New York Live Classes - NYSSA, Schweser, Fitch, etc.

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Haji

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In the New York area, I saw that there are a few live class offerings for CFA Level 3 exam prep. Running a quick Google search, I saw NYSSA, Schweser, and Fitch.
Has anyone on the forum taken any of these classes for the Level 3 exam, and could you please share your comments on their usefulness?
 
I took the NYSSA L3 online review class given by Nathan Ronen (48 hour delay from the live class). As a retaker, I found his class extremely valuable, particularly in terms of putting you inside a CFA grader’s head so that you can write a strong AM section. No comparison between my performance this June and the previous time around.
 
I’m also based in NYC and wondering which is a better course between NYSSA and Fitchlearning. Thanks
 
I’m debating between NYSSA and Schweser Live (or online) classes, myself…
I took NYSSA for Levels 1 and 2 - Nathan Ronen, and I thought the classes were useful. Some instructors bore you to tears with their presentation of materials - but I thought Nathan at NYSSA is lively, and manages to keep the material interesting.
 
I also took the online NYSSA class with Nathan Ronen and luckily passed Level 3. The online version is a recording of the live clases. He used to be a grader and focuses throughout on how to write the AM section. I highly recommend his course.
 
Go with Nathan’s class. He has tremendous insights in how AM papers are graded and how your answers should be structured to hit the points to pass. I started my study for the exam as his Sunday class kicked off (3/16) and passed (not recommending you do the same, but you see the value).
 
HI!
For what it’s worth, i think Nathan’s classes can be great or not depending on your personality and learning style. I had him for L2 (failed) and wouldn’t want to take a class with him again. Nothing personal, just out of sink with his intensity and not a fan of galloping through the material mindlessly. He did highlight areas likely to be on the exam (paragraphs and examples).
Took the Schweser L3 (failed) course last spring. There were several instructors with different teaching styles. The material was drilled down in more detail and Marc LeFevre (?sp) touched on specific examples likely to appear on the exam. If you take that, you may want to go with the recording because the connection kept dropping during the online class and time was wasted on restoring it.
Good luck!
 
This coming Monday I’m probably going to go to the free Level 3 strategy/essay class at NYSSA. Any other AF’ers going?
 
Haji wrote:
This coming Monday I’m probably going to go to the free Level 3 strategy/essay class at NYSSA. Any other AF’ers going?
Click to expand...
I was there this Monday. I like him. I had him for L2 in 2012 (failed). He’s funny and lively but he does go through the material a little mindlessly. Still hesitating between NYSSA and Schweser prep courses. Have you guys decided yet?
 
A somewhat tough question to answer as hardly anybody takes classes from 2 providers at once, so it’s hard to compare their relative merits.
For what it’s worth I took Nathan’s classes at NYSSA for Levels I, II and III. I passed all 3 levels in less than 2 years, and I give him a LOT of credit for that. I strongly doubt I could have done it so quickly without him: the man probably saved me one or two years of studies.
By the end of the day obviously there is only so much Nathan or any instructor can do: only you can read the materials; only you can take the practice tests; only you knows how you study best. An instructor - no matter how good - can only do so much for you, but he can give you a grasp of the exam format and help you identify and retain the most salient points of the curriculum, and Nathan does that very effectively IMO. He definitely helped me stay on track and made me feel more confident that I knew what I was studying toward. And he’s got a good sense of humor and brutal honesty - I needed both…
 
zinamarina wrote:
Haji wrote:
This coming Monday I’m probably going to go to the free Level 3 strategy/essay class at NYSSA. Any other AF’ers going?
Click to expand...
I was there this Monday. I like him. I had him for L2 in 2012 (failed). He’s funny and lively but he does go through the material a little mindlessly. Still hesitating between NYSSA and Schweser prep courses. Have you guys decided yet?
Click to expand...
That’s my situation, too. I took Nathan’s class in 2012 and failed, then used Élan Guides last year and passed - but I did refer back to my NYSSA notes a lot. Since the NYSSA classes were live and I made it a point not to skip, that helped keep me on schedule. The negative side to NYSSA classes for me is that it’s an hour commute to NYSSA after work and an hour commute home after class. With the Schweser live video classes (or NYSSA vids) I’d lose the camaraderie, but not spend an extra 2 hours on trains.
 
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That’s my situation, too. I took Nathan’s class in 2012 and failed, then used Élan Guides last year and passed - but I did refer back to my NYSSA notes a lot. Since the NYSSA classes were live and I made it a point not to skip, that helped keep me on schedule. The negative side to NYSSA classes for me is that it’s an hour commute to NYSSA after work and an hour commute home after class. With the Schweser live video classes (or NYSSA vids) I’d lose the camaraderie, but not spend an extra 2 hours on trains.
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Another option to consider is the “condensed classes” on Sundays (6 Sundays from March to May). The weekly classes didn’t work for me either but those weekend classes made time management easier. Slightly different approach: instead of reading the material in parallel to the weekly classes starting in January, you’d ideally want to read the materials before the first March class and use those condensed classes to review the content. I personally liked that sequencing a lot.
 
With all due respect Gottasay, I gotta say I disagree with you :) - but maybe that was because my hours were terrible in 2012 - but I felt that losing an entire day when I could do practice exams on my own was a bad idea ( I took the condensed classes on Saturdays and failed). Every situation is different though but I’d rather do the online classes (if i don’t want to commute/get out of work earlier) than do the condensed classes. I would strongly advice against it. But maybe it worked for some people. I may go with Schweser this year. But I do like Nathan and some of his insight was great.
 
Took Nathan Ronen’s lvl 2 boot camp in 2013 and passed level 2. Took his video classes in 2014 for lvl 3 and failed lvl 3. I think his advice is helpful, but moreso when he goes over problems. When he goes through the material, I didn’t find it as helpful. I followed his advice literally on the study plan for lvl 3, but it didn’t work out in my favor. Not sure what the driver was behind that, but perhaps I’ll try a different approach next time that works better for me.
 
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