MM course cons

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@Tivo86

Indeed a lot of vague responses.

But I think he is forced to respond with very short answers because of the volume of stupid questions from lazy people.

For that reason, he removed the forum and subscribers have to use Reddit now instead

What do you mean he moved it to reddit? So your questions are going to be asked there? Don’t get it.

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@SCCI

Ha, you really want an excuse to use Levelup over MM.

I agree with CFA_Indias comment in that not all blue boxes are covered in his videos.

In addition, his pdf notes were kinda weak. I found it difficult to follow without the videos. I made my own notes so this wasnt a big deal.

If I want to use levelup, I will simply do it, why would I “need” to look for an execuse?

[CEO10K-DAY]

Cons:

1. He doesn’t have the charter

2. Is suing magician and therefore a total doosh

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@CEO10K-DAY

Cons:

1. He doesn’t have the charter

2. Is suing magician and therefore a total doosh

1. Meh … Some of the writers of the CFA curriculum are not CFA Charterholders!! Does this discount the curriculum. I don’t see the charter as a prerequisite to understand the materials and be able to teach it, investment management is not a new discovery by the CFA Institute.

2. Couldn’t care less if he is a doosh or not, only care about his ability to help me clear the final exam and get my charter! Although I dislike his cocky attitude, but I think I could get past that.

[S2000magician]

@Tivo86

. . . subscribers have to use Reddit now instead

They could come here.

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@jounin83

you cannot compare apple with orange.

MM Mock 2019 written by S2000 and we don’t know who will help MM write Mock 2020.

But it is not about his mock exam, is it. The course, all of it is what matters. The explanations in the videos mainly. The mock exams can be bought from othe providers too.

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@Moosey

@LadyMacbethStrategy

@Moosey

If you didn’t use MM in L3, what provider did you use?

I didn’t use any 3rd party material, that’s what I’m saying. I had bought the MM Mocks, but never could use them due to lack of time.

I read the curriculum, made my own (handwritten) notes - oldschool, I’m 45.

Did BBs and EOCs twice, did 6 past AM exams (not timed though), topic tests on CFAI website 2x, CFAI official mock. Was reading this forum, asked and answered a few question, or just looked at answers for other candidates’ questions. I logged this as study time as well.

And that came out almost 800 hours. And I passed. With an overall score of 70%, which is not something excellent, but still very comfortable. My PM suffered from my Ethics score, but on AM I did much better than I had expected despite the fact that I left 21 points entirely blank due to time constraint.

I am not as old but I definitely agree that nothing beats your own handwritten notes! Only difference is that I write it on my iPad which doesn’t make it seem like old school much

Thank you for sharing the details, will probably pursue a similar strategy. I am not the type that kill it mocks anyways.

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@Cfa\_India

Hi,

I used MM material extensively and found it to be extremely helpful. I would print the pdf of the notes and make additions to it as I heard the videos. Having said that there are some cons:

• not all the BB egs. would be covered (he does explicitly tell you to read the curriculum though). He would cover all the important ones but make sure you atleast glance thru the ones he’s not covered - you never know what may come in the paper.

• certain topics eg. the ending of fixed income credit strategies, while explained, could be done in more detail. (This may not be one of the more important areas of the curriculum)

• the equity section, I found it a bit too brief. You would have to rely on the curriculum for this section.

All said and done these are minor points. MM gives you a very good base. Just make sure you cover the remaining stuff (BBs not covered, certain topic areas) on your own. I say this because the paper may test some of the more abstract stuff (eg certain formulas this time).

Thank you so much for the great detailed feedback! Planning to study from the curriculum along with MM videos, so will probably cover whatever that’s not covered. Equity is not that technical by nature and I hear that it is a bit easy at L3, probably why he doesn’t cover it in great detail.

[Codtrawler87]

@LadyMacbethStrategy

@Moosey

@LadyMacbethStrategy

@Moosey

If you didn’t use MM in L3, what provider did you use?

I didn’t use any 3rd party material, that’s what I’m saying. I had bought the MM Mocks, but never could use them due to lack of time.

I read the curriculum, made my own (handwritten) notes - oldschool, I’m 45.

Did BBs and EOCs twice, did 6 past AM exams (not timed though), topic tests on CFAI website 2x, CFAI official mock. Was reading this forum, asked and answered a few question, or just looked at answers for other candidates’ questions. I logged this as study time as well.

And that came out almost 800 hours. And I passed. With an overall score of 70%, which is not something excellent, but still very comfortable. My PM suffered from my Ethics score, but on AM I did much better than I had expected despite the fact that I left 21 points entirely blank due to time constraint.

I am not as old but I definitely agree that nothing beats your own handwritten notes! Only difference is that I write it on my iPad which doesn’t make it seem like old school much

Thank you for sharing the details, will probably pursue a similar strategy. I am not the type that kill it mocks anyways.

Handwritten notes are the way to go. You’d be surprised about how much more you retain in your long term memory when you write your notes by hand.

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@jbaby87

It’s difficult to point out what is bad specifically because each person looks for different things and dismisses others when looking for a provider.

I mainly searched for a provider that would help me understand the content in a level of detail necessary to not only pass the test but also synthesize the information. MM did this for me in the most economical way, so from this perspective if I was forced to critique I would agree with the previous poster in that I had trouble doing that with the equity section videos and also slightly with the monitoring/rebalancing/attribution videos. The other sections were all great.

I know a lot of people complain about the MM question bank, which is valid because I remember the level 2 one was riddled with errors (I think last years Level 3 was marginally better) but I never really cared about a providers qbank after level 1 (I thought the CFAI official q bank for 2 and 3 were decent and sufficient), so the bad q bank wasn’t an issue for me. Might be a make or break for you.

