Question for those who relied exclusively/primarily on third-party study guides
- Thread starter S2000magician
- Start date
love_lords
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
- 0
- 0
Whats like the market share for Schweser? 
Seems most of the people who used Schweser got royally f****d by FI afternoon set.
I believe Schesewer must be used by more ppl thn Elan
Seems most of the people who used Schweser got royally f****d by FI afternoon set.
I believe Schesewer must be used by more ppl thn Elan
I will say that Elan/Wiley had pretty good coverage of that area people keep bringing up, with a couple good detailed examples. Unfortunately it was an area I didn’t review towards the end, and it didn’t show up on any of my mocks, so I totally blanked on it. It’s sad too because it’s actually fairly straightforward stuff if you can remember how it works.
love_lords
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
- 0
- 0
True dude, but I believe that one set is sure to bring MPS down by a couple of notch as “MOST” of the people were troubled by it. What do u think
stellacastella
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
- 0
- 0
I thought the exam easy, but still couldn’t remember how to do the derivs and fixed income nothing like that is covered in the text book.
The topics were not the main topics except for equity and FRA.
I found fixed income most hard and guessed the whole lot of the second exam.
Derivs the usual questions which I got stumped on in the exam. I practiced those questions and then couldn’t do them!!
And Ethics also not what you expected, quants the usual, Economics the usual, Corporate finance, I thought was easy, PM I guessed, FRA, Equity, Fixed income, Derivs, alternative investments also what they usually ask and not what you think you would ask. They didn’t ask a chunk of the los.
Overall I think I did reasonably so I hope I passed.
The topics were not the main topics except for equity and FRA.
I found fixed income most hard and guessed the whole lot of the second exam.
Derivs the usual questions which I got stumped on in the exam. I practiced those questions and then couldn’t do them!!
And Ethics also not what you expected, quants the usual, Economics the usual, Corporate finance, I thought was easy, PM I guessed, FRA, Equity, Fixed income, Derivs, alternative investments also what they usually ask and not what you think you would ask. They didn’t ask a chunk of the los.
Overall I think I did reasonably so I hope I passed.
I have no clue how much one vignette can affect the MPS, but yeah it could end up being a place to pick up a couple points against the MPS depending on how well you did (or guessed) on it. I kind of doubt the MPS and pass/fail rate will be much different than historical averages though.
stellacastella
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
- 0
- 0
I studied with Elan
I did not rely exclusively on 3rd party material but I’ll offer my input.
I bought the Wiley/Elan practice problems and I wished they were in item set format. It was basically BB with the numbers changed. Also, I think the prices increased exponentially. I don’t know if it was due to the exchange rate since I live in Canada. I *think* I paid CAD$160 for study notes and practice problems (plus the 11th hour guide thrown in there due to delayed service) back in 2013. I paid CAD$180 alone for the Wiley practice problems.
I also bought practice problems and mocks (item set format) from Konvexity for USD$40, which comes out to approx CAD$56. I loved the mocks. I thought the solutions to the practice problems could be more detailed though. But having said that, for a fraction of the price, I’m satisfied with them. Also, their customer service is top notch. I don’t know how many people they have working over in India but here I am in Canada sending an email and I get a reply within the hour.
I bought the Wiley/Elan practice problems and I wished they were in item set format. It was basically BB with the numbers changed. Also, I think the prices increased exponentially. I don’t know if it was due to the exchange rate since I live in Canada. I *think* I paid CAD$160 for study notes and practice problems (plus the 11th hour guide thrown in there due to delayed service) back in 2013. I paid CAD$180 alone for the Wiley practice problems.
I also bought practice problems and mocks (item set format) from Konvexity for USD$40, which comes out to approx CAD$56. I loved the mocks. I thought the solutions to the practice problems could be more detailed though. But having said that, for a fraction of the price, I’m satisfied with them. Also, their customer service is top notch. I don’t know how many people they have working over in India but here I am in Canada sending an email and I get a reply within the hour.
Here’s my input.
Started to study with Schweser (as I did with Level 1) but I felt it was not enough. Either some areas were too vague or just the examples were not enough. For instance, when I went through the treatment of Goodwill in an acquisition etc. with Schweser, I had the feeling that it was not important because they really dedicate 2 pages to it or sthg like that… Then I started to go to the official curriculum quite often, and I think that if pass it will be because of this.
Of course, I did not take the curriculum for every single topic and that’s why I also got catched in the Item set that we all know.
