Can't Rely on Schweser

So I just took the Mock exam…didn’t do too well…I can’t believe they asked you to calculate covariance between two markets. The funny thing is that according to Schweser this was supposed to be one of those low priority topics…so now I’m going through all the things which Schweser said are a “low priority” and making sure I know them…

if schweser said low priority, CFAI would ask that to despite I dont think they like each other much :slight_smile:

I know…I’m a little concerned. For the macro evaluation, the LOS does not ask you to calculate anything and Schweser even states that for both, micro and macro, even though IT will show up on the exam, wont ask you to calculate anything. So why is macro calculation on the mock exam? I guess, Schweser misinterpreted “evaluate” as not having to perform any calculations, however, CFA tends to think otherwise… WHAT TO DO??? WHAT TO DO???

i am boycotting schweser after passiing this exam,

Schweser includes Micro on their quick sheet… Tell us not to calc, then include it on quick sheet. GOOD ONE!

I know…i noticed that too Mr. Good Guy… I’m burning all my schweser in effigy after i pass the exam…

I still have all my L1 and L2 Stalla books, I think I might throw them all including L3 in a big fire pit if I find out I pass this damn thing in August.

I wouldn’t worry as much about schweser. I seriously doubt that question will every rear it’s head. If it does it might be worth 3 marks… either way I wouldn’t worry. IMO Schweser has the tendency to test the material in a challenging way, that is a different type of challenging than the CFAI. For instance, they consider going into the fine fine detail as being challenging. The CFAI has proven that they stick to mainly the core material and test it deeply in a creative way. For instance the CFAI tends to keep the GIPs questions palletable but in Schweser Morning exam 3, Vol. 1… you have them testing the material into things they would simply be just Ahole like to test. Also I find that the CFAI asks more specific and somewhat harder questions on the mock than they would on the exam. They have test performance measurement before, but not in regard to a real plug and chug question, but more in regard to giving you some data that is simplistic, but different than the calculation and get you to logically figure it out.

I used Schweser to pass L1 and L2 in Dec 2003 and June 2004. Schweser failed me for L3 in 2005, yet I still used them in 2006. Schweser is good. Yet, it is really tough to just use schweser. I passed in 2005 by using schweser and then doing every problem in the back of the textbooks. I took the schweser tests under timed constraint and averaged around 80%. Then I took the online CFAI exam two weeks prior to the exam and got a 50%. Needless to say, I didn’t take another CFAI exam. Anyway, don’t get stressed out. If I got stressed by the CFAI test…which was supposed to be a good indicator of how well I would do in the exam, I wouldn’t have passed with a great score in 2006. I predict that the passing rate for this year will be 70%…maybe higher. Normally it is 60%, yet with the low pass rate last year, it will go up. 70%! Thats a great pass rate. You have to figure that 10% of the test takers will have put in under 100 hours. Chances are unless they are just brilliant, that they will fail. Many of the guys taking the 2007 test will half ass it this year. So, that 70% is probably low based upon the people half assing it. Can you be in that 70%+ that pass? Get some fresh air. You know this stuff.

Agree, Agree with all my heart (brains is out of order by now) Schweser tries to test stupid minutia which I doubt, will help retention in any way. When they test AMC, for example, they want you to remember which item of the code states that particular action, instead of whether that action is compatible with AMC or not.

i would estimate that schweser is about 50% of CFAI in terms of reading (i.e. takes half the time to read a SS in schweser than it does in CFAI books). You can’t expect the to cover EVERYTHING in as much detail as CFAI. But if they cover 90% of the material in half the time, is it worth it? for me, yes because I think I will know that 90% better than I would have with CFAI books. And I think that whole they hate each other thing is a silly rumor. Wouldn’t it be unethical for CFAI to say “let’s look at schweser and see what they dont cover well, and then ask questions on it to screw over the people who only used schweser”. i just dont see them doing that.

I think Schweser do a good job. I would far rather they go through the LOS and work out what they mean than I have to do it. That said there are ways they can improve. For example, I would like more cross-references. Also, I seem to approach things differently from most people. I don’t read the LOS and have not opened the CFAI curriculm.