Outside of the videos, the qbank/passmaster etc… notice everything is choosing Schweser… not Stalla notes… Curious the reason?
How many posts have you read from people failed because Schweser didn’t prepare them well enough so they switched to Stalla and then passed? I think the quality of the Stalla instructors is high, but the study notes, Q-bank, and practice exams are a distant second behind Schweser. Stalla’s materials in general do not follow the texts as closely as Schweser and are not as well organized. I know because I took Olinto’s class at Level 2 and ended up ordering Schweser materials so that I could have what I needed to pass.
PT Trainer, why are you always asking about Stalla? So many of your posts are on this theme…
Part of what CFA is testing is your ability to filter, prioritize, and process information. Schweser helps you do that, Stalla (in my experience) did not as good a job. I found Stalla in some cases even wordier and more opaque than the actual CFA text. There’s almost an arrogance to Stalla. They want you to learn the concepts “The Stalla Way” rather than the way they’re presented in the CFA texts! Schweser on the other hand faithfully follows the texts – condensing them to essentials and focusing them on the actual LOSes. Stalla also tries to force you into their “program” which requires more work than most working people have time for. So if you don’t do every passmaster and attend every lecture and mark up every lecture slide and do every practice exam they can say, well, if you had completed the program you almost certainly would have passed. Not to sound like a commercial for Schweser, but I would not have gone 3 for 3 in eighteen months without them. I think the choice is pretty simple.
smokin’hot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > PT Trainer, why are you always asking about > Stalla? So many of your posts are on this > theme… Ptrainer works for schweser…he tried to drum up interest in the Windsor seminar with like 10 threads about it, and then starts alot of threads asking why everyone fails with stalla
I used Stalla for L2 & I felt better prepared than Schweser that I used for L1. Stalla pros - Lectures, lecture slides and study notes and of course, Olinto. Stalla cons - PassMaster and more expensive.
I used Stalla only and passed each level. I think Stalla is pretty good. My sense is that Stalla is better at teaching the concepts and logic behind things, whereas Schwesser does a better job of condensing the notes so you can go through them quickly. So if you’re reviewing this stuff for the second time, maybe Schwesser is a better way to go. For the first time, I don’t think Stalla is all that bad (though I never did more than browse a Schwesser book, so take that for whatever you think it’s worth).
I do not work for schweser or stalla. Last year I used stalla videos and schweser notes = fail. Schweser videos are crappy so I was thinking of also using stalla notes. My idea was to read cfa books, read schweser, read stalla, do questions, take exam…
PtrainerNY Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I do not work for schweser or stalla. > > Last year I used stalla videos and schweser notes > = fail. > > Schweser videos are crappy so I was thinking of > also using stalla notes. My idea was to read cfa > books, read schweser, read stalla, do questions, > take exam… IMO reading CFA text 3 times would be better than reading same stuff from 3 different sources.
perhaps but reading the text 3 times takes alot of time… plus doing stalla, schweser, and cfai questions gives 3 points of view…
PtrainerNY Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > perhaps but reading the text 3 times takes alot of > time… > > plus doing stalla, schweser, and cfai questions > gives 3 points of view… the only thing you need to pass are the CFAI books, they might take a lot of time to read, but we have one year to go, more than enough time if you start early.
You don’t need three points of view. You need one point of view, i.e. understanding the topic. You’ll get this from any one of your 3 sources if you do the work.
All the trainers I came across in my 2 years of studying the 3 levels said the same thing: “Learn and answer the CFAI way”.
My point being doing the same reading/questions get boring. Further, doing the same questions gives way to a memory effect. A fter doing all CFAI end of chapter questions and past exams I see nothing wrong with doing Schweser/Stalla reading and questions to add to the mix.
PtrainerNY Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I do not work for schweser or stalla. > > Last year I used stalla videos and schweser notes > = fail. > > Schweser videos are crappy so I was thinking of > also using stalla notes. My idea was to read cfa > books, read schweser, read stalla, do questions, > take exam… My two cents… of your entire list I have never… NEVER heard of anyone who passed without your final remark of taking the exam… that just may be the key to success here.
Schweser for Level I. Had stalla and schweser for L2. Will order just Stalla for L3.
Ptrainer, It was a shock to hear that you did not pass. I was thinking you would pass from what I read from your thread. I used stalla and I will use Stalla next year. I read CFAI text book and did all the Qs on the end of chapter but it really did not help. reading CFAI text book does not , I repeat DOES NOT pass you the exam. My freind who used Sch only passed. I used CFAI text book caz I thought CFA would put more emphasis on their book. But it was just time consuming. You may remember but all these unnecessary topics of individual charity trust and all that. They spent so much pages and you think some would come on the test. None. I really feel like I was betrayed by CFA. I am not going to put emphasis on CFA text. I think rereading SCH or Stalla more would be much useful. I will use Stalla and may use Sch as well. As you know Sch has so many mistakes and erratta. I hate to see these erratta before exam which is so frustrating. But Stalla mock exams are too easy and really not much of help. I hate to do this again but what can I do. I think I will try to relax a bit this year. I was too tense and could not sleep the night before and got crashed in the afternoon. All my life I feel like I put CFA for the first priority. Thus this exam meant a lot to me. But the more you want it, I feel like it goes far away. Another strategy is I will use sleeping pill before the exam. Ah well, I really hate to get more books from CFA. the postcards too…
I don’t know about the Stalla books/materials, but I did a weekend “mock exam” session this past year for level 2. It was such a waste of time. The “mock” exam was wayyy too long and complicated for it to be meaningful and covered very little material relative to the curriculum. It was the worst few hundred I’ve ever spent. PtrainerNY Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Outside of the videos, the qbank/passmaster etc… > notice everything is choosing Schweser… not > Stalla notes… > > Curious the reason?
gideon Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > I think the quality of the Stalla instructors is > high, but the study notes, Q-bank, and practice > exams are a distant second behind Schweser. > Stalla’s materials in general do not follow the > texts as closely as Schweser and are not as well > organized. I know because I took Olinto’s class > at Level 2 and ended up ordering Schweser > materials so that I could have what I needed to > pass. I used Stalla for level 1 and Schweser for level 2. Passed both but Schweser is absolutely horrible. I’ll never touch their shit again. I actually think that it impaired my study efforts. The QBank is just junk. The questions are in no way representative of the exam and the fact that the online QBank was nearly impossible to access the couple weeks prior to the exam is inexcusable. Passmaster is levels above the QBank crap. The only reason I went with the QBank is because of the online access - big mistake.
I’ve always used Stalla successfully in the past for Level I and II. With the required purchase of the CFAI textbooks, I went ahead and read through the textbooks (and did problems) and also did just the Schweser mock exams. It worked for level III.