I recently received the Secret Sauce and have to say I was somewhat disappointed with the material. I think it is only worth buying if you are solely using CFAI text or perhaps Stalla notes. If you are using Schewer material (like I am) all it does is basically regurgitate end of chapter summaries! It is useful as a summary of the material that you should already know but not much more than that. For around $125 (after postage) I was expecting it to be more focused on exam strategies throughout the book on the difficult types of Questions on each of the major topics and how to tackle them. There is a separate, short section on Exam strategy at the end of book but only offers very general advice - a lot of it is basic common sense and if you have passed Level I then you probably don’t need it anyway. A nice money spinner for Kaplan Schweser for a product that doesn’t live up to the hype…
I got it at the SSFA Windsor seminar as part of the handouts. I too would have been dissappointed if I’d purchased it separately. I don’t think it’s worth $125. Maybe $50…
it is a waste of money , should save it to buy a extra cfai exam …
I like Secret Sauce, it helps me retain and connect important concepts from different topics.
I was at the SSFA Windsor seminar too. To be honest I kinda like the secret sauce. Nice summary of the stuff that has a higher probability of being tested into a handbook, really helps that I don’t have to flip through about 10 pounds worth of books
I *heart* the sauce. Helped me big time for level 1 and I’ll let you know how much it has helped me for level 2 after I do some sample exams lol
Plus side: 1/ It IS a concise summary of key concepts so will be useful in final week when I am desperately trying ro revisit core themes in a short space of time. 2/ Much easier to carry around than a textbook when on the move (so you have no excuse not to be studying!) 3/ Psychologically makes me feel like I have some sort of “edge” in the run up to the exam armed with the “secret” sauce recipe. Negative side: 1/ Not focused on exam strategies for specific topics. 2/ Not good value for money. 3/ Probably better off writing your own summary notes from schweser to gain a proper understanding of material. bottom line: This is not a short cut to getting through the material - you really need to spend time on revision aids (schweser/stalla) which are ALREADY a summary of the main CFAI texts. Also, practice as many Qs as possible. I find this really helps to re-inforce concepts I struggle to understand from reading the text.
FXjunkie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > > Negative side: > > 2/ Not good value for money. > 3/ Probably better off writing your own summary > notes from schweser to gain a proper understanding > of material. > > Better off tearing off the summary pages of your sch…s…r study notes into a neat file…
omoobagberume Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > FXjunkie Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > > > > Negative side: > > > 2/ Not good value for money. > > 3/ Probably better off writing your own summary > > notes from schweser to gain a proper > understanding > > of material. > > > > > > Better off tearing off the summary pages of your > sch…s…r study notes into a neat file… I totally dig this idea.