If I happen to pass, I don’t know what I’d do because on one hand I will have relied on Schweser for 2 years and I’m already used to the format, etc., but on the other hand I would not want to take this risk again… I don’t know, I hope I will have this decision-problem in two-three months!
By the way, THANK YOU magician for your amazing and constant help… I told you last year and I say it once again. If I pass, it could not have been without your help. I really like to see that in this world of envy and selfishness, there are still good people that just want to help others. I truly wish you all the best.
Thanks Sir.
Started to study with Schweser (as I did with Level 1) but I felt it was not enough. Either some areas were too vague or just the examples were not enough. For instance, when I went through the treatment of Goodwill in an acquisition etc. with Schweser, I had the feeling that it was not important because they really dedicate 2 pages to it or sthg like that… Then I started to go to the official curriculum quite often, and I think that if pass it will be because of this.
Of course, I did not take the curriculum for every single topic and that’s why I also got catched in the Item set that we all know.
If I happen to pass, I don’t know what I’d do because on one hand I will have relied on Schweser for 2 years and I’m already used to the format, etc., but on the other hand I would not want to take this risk again… I don’t know, I hope I will have this decision-problem in two-three months!
By the way, THANK YOU magician for your amazing and constant help… I told you last year and I say it once again. If I pass, it could not have been without your help. I really like to see that in this world of envy and selfishness, there are still good people that just want to help others. I truly wish you all the best.
Thanks Sir.
CFAbeatmeup
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
- 0
- 0
Hey Bill –
Last year I relied solely upon Kaplan’s Schweser Notes and felt there were considerable gaps. Some of that is simply I had a short time to study, as I passed L1 in December and had a more demanding job then, but I felt even what was emphazised on Kaplan was off.
This year I did use Kaplan’s Qbank for “soft study” and repetition and practice but did EOCs more. At the end I used Elan’s 11th hour guide and went over the “biggies” (FRA, Equity, and Corporate Finance) before I walked in and during the break. I’m not sure if I passed (who knows), but I’d be willing to take a bet that I did.
To me, it seems Kaplan’s Schweser Notes is formula focused but the CFAI seems more concerned with you knowing how changes effect the formulas and, thus, effect outcomes – there’s times where I think Kaplan doesn’t emphasize that important continuation. And, yes, I know this sounds silly but things like how will inventory and/or long-lived asset writedowns change the return on equity (by the way, this is a simple example and not representative of anything I did or did not see on the exam) in this period and future periods – ceteris paribus, of course – were things I think Kaplan could improve on and Wiley’s 11th-hour guide did well.
That said, I didn’t utilize Kaplan’s 11th hour guide. Secret Sauce, or whatever it’s called (I think it was more expensive and, of course, my history with Kaplan was probably taken into consideration as well.), but I found Elan’s really good for last minute prep. So I wholeheartedly understand I may be selling Kaplan short by commenting without knowing all their stuff – but I guess I can only give you my story, not the full story.
Hope that helps you in your data collection mission.
Last year I relied solely upon Kaplan’s Schweser Notes and felt there were considerable gaps. Some of that is simply I had a short time to study, as I passed L1 in December and had a more demanding job then, but I felt even what was emphazised on Kaplan was off.
This year I did use Kaplan’s Qbank for “soft study” and repetition and practice but did EOCs more. At the end I used Elan’s 11th hour guide and went over the “biggies” (FRA, Equity, and Corporate Finance) before I walked in and during the break. I’m not sure if I passed (who knows), but I’d be willing to take a bet that I did.
To me, it seems Kaplan’s Schweser Notes is formula focused but the CFAI seems more concerned with you knowing how changes effect the formulas and, thus, effect outcomes – there’s times where I think Kaplan doesn’t emphasize that important continuation. And, yes, I know this sounds silly but things like how will inventory and/or long-lived asset writedowns change the return on equity (by the way, this is a simple example and not representative of anything I did or did not see on the exam) in this period and future periods – ceteris paribus, of course – were things I think Kaplan could improve on and Wiley’s 11th-hour guide did well.
That said, I didn’t utilize Kaplan’s 11th hour guide. Secret Sauce, or whatever it’s called (I think it was more expensive and, of course, my history with Kaplan was probably taken into consideration as well.), but I found Elan’s really good for last minute prep. So I wholeheartedly understand I may be selling Kaplan short by commenting without knowing all their stuff – but I guess I can only give you my story, not the full story.
Hope that helps you in your data collection mission.
CFAbeatmeup
New member
- Jun 18, 2026
- 0
- 0
I used Wiley Elan’s 11th hour guide and would strongly recommend it.