivatives mkt stuffs, I think.
Related Question: What Schweser question banks and/or exams do you recommend? I have the CFAI texts, and have only used these (plus CFAI $50 exams) for L1 & L2, but I have always felt that they I need to do more questions, so I am wondering whether or not I should purchase any of Schweser question products.
I took Level 3 last year and only studied the Schweser notes - well, I am back here taking it again - needless to say, I am reading CFAI this time around. Its CRAZY how much more info there is, but I have to say you get a much better overview with it than with Schweser. If I have time I will go over Schweser notes after I’m done with these. Anyone else fail Level3 last yr and what are you doing different this time around?
what level of detail does the exam go into? i have schweser and it seems to do a good job on most topics in terms of explanation. can you give 1 specific example of how you got screwed by schweser?
Um not so much that I felt screwed by Schweser - I know ppl who only read Schweser and passed last year. What I meant is that as I am reading the CFAI Books the concepts seem better explained and I think its going to help me to read them this time around. I heard the June 07 exam is available on CFA’s website if you wanted to take a look at it.
thx
Choti, I failed LIII in 2007 and this time around I am only using CFAI books. The problem is that I don’t think that I will have much time left for any other notes… CFAI notes are extremely comprehensive and a lot of the info is not required for the exam, but nevertheless that’s the route I have decided to take
Considering we have 3 months to go for the day. Is there a way we can finish Schweser and CFAI books both. Considering my time allocation, I think i would be able to finish Schweser in 6 weeks. Is there a way that we can look at CFAI books in 4 weeks then? Once is we have done Schweser will the CFAI books go faster. Appreciate your reply on this?
Vish, if you can finish Schweser in 6 weeks, which is an amazing feat in itself, then you read/study much faster than I do! I reckon that in that case you may be able to do CFAI books in 4-6 weeks since you would have been through the material before… just my opinion