Flash cards & practice exams

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I'm studying for June Level 1 from the CFA material but have been hearing a lot about Stalla and Schweser. I'd like to try out their flash cards and practice exams (to start reviewing and practicing in May). I'm looking to order now.

Which one is better - I have looked at neither and have no idea.
 
Here's an idea - make your own flashcards from note cards. Cheaper, and the process of making the note cards will serve as a review. I try to do one for each LOS, although some LOS lend themselves to flashcards more than others.
 
I have both sets of flash cards. I think the Schweser cards are much more comprehensive.

Stalla
-cards are kind of laminated (hard to add you own notes onto an existing card)
-no punch hole (to keep them on a ring)
-smaller (3x5 inches)
-doesn't seem like they completely cover all pieces of the LOS
-you can see a sample on their website
-include the LOS on both sides of the card (so you don't need to turn the card over to see how the answer relates to the LOS)
-brief explanations
-better formatting

Schweser
-normal card stock paper (easy to add your own notes)
-odd size card (4x5 inches) - you can't buy this size in a store (if you want to make extras)
-hole punched in upper corner (still need reinforced to stand up to a ring)
-seem to cover much more of the LOS
-cards are color-coded by common sessions (i.e. all the economics cards are the same color)

I find the flash cards extremly useful. I only recently bought the Stalla cards (I read Stalla, Schweser, and FAR notes for each session). However, compared to the Schweser cards, Stalla seems to skip over some portions of the LOS.

e.g. LOS for session 4, reading 14, "B"

"Discuss the problems in measuring unemployment and describe the three types of unemployment".

Stalla - gave a good run down of some of the measurement problems but completely ignored describing the three types of unemployment.

Schweser broke this LOS into two seperate flashcards. The first one described some of the measurement problems, the second card gave a good description of each of the three types of unemployment.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Friday, March 31, 2006 at 10:41PM by testami.
 
testami Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I find the flash cards extremly useful. I only
> recently bought the Stalla cards (I read Stalla,
> Schweser, and FAR notes for each session).

Wow, how did you manage to read all the notes for FAR, Stalla, Schwesser AND all Stalla/Schwesser flash cards?!

I started late Feb and I'm only halfway into the Schwesser reading :/
 
testami Wrote:
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> Schweser
> -odd size card (4x5 inches) - you can't buy this
> size in a store (if you want to make extras)

Schweser will send you blank cards if you ask for them.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to order Scheweser.

Exempleria - I've been creating my own flash cards in the form of notes, though they don't look flashy :-)

But I'm running out of time to create my own fair notes for everything and also I think the flash cards will be useful long after the exams. I want to keep them for some time to come.

Thanks again.
 
I just added Stalla to the mix for SS7 (I'm on 11 now).

This has proven a good system for me.

Stalla, Schweser, and FAR work well together. Stalla provides the most context, then Schweser to a lesser degree, and FAR is more of a beefed outline of the key components.

The nice thing about a mixture of sources is that they each explain things in a somewhat different format.....so if you are having trouble with a particular concept, chances are one of the three presentations will allow you to finally "get it". The most interesting thing is that each of them emphasize different areas and even many of the formulas are presented differently.

Overall, buying the flashcards is the way to go. I have created a lot of my own probably 1/3 more than came with Schweser. However, I think it would be inefficient to re-create the wheel by making your own cards for every LOS.
 
So, testami, you just invested in the flashcards and recommend it? If so I'm in for level 2 (knock on wood).
 
Hey jamespucyk.

No, I bought a lot of stuff.

Originally I started with the CFAI stuff but found it too hard (and slow) to get through. In particular there were a lot of topics I already new pretty well. However, the way the CFAI materials presented it made no sense to me. This scared me because I figured if I was having such a rough time with the way they presented something I already knew, then I would really be lost when it came to stuff that would be new to me.

This lead me to Schweser's basic package (notes, flashcards, and quicksheet). I also opted for FAR's notes and Dr. Far (online question bank) because I wanted a second presentation style.

I used FAR and Schweser from SS2 - SS6. The only real reason I added Stalla was because I wanted to see which presentation style I would like the best so I didn't waste money second-guessing myself at Level 2. The Stalla package inlcuded the notes, questions on CD, and flashcards.

Here are my thoughts after using all these materials over the last couple months:

For Level 2 I will buy:
-Stalla notes
-Schweser notes
-Far notes
-Schweser flashcards

FAR does not offer any computerized questions for Levels 2&3 so I will add a question bank from Schweser or Stalla too - but I don't know which since I haven't really got to know either one of them.

I will most likely NOT buy:
-CFAI official materials
-Stalla flashcards

You wouldn't think so but all three sets of notes really do cover things with enough of a difference to make them all useful together. I really feel that the three combined give you a lot of the "why" behind the "what" of the LOS.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at Sunday, April 2, 2006 at 08:08PM by testami.
 
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