CFA Prep Classes? (Dallas)

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Ash10

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Is anyone here currently enrolled in one of the prep classes for the CFA exam? I’m Looking at one here locally, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it or what the reputation is like. I typically learn better in a class room setting, so I know that a well structured class would be beneficial for me, but at a $1,000 I want to make sure that it is worth the cost… Thanks in advance for the help.
 
I live in Frisco and just sat for CFA L1 in Dec 2009. I also received the ads from UTD etc to enroll in their CFA Prep class.
Ultimately it is up to you. You have decide if you have the time and money to enroll in the class. I will tell you this. I have heard that most people that enroll in the class don’t take it seriously. I’ve also heard that there is so much material that it is impossible to keep up with the class. Most people get behind after the 1st or 2nd week.
So - in my mind, whether you’re taking the class or not, it’s all about dedication, commitment, structure, and stick-to-it’ness.
Hope that helps.
T
 
Ash10 Wrote:
——————————————————-
> Is anyone here currently enrolled in one of the
> prep classes for the CFA exam? I’m Looking at one
> here locally, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it or
> what the reputation is like. I typically learn
> better in a class room setting, so I know that a
> well structured class would be beneficial for me,
> but at a $1,000 I want to make sure that it is
> worth the cost… Thanks in advance for the help.
I thought about it, here is an email from a friend of mine who went to the Schweser class (if this is the one you are talking about):
The Schweser live seminar is definitely worth it, but if you passed Level 1 without it, you could try that route. With that said, I did the live seminar in Dallas Fort-Worth for levels II and III and would recommend them. The instructors are solely focused on you passing the exam and don’t try to teach you anything other than what it takes to pass the exam. One lecture (Marc LeFebvre) goes through old exam problems (not sure how he got them), which I think are very helpful. The hotel (Marriott) is expensive, so a lot of candidates choose to stay at other hotels nearby to help minimize the cost.
Did I read from your other e-mail that you are pursuing an MBA? If yes, you may want to think about the cost this way…
I am going to the School part-time MBA right now. The cost is $1015 a credit. I am taking two, 10-week 3 credit classes. Each class has about 3 hours of instruction. So, without student fees, that is $6,090 for a total of about 60 hours of instruction or a little over $100 an hour.
Well, the 5-day seminar in Dallas is 36 hours of instruction for $999. Let’s say you spend $1,500 on flights and hotels. That would only bring your total cost to about $2,500 or about $69 a hour.
So…just throwing something out there…the cost is certainly there, but some perspective might be helpful.
My short answer, though, is that the seminar is definitely worth it.
 
One of my friends took the CFA preparation class at UT-Dallas and it worked for him. He said it was a good class. However, as a slight disclaimer, he was a Stanford GSB grad so chances are he would have done fine on the CFA exams even without the class. It’s probably worth checking out anyway if you’re in the area.
 
Wow, this is all a great help! Thanks for all of your input. This http://www.cfadfw.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=3 is the class that I’m thinking about taking, and it is at UT-D once a week, or you can go to the University of Dallas starting next month… I’m glad to see so many positive comments about the classes. I took one through Kaplan for the LSAT and would not recommend them to anyone!
 
I did the DFW CFA society class for all three levels. The main benefit was that it kept me on track. It also helped to get a few accounting and economics refreshers.
 
I thought it was priceless honestly. The lecturers are generally great (a few bad apples) and the ones that really count are fantastic. I took all three levels there and I especially appreciated the strong acct’g / equity foundation @ level one that kept me on track all the way though. They do not simply read the materials- all of them are professional and create their own lectures that highlight what matters and what can be (kinda) looked over.
I had no prior finance related course work in college and I got through the free just fine- often depending solely on the lecture and practice questions for certain areas. It was great for time management too- I new I had to at least skim the materials before each class- keeping you honest.
Additionally- schweser notes and qbank are included- so the class, on the margin, is only ~500 dollars.
 
I did the DFW 5 day for Level 1, 2, and 3. Passed all no problems. Would definitely do again if I were to start over.
Marc Lefebvre is the man!
 
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