The "Which Prep Provider?" question

CFA Level III
#1

See subject: Which prep provider do you recommend for level III?

For level II I used Elans but do not want to rely on their terrible (or non-existing) delivery schedules for level III again.

As I am planning on reading the CFAI books again, I mostly need a good bunch of practice questions and a kind of fall-back in case I do not fully get the readings.

Thanks!

#2

Schweser is all anyone needs.

#3

  1. CFA Institute

  2. FinQuiz

#4

Unfortunately “Analysts Notes” dont provide L3 materials. They were way under-rated for L1 and L2. Schweser and Elan are kind to candidates, not harsh enough. Analysts Notes provided alot of reality checks. The questions and answers were smart (sometimes very smart). Exercises and materials were tailored to help understanding the concepts not memorizing them. They were so concise and many of their excercises were designed in a way that make you do stupid mistakes; once you read the answers you never forget; smart. Their L1 was beyond perfect, while L2 was decent. They’re the underdogs. I believe they have very limited means. I wish them the best for the amazing job they are doing. Schweser is best for the average CFA candidate. More of memorizing than explaining concepts. Memorizing is best fro the hard workers, understanding is best for the smart workers. 400+ hours needed for memorizing, 150+ hours for understanding. Schweser CFA programs are run by good guys. Elan are evovling (i believe due to a recent merger or something).

#5

Elan Guides has helped me sail through both levels in the first time…and i really wish they come with L3 material for 2015…

#6

My understanding is that it won’t be available until 2016.

#7

S2000magician, why dont you join efforts with Analysts Notes and come up with a new winning formula? I would invest if it will be either:

  • sustainable and scalable horizontally and vertically; or

  • Exit merger or carve out

#8

Something to consider.

#9

Oh God…

What will i do for L3

#10

Thank you all for your opinion.

I do agree, Elan Guides have great Notes and good Practice Questions. But in the end, I finished CFAI books and preparations way before they finally managed to publish all. Their promises to deliver the remaining stuff “this month” just to get it pushed to the next month was annoying. In the end I had bought most of their stuff but used less than half it. Never again.

Just had a look at FinQuiz and did a quick search here in the forum. I’ve seen some older posts with people complaining about the amount of errors in FinQuiz’ qbank. Did they work on the questions?

#11

I agree S- you should turn you website into a totally ineractive portal for CFA learning (check out khanacademy.org)

#12

We have some votes for Schweser. Has anyone here used the Analyst Success, Fitch, FinQuiz or other materials for Level 3 - and if so, how did you find them?

#13

I used some Fitch for L1. They have a really good online portal which can help you keep track of your progress however I think they are more tailored for going to live classes. They dont really have notes as such, more just some videos here and there and mostly questions. It’s an excellent study aid if you already have notes with another provider.

#14

There seems to be an one hour deal at FinQuiz giving a 60 percent discount right now. See here http://www.finquiz.com/blog/ for all of you interested in FinQuiz Premium Package.

That more or less made the decision for me…

#15

schweser

#16

I was about to do the FinQuiz special but did a search on AnalystForum and saw a bunch of postings complaining about FinQuiz mistakes.

#17

Edupristine

Mind = Blown

#18

I Googled them and saw they have materials for L1 and L2. I didn’t see any EduPristine for L3.

#19

Read these postings as well and it almost drove me off. As some postings praised the notes and mentioned that only a couple (of the huge amount) of questions have mistakes, I decided to take the discount.

At least, compared to prices at Schweser, even with a couple of mistakes I will not lose much.

#20

Finquiz is awful, for level 1 atleast.

I coudlnt believe how many mistakes I saw in questions. Some not even written in proper english.

Their level 1 mock was impossibly hard. There’s a difference between making a challenging mock to help you learn, and then Finquiz Mock’s which in my opinion are a joke.

I was regualrly scoring 70 on schweser and Elan mocks and tried a finquiz one the week before the exam and got 50%