Not using the Qbank

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schneid

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From what i’ve read on here, it seems like schwester qbank for Level 2 is not near as effective as it was for Level 1. The problem is that the Qbank was a great tool during my Level 1 study, for reviewing concepts and readings I’d already covered. In trying to replace this tool for Level 2, would it be most useful to re-do the EOC’s as I go? I saved the second pass through the EOC’s for the end during Level 1, since the qbank was effective.
Thanks for any help.
 
Do not give up the qbank. EOC’s are great since they are item set format and probably your best tool, but the qbank is irreplaceable. It makes you repeat the same concept in different questions…meaning it sticks in your head, which is what you should be going for. Use the qbank…dont read what others have said.
 
^^ listen, you’ve passed all 3 levels and I’m simply going for level 2, but no need to be so absolute in your advice. i didn’t use the Q-bank for level 1, hence it’s not irreplaceable. i’m a firm believer that everything you need to pass each exam is provided to you by CFAI. personally, instead of q-bank, i wrote fairly detailed notes the 2nd time through the material, and went over EOCs again, and took mocks. that seemed to drill the concepts in fairly well for me.
 
Lots of different strategies can work to pass but in my opinion the Qbank isn’t worth your time, your time is better spent on EOC’s and blue box questions. The only exception to that is for CFAI readings that don’t have any EOC’s or have very few EOC questions you need to find questions from the prep providers to practice. Do not be fooled into think because CFAI doesn’t give you EOC”s on a topic that you can overlook it … if anything consider it a red flag that you should be givning it a second look because you’ll probably get questions on it
 
SHoot85 wrote:
^^ listen, you’ve passed all 3 levels and I’m simply going for level 2, but no need to be so absolute in your advice. i didn’t use the Q-bank for level 1, hence it’s not irreplaceable. i’m a firm believer that everything you need to pass each exam is provided to you by CFAI. personally, instead of q-bank, i wrote fairly detailed notes the 2nd time through the material, and went over EOCs again, and took mocks. that seemed to drill the concepts in fairly well for me.
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Congratulations? Like you said, I’ve passed all 3 exams so at least I have some support to where I’m coming from for L2. OP said it helped him a lot in L1…so based I think it would help him a lot in L2. I read the same stuff about it not being as a effective, but it was for me at least and may be for him. Why are you getting so aggravated for an exam you dont have experience with yet?
 
Ramos4rm wrote:
SHoot85 wrote:
^^ listen, you’ve passed all 3 levels and I’m simply going for level 2, but no need to be so absolute in your advice. i didn’t use the Q-bank for level 1, hence it’s not irreplaceable. i’m a firm believer that everything you need to pass each exam is provided to you by CFAI. personally, instead of q-bank, i wrote fairly detailed notes the 2nd time through the material, and went over EOCs again, and took mocks. that seemed to drill the concepts in fairly well for me.
Click to expand...
Congratulations? Like you said, I’ve passed all 3 exams so at least I have some support to where I’m coming from for L2. OP said it helped him a lot in L1…so based I think it would help him a lot in L2. I read the same stuff about it not being as a effective, but it was for me at least and may be for him. Why are you getting so aggravated for an exam you dont have experience with yet?
Click to expand...
a lot of insecurity here yikes, need to cool off maybe? i’m getting aggravated because I think your advice of “irreplacable” and “don’t listen to others” is ill-advised? ok mr. schwesar salesman, my apologies.
i have many friends who’ve gone through all 3 without use of q-bank as well, but maybe they were all hallucinating.
 
SHoot85 wrote:
Ramos4rm wrote:
SHoot85 wrote:
^^ listen, you’ve passed all 3 levels and I’m simply going for level 2, but no need to be so absolute in your advice. i didn’t use the Q-bank for level 1, hence it’s not irreplaceable. i’m a firm believer that everything you need to pass each exam is provided to you by CFAI. personally, instead of q-bank, i wrote fairly detailed notes the 2nd time through the material, and went over EOCs again, and took mocks. that seemed to drill the concepts in fairly well for me.
Click to expand...
Congratulations? Like you said, I’ve passed all 3 exams so at least I have some support to where I’m coming from for L2. OP said it helped him a lot in L1…so based I think it would help him a lot in L2. I read the same stuff about it not being as a effective, but it was for me at least and may be for him. Why are you getting so aggravated for an exam you dont have experience with yet?
Click to expand...
a lot of insecurity here yikes, need to cool off maybe? i’m getting aggravated because I think your advice of “irreplacable” and “don’t listen to others” is ill-advised? ok mr. schwesar salesman, my apologies.
i have many friends who’ve gone through all 3 without use of q-bank as well, but maybe they were all hallucinating.
Click to expand...
No insecurities…just annoyed by your comment.
 
schneid wrote:
From what i’ve read on here, it seems like schwester qbank for Level 2 is not near as effective as it was for Level 1.
Click to expand...
Level I is a pretty easy exam. If you’ve got some background in finance, then a bunch of hours spent doing Qbank questions may be enough to pass L1.
Level II is a difficult exam. Even if you have a strong background in finance, you’ll need to do some serious reading, studying, etc.
If you expect to pass the L2 exam using Qbank alone (like you may have done for L1), you are likely to be disappointed.
On the other hand, I found L2 Qbank to be very useful as a tool to use in conjunction with notes, flashcards, videos, etc.
 
Agree with Wendy and Ramos. I used it to solidify concepts and it served me well.
 
Wendy wrote:
schneid wrote:
From what i’ve read on here, it seems like schwester qbank for Level 2 is not near as effective as it was for Level 1.
Click to expand...
Level I is a pretty easy exam. If you’ve got some background in finance, then a bunch of hours spent doing Qbank questions may be enough to pass L1. Level II is a difficult exam. Even if you have a strong background in finance, you’ll need to do some serious reading, studying, etc. If you expect to pass the L2 exam using Qbank alone (like you may have done for L1), you are likely to be disappointed. On the other hand, I found L2 Qbank to be very useful as a tool to use in conjunction with notes, flashcards, videos, etc.
Click to expand...
I disagree on L1 being an easy exam. The material is straight-forward if you know finance but it is not an easy exam by any means. And plus, ethics on all levels is borderline unfair. Ethics is 15% or something on L1 and a financial genius could bomb ethics.
I personally left the test room feeling better after L2 than L1. As for Qbank, I’ve never used it but it certainly couldn’t hurt. But it is important to remember that the exam is written by the CFAI in their own style which undoubtedly differs from Qbank or any other 3rd party prep.
 
Thanks all for the suggestions. Won’t throw it out just yet. It wasn’t my only tool in Level I by any means - just very helpful in review - for drilling concepts, like mentioned above. I use the schweser notes primarily, supplement with curriculum when something’s unclear and then EOCs.
 
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