not that i am very concerned about which is better…because at the end it is what a candidate understand and not the course providers… but anyways would like to have your opinins… i’d actually sign up for stalla because they have live-classes in mid-east
Allen Resources
They are both excellent products and people relying heavily on either of them pass the exam. The reasons to pick one over the other are things like availability of classes. I would say that AF is getting pretty Schweser-centric so if you’re going to hang out here, maybe Schweser is the better choice (FWIW - I used Stalla mostly and still check out stuff in the guides).
When I was making this decision I read that Schwesser does a better job of condensing the material and Stalla does a better job of explaining it. Since I was coming from another industry, I decided that Stalla would suit me better and have been happy with the choice. If you are more familiar with the stuff and want more condensed notes, Shwesser is a good choice. Schwesser also seems to be teamed up with NYSSA in New York for live classroom delivery, so gets a lot of subscribers through that route.
I ended up with both this time. I only used Schweser on Level I and I passed. So far I like the schweser practice exams better for Level II and I also like the very handy formula sheet included in the notes. The stalla questions at the end of the chapter were a joke but overall Stalla does do a better job of explaining the material IMO, although I used Schweser for a first read through and stalla for a second. I havent noticed any major differences on material but some minor ones. The AF definitely leans towards Schweser as far as I can tell. I think that is mostly because of the QBank.
I used Schweser for L1/2 in part because I got a group order discount. For L3 I used the CFAI books and a Schweser practice exam book.
I find Passmaster to be very good so far. Any other thoughts from people on Passmaster? Dapper425 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I ended up with both this time. I only used > Schweser on Level I and I passed. So far I like > the schweser practice exams better for Level II > and I also like the very handy formula sheet > included in the notes. The stalla questions at the > end of the chapter were a joke but overall Stalla > does do a better job of explaining the material > IMO, although I used Schweser for a first read > through and stalla for a second. I havent noticed > any major differences on material but some minor > ones. The AF definitely leans towards Schweser as > far as I can tell. I think that is mostly because > of the QBank.
I hear good things about passmaster. I will certainly get to that shortly.
JoeyDVivre Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > They are both excellent products and people > relying heavily on either of them pass the exam. > The reasons to pick one over the other are things > like availability of classes. I would say that AF > is getting pretty Schweser-centric so if you’re > going to hang out here, maybe Schweser is the > better choice (FWIW - I used Stalla mostly and > still check out stuff in the guides). im a stalla boy, ive never done schweser’s complete program except for supplemental pratice exams, and you’ll have posters attesting to how brutal book 7 back in december 07 was. stalla is nice, they really have a complete system and if it wasnt for passmaster i wouldve never passed. they put a big emphasis on just grinding out and doing pratice questions until your head explodes…and the reality is that you pretty much need to put that work in if you wanna pass these exams. when i intially started i didn’t realise how much i loved finance…after studying my ass off and having friends of mine think i was dead, i love it like i loved my first girlfriend.
I used Stalla. Did the CD lectures, Passmaster, the whole package. It took a lot of time but was great for keeping you on pace. I thought the text was very detailed and was overall pretty happy with it. I never once studied out of the CFA books with the exception of Ethics. I supplemented the Stalla package with the Scweser Secret Sauce for L1-L3 and used the Schweser practice exams for L2 and L3. I thought the Schweser practice exams were much more difficult (partially because all of the practice exam problems were in the Passmaster question bank so I had already seen them).