I am based in NYC. Thinking of joining NYSSA CFA review classes. Any feedback will be appreciated
Hi there, I took the NYSSA classes in NYC. I think they are useful, however you should use them as review, and be sure to know the material before it’s actually covered in class. Also, the classes don’t finish the material until about three weeks before the exam date – be sure you are done with the material well before that. By the time the classes finish covering the material, you should be in your review and mock exam mode. Hope this helps.
~Tiny
look at who is teaching. That’s the real kicker
I took their Level II class and did not find it that helpful-- a couple useful hints but basically someone reading Schweser notes in a loud voice at you for 3 hours. Overall I would have been better off not going and using the time to study on my own.
Dr. Carl Crego is quite good. He taught me level 2 here in Hong Kong before he relocated back to the US this year.
I agree with this, took level 1 class in NYC last year and I almost found it taking up more of my quality time I coulda studied at home…they just read over the note package they give you, but don’t really teach anything…you must have read the material before the class…the 1 benefit for myself was it made me bust my ass and finish a bunch of readings and stay on a fast schedule…did not take level 2 class bc I moved and its not offered here but not sure I would have
thanks guys. Did teacher made any difference? I heard on CFA forums Nathan is pretty good? Any comments. I am not sure i want to sign up these classes
I took the class w Nathan. He is good because 1)he’s organized 2) he makes good use of class time 3) it’s good if you like a class setting versus studying on your own 4) he gives you stragegy 5)he goes over “old” test questions during class 5)if you are reading schweser, he puts it all together for you in a way that flows and it makes better sense instead of how schweser breaks everything by LOS and sometimes it doesn’t make any sense.
cons 1) he won’t answer question during class, which can be good because it avoids valuable class time with basic questions especially if people didn’t read the sessions. At the same time he doesn’t answer ANY questions. OR if he does he takes 10 seconds to answer or asks you to come to him during the break. 2) You can email him a question or call him, but he WONT email you an answer back, he will call you back and you will play phone tag until he finally reaches you at work and you dont’ even remember the question you asked in the first place. In the days close to the exam, you may have to wait up to 5 days to get a hold of him Oh he also uses the word ‘minutia’ a lot. As in "That’s question is minutia and we shouldn’t be spending time in that topic " if you ask him a question he thinks it’s not worthy of his time. I asked him question on Schweser books, and he still thought that was ‘minutia’ even though schweser is really a summary so go figure! It’s all very unproductive 3) He will give you a strategy that is basically worthless, but sells it with such conviction that you may end up believing it. His strategy is one size fits all, and just plain bad. It’s better to talk to people who took the exam recently and passed IMO. 4) he will highlight areas on the curriculum he believes will get tested, again with a lot of conviction, but he’s mostly wrong, so Do NOT go by what he says. I did and it bit me in the a$$ on exam day. Go with the CFA curriculum weights and study everything. 5)he’s a salesman, and a good one, so just go w that in mind.
Hi there,
I’ve posted an answer before, and now that I’ve passed I’m still of the same opinion – you can’t expect the classes to *teach* you. You should only use these classes as a review of stuff that you already read beforehand. I recall there were a bunch of people in my class that were expecting the class to be exhaustive and cover more detail, but there’s just no way that they could possibly do that meeting once a week for a few months. I think these people missed the point that the title of these classes is “CFA Review.”
Also, importantly, don’t measure your own progress through the material by what’s covered in class. You’ve gotta be way ahead. It’s very important to have enough time for practice tests! If you finish the material at the same time.
Hope this helps.
~Tiny
These classes don’t sound like they’re worth it. How many students in each class?
For level 2, there were about 150 students per class.