I just don’t think it’s as good as explaining stuff. It’s so dry… but the CFA books are actually better, although longer and more detailed, but it’s so much better for understanding. Anyone feel the same?
agree completely
CFAI books are way better. Even though there’s more pages, it doesn’t necessarily mean we have to read all of them. I like the idea of having the option to pick and choose what to read in terms of the LOS. Schweser’s way too abridged and i’m leery about how relevant their practice problems are…
I agree with that. Its just an insurance if I run out of time. The best part about Scheser is the 6 practice full length exams ( money back with just that ) and, to a more limited extent, the q-bank
I hate the CFAI texts. I passed lev2 without so much as opening them (except for ethics). The S texts are thinner and to the point.
I don’t think any study material can make CFA L2 interesting.
i’m a l2 retaker and was greatly underwhelmed with schweser’s l2 efficacy after passing level 1 in december 08 by using only schweser and without opening the cfai texts. thus far im only using the cfai, and i definitely appreciate the more difficult eoc questions, but im concerned about their relative dearth. anyone have any ideas for supplementing without ordering a big package from schweser/stalla?
I strictly use Schweser for the practice tests. I considered going with the Q bank as well this year, but I just can’t justify shelling out the $$. once I get through the CFAI texts and EOC Q’s I’ll re-evaluate, but for now I’m just going with the tests. Definitely best value at the Schwester!
I completely agree that CFAI is much better than Schweser for level 2. As everybody said, although the read is longer, it is much better to understand and retain the concepts. I am using Schweser notes and Qbank just to review and know that I know the basics, but my main text is CFAI text. Does anybody feel like CFAI text is also somewhat redundant which actually helps to go over the same concept more than once and it is actually good for your retention? Also the EOC are great and interesting although it requires 100% of concentration to get it all right! (I am not complaining) So frustrating about the Schweser notes though…
just because someone uses schwesers and fails does not mean he fails “because” of using schweser. If someone uses cfai and fails does not mean he “fails” because of using cfai. there are many people including some of my friends who passed by using only schweser. and I am sure there are ones who fail using cfai. the more well prepared you are the greater your chances. secondly if someone does not make it. he should ask himself what was the reason he was not able to answer some of the questions correctly. is it because they were simply not present or explained in the material he used for prepration or becuase it was there but he coudn rememebr or didnt understand it well enough
or practiced enough
i already asked myself why i didnt pass l2 and the reason was that between 15-20% of the exam was either alien to me after having studied only using schweser or over-simplified in schweser to the extent that i was unprepared to answer cfai level questions. again, i passed l1 using only schweser, but any schweser i use this time around will be purely supplemental to the cfai texts.
The CFAI texts get bogged down time and again with academic minutae, derivation of formulas and extraneous info. At times it is so frustrating…grrrrr Some of the CFAI material is indeed well written, but more often than not it plods along, as if you are in the first year of a Finance Ph.D program and have only four topics to cover per semester. We have like 16 topics to cover at once for this exam!!! Shall I remind you all that we are not in a Finance Ph.D program? We have paid registration and (probably) Schweser/Stalla fees to learn enough to pass this exam… and not lose our minds along the way. That said, I continue to read the CFAI texts (online at work), supplementing with Schweser materials. So far, haven’t been hitting the EOC’s or QBank, but will be soon. Have listened to all of the .mp3 files (finished yesterday…sometimes that stuff totally put me to sleep…but other times it was great to hear a voice telling me what’s going on with a topic). Started in September, have cranked it up in the past couple of months, and am ready to take it up to another level soon (when the Secret Sauce arrives).
I just finished the last of the CFAI texts last week (took me 4 months) and now I am about to move on to the Schweser books which I hope will help in the retention department because going through the CFAI texts and EOCs was a grind for me. That being said I think going through the CFAI text is necessary to pass, atleast for me.
Working your way through the CFAI texts is a supreme test of your patience and reading comprehension. By comparison, reading the Schweser material is like a deep breath of fresh air…such a relief.
When I find I am getting overwhelmed and bogged down with the CFA texts … I check the LOS requirements in the front of the chapter. I do think (and certainly not proven) that keeping your readings aligned with the list of LOS requirements is good practice for prepping one self with the vignette style questions. So I do not feel compelled to read and memorize every page. …I know I was hating the schweser notes and Qbank a few months ago but I am appreciating their value in helping me retain the information bette. I do believe it is $$$ well spent.
jal1003 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I completely agree that CFAI is much better than > Schweser for level 2. As everybody said, although > the read is longer, it is much better to > understand and retain the concepts. I am using > Schweser notes and Qbank just to review and know > that I know the basics, but my main text is CFAI > text. > > Does anybody feel like CFAI text is also somewhat > redundant which actually helps to go over the same > concept more than once and it is actually good for > your retention? Also the EOC are great and > interesting although it requires 100% of > concentration to get it all right! (I am not > complaining) > > So frustrating about the Schweser notes though… Yes, redundant, but i agree it helps. I’m using both at this point. I know that CFA texts are have just so much info, so i’m reading the topics that i feel Schweser didn’t cover very well, and then going back to Schweser just because of limited time. I hope this strategy works. I’m doing the EOC questions as well on both
Also, i find that the introduction reading in the CFA text helps with an overview picture on why we are learning the material to come which actually makes things easier to capture.
Do you go thru the “optional segments” is the CFAI text? I just skip over those , sometimes that is 90% of the chapter ! Look the derivatives chapter.
I used only Schweser to supplement CFAI for Level 1. I have bought an '08 set of Stalla books & flashcards, in addition to Schweser for Level 2. I have to say that the most difficult readings for me in the CFAI so far, Intercorporate Investments and Pensions, are not well explained in the Stalla readings, either. I will go back to Schweser and their end of reading problems when I do a second sweep of the material. The Secret Sauce will help when it’s closer to exam time and head is crammed full of too much material. I like how the Stalla notecards indicate whether a LOS has a High, Medium, or Low probability of being on the exam. If you are using Schweser books and practice exams only, it may be worth buying Stalla notecards from the secondary market.