After taking the first sample test yesterday, I have the feeling that the CFAI will go the extra mile to show that relying on Schweser will not do it from now on. I mean out of 30 questions, I counted at least 4 or 5 that touched on subject not mentioned by Shweser. Differences between Hedged NAREIT index and not hedged ? Loans to firms as Long RF + Short put , … Now that we’re forced to buy their books, I am not sure why they insist on driving them out of business.
Hedged vs Unhedged NAREIT was mentioned in Stalla but I can’t exactly remember the difference…maybe the Hedged takes out the Equity correlation?? Or something like that. I do recall the Long Rf + Short Put but not sure where I saw it or if I woudl recall it.
damn :(. What else mo?
Did the los say we had to remember specific benchmarks?
mo…if you dont mind me asking…how did you fare on the exam?
The good part about these though is that now if you see it on the exam, you’ll get it correct…Better to see these questions on a practice then on the real thing. I have always taken the CFAI samples in teh past and I do recall seeing very similar questions on the real thing from teh samples…
how are you guys feeling compared to L2 preparations? I actually feeel better but don’t want to trick myself into complacency… at this stage last year I was still much further behind… and still amnaged to pass L2 with a high margin… it’s disputed if L3 is tougher than L2… but I don’t feel that bad and if history serves me well… it might be ok…
yeah, i guess i will shell out some money this year too.
Has anyone read both CFAI and schweser? I am all the way through through Schweser and have been cross checking the CFAI (so time consuming!) to see if I missed anything. So far… SS 1: Always use CFAI. SS 2: Always use CFAI. SS 3: CFAI is way crappier than Schweser here, no value added. SS 4: Same as above with the exception of chapter 15 and the very useful practice questions. SS 6: This is just a bad SS – total information dump without adequate explanation. S and CFAI are interchangable (they both suck). SS 11: I have not finished yet. Swaps and Forwards can be skipped in CFAI. The alt. invest. chapter apparently has some info. not included in schweser. Are any of the chapters “must reads” in CFAI?
I have read all the CFAI readings…the biggest problem is that its too much info and you can’t retain 80% of the info, nonetheless 100%, so there will be things that surprise you even if you studied 100% from CFAI books. Just make sure you know 70% of the info and hopefully you’ll pass…ok I’m scared now 
Maybe, maybe not. I did all Schweser on LII. I got blown out of the water on the LII sample tests on the CFAI site. A good chunk of the material looked foreign. But the actual exam was much more Schweser-ish. I did well on exam day. Maybe you’re right, but I wouldn’t put too much stock on the sample exams. A lot of people – even CFAI text people - have struggled on those tests and then passed the exam. I’ve done several past exam questions, and Schweser has served me well on them. If CFAI wants to design a Schweser-proof exam, then they must veer dramatically from old exams. I know that there will be several questions not covered by Schweser. But 30%-40%? That’s tough.
No comment… Only that I feel I’ll spend a lot of money on these exams …
asdffdsa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Has anyone read both CFAI and schweser? I am all > the way through through Schweser and have been > cross checking the CFAI (so time consuming!) to > see if I missed anything. > I read both ( just because I had the CFAI books and felt bad about not reading them). I was taking notes when I was reading Schweser the first time and I complemented those while I was reading the CFAI text with what’s missing, but not to that extent ( I mean hedged and un-hedged NAREIT, come on)
cfacfacfa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > mo…if you dont mind me asking…how did you fare > on the exam? I did OK but I felt hesitant too many times, I actually timed out from the testing site about 4 times. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I’m not going to post more actual questions.
^Of course…I didn’t even think the details of those benchmark (Alternative investment) were important, only the biases of those index were important.
Was there a lot missing? I am only 1/3rd through the CFAI, but I have not seen any topics thus far in schweser that are grossly underrepresented (e.g. the Treynor-Black model from last year). Sure, there are parts that explain things better than Schweser by providing more details or are better written, but there are a lot of parts that do a worse job than Schweser as well. Thus far, it’s basically a wash.
Is it because the CFA recycles its sample exams from year to year and those questions in particular are no longer part of the curriculum? Maybe that’s why Scweser’s didn’t cover them?
yes that is what worries me the most. i am impressed by those that did CFAI readings - I tried for 2 books but felt as if the readings were going around and around same (easy) concept and was loosing the thread of what was needed for LOS. Now, do you know anyone who passed LVL 3 with Schweser only last year? (although, there were no formal CFAI books). Of course, it becomes a theoretical excercise as past is a poor predictor of the future…
also, most tests seem to be concentrated on Morning Session - while multiple choice Qs are just as much a challenge. does sample test on CFA website address evening session?
^WHAT?? There is an evening session now???