Hey guys, I got the dreaded F word today for L2 and will have to retake next June. I use Schweser Notes, Qbank, and the Schweser Videos almost exclusively and did not so good. im going to focus on CFA tests this time and use the notes as a supplemental. Not Schweser’s fault I failed - Obviously I was underprepared, but I was wondering about those of you that used stalla or have experienced both and could compare and contrast. I am considering using some stalla stuff, if not their whole program, and was curious which you found to be most like the actual exam - I thought schweser q’s were markedly easier, especially the ethics that I was smoking with almost 100% every time in Qbank and didnt pass it on the actual exam. I am very interested what you think of the Stalla videos, notes and practice q’s especially… Please compare and contrast the two and tell me which you think is better and for what reasons. Thanks Rolo
I am a Stalla user. I failed, but this is not Stalla’s fault. The lectures (what people call Stalla’s video) are for mostly good and notes (the books) are really good. The Passmaster not so much - in the sense that perhaps only 15% are vignettes. The Stalla’s Mock exam is really really good - not to be skipped. I’m gonna send my report in for tuition waiver for 2010.
I ordered Stalla’s flashcards and wasn’t that impressed in the sense they were too wordy and not focused enough on the LOS.
Bump
I thought the live lectures and video lectures were excellent, as expected. The study guide was good, and the flashcards came in handy.
I slated Stalla after the exam because I felt that 1/3 of the questions were not covered in the lectures/study guides in any more detail than saying “you should give a casual read over the section on bond covenants etc…”. And I gave those a casual read but didn’t really learn it off by heart - only to see about 30 dreaded questions on that sort of minutiae. But amazingly I passed so I should only be full of praise I guess. There isn’t anywhere near enough detail in the lectures to score well but if you’re trying to summarise it for a review they can’t put that level of detail in. I think they put enough in there for you to scrape through - how ever well you do above that is based on your reading and understanding of the Institute texts. I agree that they don’t do very many Vingettes but trying to do a Vingette online is unbelievably cumbersom and they’re more focussed on drilling in concepts. The Vingettes are just a way of presenting the question and people shouldn’t get too caught up in that. I only did Vingettes in the last 2 weeks review. Given how much you have to get through I think the Stalla complete course is a steal at the price.
It’s good to change for a fresh approach, and I heard on this forum that Stalla video is great. At the same time you have a 50% discount on Schweser Premium, which is also tempting and beating up the Stalla discount
50% discount on Schweser Premium if you fail? How about Tuition Free at Stalla - if you fail, well, provided that you did view all the lectures and done at least 90% of the homework?
map1 but he hasn’t used Stalla, or it’s for everyone who has failed?
Just for previous users (http://www.stalla.com/student/tuition.cfm). It is 50% if you do not meet the requirements.
I failed last year by a very very close margin with schweser and I had a strong pass this year with stalla. From my experiences Schweser’s questions are way way better than Stalla’s passmaster. Where stalla really shines was in their video lectures and course booklets. My strategy was this: 1. Studied exclusively from stalla’s video lectures and booklet 2. Bought Schweser’s secret sauce for any parts that were missed 3. Read the book on sections that were not fully covered in the videos It worked very well for me. I went through all of schweser’s books last year and I was VERY close to passing last year and I just felt that reading through the entire book was a big time waster. The stalla lectures really simplify and concentrate on the key ideas you need to master for the exam and I am fully confident that anyone that knows the lecture CD inside and out will pass the exam 99.9% of the time. Why I didn’t read all the booklets again like the majority here is because you need to be knowledgable to 70-80 percent of each section and you don’t need to be an expert in all of them. The key to this exam is to be a jack of all trades and not necessarily master of them all. The lectures did an excellent job of giving you that 70-80 percent of the knowledge for each section and I spent the extra time continually reviewing the lectures, did questions, and reviewed sections that I felt were not 70-80 percent coverered in the lecture CD’s.
I used CFAI text for most of the areas that I am either more comfortable with (Equity, Corp Fin, FSA, Fixed Income) or that are relatively covered with reading/theory (e.g. ethics). Then as a supplement I would look at Stalla lecture videos for everything and read their text for areas I either didnt totally get from the above or the other sections that are more difficult for me (Port MGMT, Quant, Econ). I found the videos much better on level II than level I.
hi, how is Stalla’s video presented? in DVD format or do we have to login online and view through the web browser? thanks.
I watched David Hethirington’s video on Deriv’s about 5 times to fully understand it (keep in mind there is about 8 hours on deriv’s alone. But it got me through, greater then 70.
deep2002, your advice is exactly what I am hoping to hear. I used this strategy for level 1(ignore some of the complicated formulas and trivia) and passed the exam easily. I was initially worried that master the core concepts would not give me a good shot of passing the exam, but your experience seems to indicate otherwise. I will use CFAI for the EOC multiple choice questions. Thanks.