Hi Guys, As you all have finished the exam now. Do you think that you have used material from a test provider like Schweser for L2 and found it insufficient? What do you guys recommend? To just go by CFAI curriculum or Schweser or complement both CFAI and Schweser? What would be safer because L2 is offered once a year unlike level 1 and any blunders committed would make us wait for another year. Your honest suggestions would be helpful to L2 newbies. Thanks, VT
u can pass with just schweser
Stalla is definately better. Used both. Stalla is miles ahead. Schweser goes like listen to this buddy. Sit back and relax. U would pass. Imagine I learnt pensions and currency translation two of the toughest topics in under three days from Peter Olinto @ Stalla. Stalla makes you work during the lecture. So at the end of it you KNOW! arounf 60-80%
schweser is great. just don’t relay on the Q’Bank alone even tough they good to check your conceptual knowledge. Schweser practice exams are tough. So start early and do the practice exams early, so you will have time to review weak areas.
CFAI if you have time and have good retention. I figure the more you read the more you will cover and the better you will score on tests. That being said, it took a long time reading those 6 books.
Thanks for your response guys… I really appreciate it. My plan is to start early… And plan to use these following material… 1) CFAI curriculum for some sections like Ethics or very subjective readings and will use it as material for casual reading that may help to enhance knowledge (if time permits). 2) Schweser notes to study and drill down on main concepts for exam purpose (I used schweser for L1 and liked the format, so dont want to take a chance with Stalla). 3) Stalla video lectures. 4) Q-Bank or Passmater (not both) 5) Practice exams both Stalla and Schewser (and obviously CFAI mocks and samples too). Please suggest if there is something that can be complemented to better prepare myself for big day.
I did Schweser for Level 1 and Stalla for Level 2. Schweser is too much spoonfeeding. Stalla has a better approach I must say.
vthomas Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Guys, > > As you all have finished the exam now. Do you > think that you have used material from a test > provider like Schweser for L2 and found it > insufficient? > > What do you guys recommend? > > To just go by CFAI curriculum or Schweser or > complement both CFAI and Schweser? > > What would be safer because L2 is offered once a > year unlike level 1 and any blunders committed > would make us wait for another year. > > Your honest suggestions would be helpful to L2 > newbies. > > Thanks, > > VT My honest opinion is to use the CFAI and do its end of chapter questions, plus the Schweser practice exams. I used Stella last year and don’t think it is effective.
vthomas Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Guys, > > As you all have finished the exam now. Do you > think that you have used material from a test > provider like Schweser for L2 and found it > insufficient? > > What do you guys recommend? > > To just go by CFAI curriculum or Schweser or > complement both CFAI and Schweser? > > What would be safer because L2 is offered once a > year unlike level 1 and any blunders committed > would make us wait for another year. > > Your honest suggestions would be helpful to L2 > newbies. > > Thanks, > > VT If you are short on time, read Schweser or Stalla. Do the CFAI end of chapter questions. Check anything you don’t understand with the CFAI books, and you should be fine. If you have all the time you need, CFAI material will be more than enough.
I saw only one question that wasn’t covered by Schweser: ECN transactions Schweser alone was perfectly adequate to study for exam, but not necessarily to grasp all the intricacies of material.
I got a really good understanding of everything using my method. 1. read all th schweser books 2. do all the questions at the end of chapter CFAI (i didn’t touch the schweser book questions) If i were you i’d stay the hell away from qbank too. Its a waste of time. The only questions that are remotely useful are the “expert ones” becuase it gives you the vignette format. But even then you end up seeing repeats of those every test. So its just not worth it. I think it is smart to do CFAI questions because in the end there the ones who make the questions not schweser. It also helps pick out the fine points that schweser may have missed out on.
Schweser instruction videos are pretty good too - if you get Andrew Holmes and not Tim Smaby!
If I’m not mistaken CFAI didn’t even have end of ch q’s on Alternative Investments. Nor any on industry analysis in Equity (Porter)… nor most sections on Econ. therefore, you gotta use another source to nail down those topic areas. And I thought Schweser did a great job on Alt Inv even though I missed the IRR question but that’s my own fault.
Schweser is better and anyone who thinks differently is wrong. However, you are entitled to your wrong opinion
Schweser!
Isn’t Schweser the most condensed out of all of them? I guess its personal choice really. I think the schweser exams are better than the stalla ones. CFAI qns are a must, but alwaysbeclosing is right, they dont have qns for every section.
I think for $300 the Schweser notes pack is great value and will have you ready for test day. However Qbank was pretty disappointing and expensive ($300 bucks gets you Qbank + Book7). There is a shortage of well constructed vignettes and a lot of iffy questions and outdated topics keep popping up. Also the 3000+ question claims of Schweser are misleading, the software becomes pretty useless once you’ve used up 20-30% of the bank. I will be going with a 70/30 blend of Schweser Notes & CFAI for L3 as this seems to be my “sweet spot”.
I used Schweser for L1 and Stalla for L2 - I’ll never buy Stalla again! Agree that if you have the time CFAI reading is the best. However it is an awful lot to get through. A good alternative would be Schweser with Schweser and CFAI end of chapter problems as you go along. Definitely refer to the CFAI books for things you don’t understand. If you’re considering Q-Bank or Passmaster I strongly urge you to use Q-Bank. Passmaster and the Stalla practice exams are a complete joke - it amazes me how average people (not really smart folks to grasp and retain all the details easily) pass based on just Stalla. I’m glad a friend shared the Schweser practice exams with me before the test.
This is what I used: Stalla Enhanced System John Harris Accounting Course NYSSA/Schweser 3 Day Intensive Review Schweser Secret Sauce CFAI Ethics Section Would that be enough to pass? I don’t know, but I’ll find out August 18th.
I gotta disagree with the Stalla haters. I’ll give you that the practice exams suck. but I think the study guides are marginally better, and the videos blow schweser out of the water. disclaimer: I didn’t see 09 notes but took a glance at a buddies 08 notes for this comparison. I used Stalla System Qbank John Harris Schweser Book 6 CFAI texts and mocks and what not. I’ll let you know on the 18th how it worked out.