yes…Schweser is boss. Didn’t do a single blue box (bb), end of chapter (eoc) or topic test (tt) from CFAI curriculum. I hit Schweser practice exams – all six --tho until I knew em by heart.
LevelUp, enough said. It’s unbelievable how 1 person can create better prep materials, notes, and overall strategy (in my opinion) than an army of Kaplan providers. Makes you wonder. I think his passing rate is 75%+ if I recall correctly? And no one has failed L3 twice that has used him for both times. (His stats, but I believe him).
I used Schweser all 3 levels and it got me over the line with some CFAI EOC and BlueBoxes added in.
For me this worked at a chapter at a time:
Round 1
- Schweser On Demand videos first. - Schweser Notes reading and Question Bank. Making detailed notes.
Round 2
- Use the notes made on round 1 to do the Blue Boxes and EOC (add to notes where gaps are).
Then mocks and topic tests thereafter. Make final formula/notes sheet 3-4 weeks before exam.
Worked with Schweser all three levels:
Level 1 Jun 2014 - used their essentials package + Secret Sauce, no complaints.
Level 2 Jun 2015 - used their essentials package + Secret Sauce, hated the question bank, but the books and practice exams pulled me through.
Level 3 Jun 2016 (band 10) - used their essentials package + Secret Sauce, really liked the question bank, but from the result obvious I didn’t understand the AM format properly despite doing the 3 past papers provided by the CFAI.
Level 3 Jun 2017 - purchased the qbank and their audio notes, used the books from the previous year and the question bank to help me keep my PM score up. Also purchased the Go Study level 3 package for the past papers and their overview guide. Spent most of my time doing the past AM papers and listening to the Schweser notes and then used the Go Study oveview guide to go through things.
I think Schweser unduly gets a bad reputation, and I feel that the difference between 2016 and 2017 was not my comprehension of the material but my understanding of the AM format and how to best approach it. Different things work for different people, but definitely going through the past papers worked for me and I felt the Schweser representations of the AM exam didn’t provide me with the exposure I needed to this. I was really tempted by the Level Up Bootcamp given it’s amazing reputation but I felt I couldn’t justify the cost to go from Band 10 to pass and the Go Study package was less than $100 but was great value for money in my mind.
Go see Marc (LevelUp). I started studying mid-march and was fortunate enough to pass due to his videos, bootcamp, and the wost two weeks of my life before the exam.
I just failed, and was thinking of taking a prep provider like this. How does bootcamp work. Does it tell you when to start studying the material/ how to study it ? Or do you just study on your own until the bootcamp.
LEvelup did it for me. You can see my post just above last year when I failed with a band 10… YES I passed this year.
Awesome thanks for your support.
See if you can find someone to personally grade your practice essay questions. I know that will cost something, but given what you describe, maybe that would be money well spent. Look around and talk to others to determine who best to do that for you. Not sure if you’d be able to find someone local, but I’m guessing you can find someone online. I was fortunate enough to pass without having to go to that step, but if I had failed, I would have considered that as my next course of action if the essays were what cause me to fail.
Your time pressure may partly be caused by writing too much on things you know and then not having enough time later. I know I had to “physically” tell myself to STOP WRITING AND MOVE ON several times on questions I knew well because I knew I might need the time later and if I had time at the end I could go back. Someone who knows how the exams are graded could better ascertain if that’s your issue or if it’s something else.
Agreed. You have to work hard, but if you don’t see the AM exam for what it is and practice CORRECTLY you can still have that heartache. I screwed stuff up this year on the exam and felt so guilty about the questions I know I missed but the results of Levelup videos, bootcamp, blood, sweat, and tears speak for themselves.
Strange how everyone who roots for LvlUp is a low AF pointer.
Has anybody else observed this correlation?
I haven’t paid attention and don’t know if I’m a low, high or moderate AF pointer, but I used Schweser for all three levels and found it really good for the first two and good for the third. Wished they provided a few more practice essay exams, but the key for me was that they provided details about how they thought the questions would be graded. Helped me figure out where to focus my responses and have a better sense of how I actually did on a practice essay question than I would otherwise.
Secret Sauce was well worth the extra cost for me. Saved me a ton of study hours. Surprised more people don’t talk about that, but maybe others don’t find it as helpful as I did. Who knows?
CFAI materials. do and redo previous year AM exams - go back 10 years. also CFAI online questions over and over again. Blue box and EOC questions too. All questions come from CFAI, so focus on CFAI books.
I used Schweser for all three levels. David H. provides coaching/advice on constructive response, which is helpful.
I didn’t find Secret Sauce helpful for Level 3.
These packages are expensive. I couldn’t have passed without them though.
Level Up for level 3 was the game changer I needed. I was a band 5 2017 and just Passed 2018. Marc really dedicates his work to getting you over the Level 3 line! best of luck!
I highly recommend
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Level Up videos.
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S2000 Magician’s mock exam marking service (financialexamhelp123.com).
Both really help you get a thorough understanding of the curriculum and teach you how to attack the written exam questions
I did Schweser Premium with pass guarantee and did not pass. read all the Schweser books, did almost all questions and got average of 80%+, watched every video, and attended every virtual class on top of listening to the audio books to and from work … did 6 full exams both am and pm (3 previous years and 3 others) and got over 70 in all and yet failed by margins…I am just not sure if another provider offers anything different material is all the same…so scratching my head after putting in solid 350-400 hrs this past year and failing in one of the highest passing years…might just call it and throw in the town for this program…it was tough to get back to hit last year after nearly 10 years of being away but this year felt good and was ready to finally put a check mark by this life goal now back to square one and can not even thing straight with negative emotions yet alone think which provider…
Kiwi NZ, Do you know how much he charges for grading the essay portion of the L3 exam?
Thank you. I failed this year (my first attempt). If I follow your recommendation and exactly what you mentioned then I do not worry about any other material/class and I should be able to pass next year, right?
Thanks again
Same here - got back many years on Mocks and then do and redo! I did find useful Schweser at Level 1 though.