His level 3 mocks last year for AM were very good, but after all the tea that has been spilled the last couple days it seems that the magician will not be contributing this year so who’s to say how good they will be. Honestly there are so many past AMs available though that can still give good practice for parts despite the big curriculum changes this year.

If your concern is not having the time to do a detailed study of the entire curriculum/not time to watch all the videos, I’m sure, as with any provider, you have the freedom to focus on whatever parts you want, but Level III really requires it so it all just all depends on what level of confidence you are okay with walking into the test with.

Many thanks for taking the time to write your experience in this detail, very helpful indeed! I have the time to do a thorough study if I want to, so I a m planning to do it, no use of redoing the exam, better put in the efforts now. I doubt his mocks would be bad, he did write some sections in the L2 mocks that were written by magician, it was fine. As for mocks. I can buy from other providers, can use CFAI’s and do the curriculum questions… a lot of practice already and I am not the type that practices much anyway.

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@Codtrawler87

@LadyMacbethStrategy

@Moosey

@LadyMacbethStrategy

@Moosey

If you didn’t use MM in L3, what provider did you use?

I didn’t use any 3rd party material, that’s what I’m saying. I had bought the MM Mocks, but never could use them due to lack of time.

I read the curriculum, made my own (handwritten) notes - oldschool, I’m 45.

Did BBs and EOCs twice, did 6 past AM exams (not timed though), topic tests on CFAI website 2x, CFAI official mock. Was reading this forum, asked and answered a few question, or just looked at answers for other candidates’ questions. I logged this as study time as well.

And that came out almost 800 hours. And I passed. With an overall score of 70%, which is not something excellent, but still very comfortable. My PM suffered from my Ethics score, but on AM I did much better than I had expected despite the fact that I left 21 points entirely blank due to time constraint.

I am not as old but I definitely agree that nothing beats your own handwritten notes! Only difference is that I write it on my iPad which doesn’t make it seem like old school much

Thank you for sharing the details, will probably pursue a similar strategy. I am not the type that kill it mocks anyways.

Handwritten notes are the way to go. You’d be surprised about how much more you retain in your long term memory when you write your notes by hand.

Even though MM has a video up emphasizing that hand writing notes doesn’t have any benefits and only wastes time lol. I agree that it is helpful, plus, since you’ve written it yourself, it will be easy to understand later. I’ve never used formula sheets or briefs prepared by other, couldn’t understand them, always made my own

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@TrackSuitInvestor

@LadyMacbethStrategy

Ok, I know you are all probably so sick of the prep providers talk… But I just need to make a choice soon and I am worried once I pay up, I will regret it…

To those of you who used MM for level 3, can you please be kind enough to advise on the CONS? This is what I am interested in, the negative side. Something in his course that you did not like and felt that impacted/would impact your performance.

Thanks

CONS:

1. The pdf docs were filled with errors (I think he outsourced it…the errors were to blatant that no one who has basic working knowledge of finance would make them).

2. The videos are long (yet informative) and it takes time to go through them. Pro tip: watch them on 1,5x speed to save time.

3. He is too cocky for his pedigree (but who cares if he helps you to achieve the Charter)

PROS: (even though you didn’t ask for them)

1. He really knows his sh!t. And that’s all that matters. And he knows how to explain it.

Agree with everything you’ve said based on my L2 experience with him. Thank you for taking the time to share the details!

[Tivo86]

Yep, there is no forum anymore.

So subscribers can only comment below the video or ask on Reddit.

[S2000magician]

@Tivo86

Yep, there is no forum anymore.

So subscribers can only comment below the video or ask on Reddit.

Or . . . shudder! . . . here.

[memalos]

The only weak spot of the 2019 MM material was GIPS (as was the pension accounting in his 2018 LVL2 material). That said, I passed both exams on the first try as his stuff are otherwise excellent. Cost is low too, think around 350 canadian bucks or something like that

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@Tivo86

Yep, there is no forum anymore.

So subscribers can only comment below the video or ask on Reddit.

Can you believe it that I had no idea there were forums until May when people were posting mock exam questions and i would not have found out if it were not for the posted questions! I guess that’s why I am not bummed out about the forums and the questions, I don’t ask that many anyway.

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@memalos

The only weak spot of the 2019 MM material was GIPS (as was the pension accounting in his 2018 LVL2 material). That said, I passed both exams on the first try as his stuff are otherwise excellent. Cost is low too, think around 350 canadian bucks or something like that

Agreed! It is why I ended up making the decision and regitered with him. Now I can start my official studies.

[ste79]

Finally you decided for MM? I’m collecting info…will decide during this week.

[LadyMacbethStrategy]

@ste79

Finally you decided for MM? I’m collecting info…will decide during this week.

Yes officially registered, let’s see how it goes. At the end of the day, it all boils down to your hard work.

[absolutezero]

For what it’s worth - I say go with MM if you don’t have too much time. I didn’t read any of the CFAI text at all, nor the famous blue box questions, nor the qbanks.

MM videos were so helpful in gaining the full picture and the walkthrough of EOC and review videos were even more valuable.

I went through all of his videos and made my own notes. Did 1 MM mock and then focused on past Am exams. Wrote past 5yr AM exams twice, did EOC twice. Passed with >90% percentile.

Dr. Meldrum can’t satisfy everyone in terms of notes and answering questions but he certainly knows how to teach the important stuff. Plus I found his voice to be the most clear and soothing among all providers (Wiley’s voice always put me to sleep)