Caution- Dont use Scswer Q bank

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vicky_cool400

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Guys
i cleared l1 in dec,12 and l2 in june,2013
But i advise all of you to dont use scswr q bank for l2. Its a complete waste of time.
I wasted 1 month out of the 5 months in L2 prep on it
Just do CFA book examples+ End questions + mock exams (6 minimum)
You will pass easily
 
A colleague of mine used schweser exclusively for all 3 levels and passed.never looked at the CFAI books for any level. I have not used schweser except for their mock exams.
From what i have read on the forum, Qbank for L2 is not as useful as L1 but not completely useless. It can used to drill concepts but not for practicing exam type questions.
 
Doing problems is key for the retention of the vast material. Its how the brain works. For some it works better, for some to a lesser extent. Proven in various studies.
I am damn sure that it was not complete waste of time for you too, Vicky. The only question might be: should you go with another provider? Is the wait worthwile for Elan? Or is their Qbank not vast enough?
I havent decided yet. But will approach the exam in a different style. Repetition through questions, while I am reading the material. Not only EOC’s and blue/grey box but also some practice questions and mocks on specific areas along the way. Will see how it turns out and whether the retention level will be enough to pass.
 
confused2010 wrote:
A colleague of mine used schweser exclusively for all 3 levels and passed.never looked at the CFAI books for any level. I have not used schweser except for their mock exams.
From what i have read on the forum, Qbank for L2 is not as useful as L1 but not completely useless. It can used to drill concepts but not for practicing exam type questions.
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I think you may be misinterpreting the point Vicky is trying to make which is very valid. Of course anything that helps drill CFA concepts and curriculum into your head is better than doing nothing. But I would have to agree that the Qbank is NEXT to useless for Level II. It is significantly more productive to do mock exams/EOC questions. A tricky part of the exam is getting used to the full item set style of questions so the more of these style of questions you are able to do the better. Also Qbank has very few of these style of questions and when they do it is highly different in terms of the layout of the questions as the CFAI ones. I found it almost counterproductive because the style of Schweser Qbank item set questions follow a very logical process with very few “red herrings” in them and are significantly shorter in length and generally difficulty than CFAI practice ones. If you want to “drill concepts” it is better to flow through examples in the curriculum (Schweser or otherwise) because I feel like Qbank can get you into some bad habits. I started with Qbank and when transitioning to full CFAI item set questions I was getting alot wrong due to not paying enough detail and reading through the whole question. Just my long winded way of saying I agree with Vicky though.
 
I overused QBank. I used schweser exclusively and passed on first attempt, but towards the end of my studying for this one, I realized QBank really had its limitations (not many vignettes, which u want to get used to and use pretty exclusively, and questions too easy or maybe even not reflective of material, or sometimes incorrect answers even) so at the end i used book examples and practice exams and just reviewed what i got wrong a lot rather than going back to new QBank questions
 
I agree…. schweser Qbank is SUCH A WASTE OF TIME…. questions are no where near indicative of the real deal
 
Disagree. Just don’t use them as core prep. They’re beneficial if used to hammer home key concepts.
 
IsThereAny wrote:
Disagree. Just don’t use them as core prep. They’re beneficial if used to hammer home key concepts.
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+1..it entirely depends on an individual’s preference and method of studying. Even though the style of questions is not the vignette type, eventually what matters is your ability to interpret and understand what the question is specifically asking for, and work the answer..The vignettes on the actual exam provide you with data basis which you have to answer the questions (and usually the paragraphs in the vignette correspond to the order of questions). The vignettes are not designed to confuse you, they are there to give the relevant data so as to aid you in solving the questions that follow. So what you really need is a firm grasp of the concepts (which Schweser does a fair job of providing) and lots of practice (mock exams/ Q bank). I solely relied on Schweser for L1 and L2, and it really depends on your potential as to how you make use of the Qbank or any other exam.To each his own.
 
Yo, just do everything…why would you ignore the qbank? It’s not a waste of time…do EOC’s, BB’s, mocks, and qbank.
 
I-will-pass wrote:
Does anyone know when the cfai plans to release the official qbank?
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I emailed CFAI last week regarding this, and here is what I was told:
Dear Mr. ______,
Thank you for contacting us. We do not yet have detailed information on the Practice Assessments, but we should have detailed information to provide in early October.
Should you have any other questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Daniel McKenna
 
Daniel is saying they’ll have a better picture regarding the release date, cost etc by early October? Or will it be available by then? I plan to be done with both heavyweights by then…wouldn’t be too bad.
 
I found qbank pretty good for all levels.
where schwesser does excel for level 2 is the videos. especially the fra topics which can send you to sleep faster than anything else.
rip the audio to mp3 on your iphone / ipod and listen whenever you get a chance, train, toilet, conference call :)
 
i cleared l1 in dec,12 and l2 in june,2013 as well. I used scswr q bank for both l1 and l2: all topics above 70% for l1 and 8/10 topics above 70% for l2.
What’s your point anyway?
 
I listened to the advice posted on AF last year to avoid Q Bank - in hindsight i feel that this was a mistake. For lots of the computationally intense questions (quants, econ, derivatives) you have really got to be able to crunch those numbers very fast come exam day….i think the varied and quick fire nature of the Q Bank in these areas is likely to be very helpful.
 
vicky_cool400 wrote:
Guys
i cleared l1 in dec,12 and l2 in june,2013
But i advise all of you to dont use scswr q bank for l2. Its a complete waste of time.
I wasted 1 month out of the 5 months in L2 prep on it
Just do CFA book examples+ End questions + mock exams (6 minimum)
You will pass easily
Click to expand...
I heard about this exam while I was at my relative’s place in US. Now that I am back to India, I am reconsidering whther I should register or not. I have skimmed through the syllabus once and it is not very easy on the onset, like most people say.
 
vicky_cool400 wrote:
Guys
i cleared l1 in dec,12 and l2 in june,2013
But i advise all of you to dont use scswr q bank for l2. Its a complete waste of time.
I wasted 1 month out of the 5 months in L2 prep on it
Just do CFA book examples+ End questions + mock exams (6 minimum)
You will pass easily
Click to expand...
Please suggest the best way out to crack L1. I am done with Schewser’s notes once, but I can’t recall shit in FRA and Econ. Help me out @vicky_cool400. Pro Bank bahut lengthy hai aur itna recall kar pana mushkil hai. Is it worth the time?
 
dunno about qbank
all my levels, i only used schweser notes and their mock exams. for L3, did CFAI EOC qns for behavioural finance and the portfolio mgmt for individuals
can anyone advise if schweser is enough for FRM exams?
 
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