Hi there, I have been following your posts and thanks so much for the encouraging words. Feel miserable not making it this year after passing L1 and L2 with no problems. I live in SF and I noticed that you took CFASF classes. If you don’t mind can I ask your email id to check more on their program etc. Or you can email me at CFABITS AT GMAIL DOT COM Thanks again.
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The CFASF classes are what you make of them. Some of the teachers are excellent, some are not. The pass rate for L3 in 2005 was 55%. During my first class in January 2006, the teacher said that over 90% of the people who took the class and went to every class, passed in 2005. That is pretty impressive. They do take role each class. The class was worth it to me because it was blood money. I paid the $900 myself. I was so paranoid about becoming complacent. It was great because they would have 1-2 study sessions a week. First, I would read the schweser guide. Then I would read the text book (you will find that the guides are very good). Then I would do all the questions. This wasn’t like college where I wouldn’t be 100% prepared going into a lecture. I was prepared and would sit in the front of the class to get maximum benefit. I do recall a few of the people that I sat with not caring for the class. Yet, they were taking the test for the first time. I was on the second go around and wasn’t using the class for knowledge per se. I was using the class for structure and a forum for me to ask my questions after studying the material. Would I have passed the test without the class? Probably not. The class provided much needed structure to get me going again. Plus, it provided me with an instructor to ask questions. Since the CFA material is self study, many times you don’t have someone to bounce questions off of. Some of the CFA SF teachers even guessed as to where the questions on the test would come from. I recommend the class. You will need to decide how much you want to get out of the class.
Thanks so much. Do they also provide practice questions ? I have heard about their mock exam in May but not sure about the questions being provided either during the class or in their notes. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
Depends on the teacher. A teacher will teach maybe 3 classes. So they will hand out some questions to review during the next class. Some teachers put a lot of effort into the class, some do not. Its funny. I thought one teacher was terrible and the person next to me loved him. It is 100% worth it if you are retaking the exam. I remember walking up to the L2 exam in 2004 at the Bill Graham Civic auditorium. One guy was retaking L2 and one guy was retaking L3. The guy retaking L2 said that he only started studying in April. The L3 guy was serious and had started earlier. My guess is that the L3 guy crushed it. If you aren’t going to put in more effort next year, then just give up. Why flush 100 hours of your life down the tube. The class will get you going. The class probably has 50 people in it. Do it. I know the $900 is a lot if you are personally paying for it. Yet, an MBA can cost $50K/year while not working. Plus, your time is worth a lot more to you if you fail. The class is worth it, yet you need to make the most of it.
Thanks so much for your insights. This is really helpful!