Give it to me straight...What material should I get?

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spartanag07

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A little background about me: I'm a college student in my final year working toward a degree in finance, and I am registered for the CFA Level 1 December 2007 exam. In total, I shelled out ~$1200 to pay for the official books, test registration fee, and the one-time fee. I'm now realizing that with school and work, I do not have time to read through the enormous stack of reading that the official books require and do practice tests, and review. There is approximately 4 1/2 months between now and December, and I am thinking I need to go ahead and buy one of the following:

1. The Schweser Notes and The Q-Bank ($399 after student discount)

2. The Schweser Essential: Notes, Quicksheet, Q-Bank, and (Flashcards or Practice Exam Book) ($439.20 After Student Discount)

3. The Schweser Premium: Notes, Quicksheet, Q-bank, (16-week online seminar or video CDs), and (Flashcards or Practice Exam book). ($759.20 after student discount)

Those are my options, but I am not sure how to choose among the three. I don't feel good about spending money on top of the $1200 I spent, but I want to pass this exam.

If I had to choose between #1 and #2, I'd pick #2 because I get more for just $40 more, but the issue is #3. There is a LOT of stuff, and I'm not sure if I need it all. Can anyone here tell me if that online 16-week class or the video CDs are worth the extra cost?

Much Thanks.
 
1 minus Q bank, get a few more CFAI onliners instead. Use CFAI books only for port. man.
 
I think you should decide for yourself depending on your learning style, how much support you think you will need etc.
 
I ended up getting the notes, qbank, and the quick sheet for $399. I decided that I did not need the flash cards nor book 7.
 
Im in somewhat of the same boat. I started reading book 1 but with work and everything else, its taking me about a month and a half just to finish the first book. Im pretty sure the reading doesnt get easier, but has anyone been able to pass reading all 6 books??
 
1)read your official books and dont waste money on other notes, just get the main points behind each reading and dont go into much detail especially in quant and econ

2) buy sch q bank or other practice qs like BSAS to practice at end of each study session

thats the way to go
 
yea quants is taking me a really long time. I pretty sure im just going to stick it out with the official books, but more question. Seeing as how i am as far behind, would you guys think it would be benificial to take a class? How are those classes any ways. In from the bay area so i not sure how many classes we have here except one that was suggested to from the CFA club based in the area.

Thanks
 
The classes are usually worthless - though the 16-week seminar from Schweser might be worth it.
 
I'm currently finishing up Financial Statement analysis (Stalla) and will move on to Quants and then econ and so on...I fell behind a little over the past month and am currently stuyding about 4 hours a day and 4-5 on the weekends. I figure this will get me caught up...i hope. I usually read all the lessons and do the assignments / tests at the end. I recently went to a CFA seminar in Chicago and they told me to put more emphasis on the Financial statement analysis and ethics and quants....so i'll focus on these and then read the rest, but not go into too much detail...mainly get the main points and move on.

So, in answer to your question, I would go with the STALLA study notes and q-bank and flash cards.
 
spartanag07 Wrote:
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> The classes are usually worthless - though the
> 16-week seminar from Schweser might be worth it.

I found the 16-week seminar from Schweser very useful. Wouldn't have been able to stay on track otherwise.
 
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