Schweser vs Stalla

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04flyers

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Hello, quick question concerning LII study materials. I had success with Schweser for LI but have heard great things about Stalla. I am not planning on taking a class (as I tried for LI and rarely attended and didnt get much out of it).
If anyone has used both and had any input it would be much appreciated. Thanks
 
Schweser Qbank is WAYYYYYYYYYYYY easier than the real exam …..so i dont recommend ….SOLVE the free mock ….STUDY EVERYTHING ……LAST U CAN WISH ME GOOD LUCK ….
 
DO NOT USE STALLA.
I used Schweser Level 1 in Dec then switched to Stalla for this one because I heard good things. The classes are a little bit better (and the DVDs) with Stalla, however I found that the Study guides were much better with Schweser.
Leading to the biggest differences, QBank/Secret Sauce > Stalla Passmaster. By a lot. You can’t even go back to see past tests taken with Passmaster (which killed me because I’d spend 2 hours taking a test, then want to go over my answers the next day and the tests were just erased).
I may have failed level II, if so I am going back to Schweser despite 50% off on Stalla with a fail.
 
I think it’s just a personal preference. In the end, do not expect either notes to be a complete replacement of the CFAI text and a lot of hours grinding through the materials. (That, and beware of errata in the notes.)
So just pick a package that fits your budget and you feel comfortable with, and starts crunching.
 
would like to continue this forum of Schweser vs Stalla for Level II ..could we see more comments over this….
 
It would be easier for people who are interested in this topic to post their requirements (besides I want to pass), study habits, etc. Then people who have experience with either could see if there are any resemblances to their own experience and make recommendation accordingly.
 
Hi all,
I am interested to find out whether to invest in Schweser or Stalla as well.
I plan to begin studying for Level 2 after Dec 6th (because i am taking another exam). I would be able to spend about 3hrs every weekday and 6hrs every Saturday and Sunday. So in total, I should be able to spend about 27hrs per week. Not sure if this will be sufficient for the CFAI texts, so, I would like to know whether I can substitute it with the 3rd party materials/notes instead. Besides, I find the CFAI materials very wordy and lengthy (based on studying Ethics once and about 20% of Quants for Level 1 from it).
I hope someone will give some advice about which materials to get. I was a user of Schweser Essential Package for Level 1
Thank you very much in advance :)
 
@veggiebun. Schweser Essential Package should work for you. Except that you may want to adjust your study approach (i.e. treat L2 as a different beast than L1).
Besides the vignette style of the questions, a large part of the exam is about comprehension (filter the inputs) and attentive to details (collect the relevant data). This is why even the CFAI text is long and not as distilled as the 3rd party solution, you should invest enough time in the CFAI text to make sure you are comfortable with the CFAI’s style and languages. i.e. when CFAI says X on the exam, you understand it as X not Y.
Memory retention would be another issue you need to work on. As the amount of materials in L2 are at least 1.5x of L1. (My personal guess is, if you really want to cover as many blind spots as possible, the amount is closer to 2.0x. This is also partially due to the “kitchen sink” status of L2, since it got sandwiched by both L1 and L3.) So be prepared to allocate extra time for iteration on the materials. (I would recommend three passes, YMMV.)
Last year, there were a few new topics in the curriculum (e.g. emerging market in Equity, private equity in AI and taxes in PM) that are ridiculously long but testable. So operating under the 3/6 hours schedule may have some problems with these topics (because you do not have access to several 6 hours consecutive blocks). If these types of topic still present in this year’s curriculum (I heard taxes in PM were taken off), my advise would be to take the materials slowly and take notes on the side. You may end up taking two weeks to cover your first pass, but the subsequent passes would hopefully be shorter (again, YMMV).
 
I only used Q-Bank for level I and passed in pretty high ranges in four main topics. I found Level I was easier than Q-Bank.
I bough full Schweser package for level II and am totally disappointed especially with online seminars. Never waste your money on it. A lot of rushing through slides, a lot of self-admiration of the lector and all wrong tips at the end. Out of 5 sections he told us to know while we were supposed not to touch the rest, 3 were not tested at all and the forth was tested in the areas, almost not covered in Schweser course. He told us to skip derivatives. I did and feel like an idiot putting so many hours in preparation and blowing all those questions completely.
The books are great. Just know every page and every paragraph and do NOT listen to any tips on what to study and what not to.
 
USE CFAI MATERIALS!!!
If you are currently working, I doubt you can do a full review of CFAI AND either Stalla or Schweser.
Stalla DVDs are pretty good. They would be OUTSTANDING if they were all Peter Olinto. However, I would not use the DVDs in place of CFAI books. Also, Stalla Passmaster is way too easy.
 
Even if you are not working, I doubt you have enough time to fully review CFAI text and one of the 3rd party notes. What you could do is, you can use the CFAI EOC questions as a guide to survey the CFAI materials after you have finished at least one passes of the 3rd party notes. It’s not going to give you full coverage of the materials, but it’s good enough given the time constraint.
Last year, the only topic that I found that has *huge* difference between the CFAI text and SchweserNotes is Treynor Black model in PM (CFAI text is Marsian whereas SchweserNotes is Alice in the Wonderland). The rest I would say they are more or less the same. Some topics are better covered by CFAI text than SchweserNotes (and vice versa). e.g. Ethics, FI and currency swaps in Derivatives.
 
Hi,
I have questions regarding CFAI textbooks and other level 2 materials.
1) For level 1, I only did the multiple choice EOC, because most of the essay questions are too time consuming. If I use the same strategy for level 2, do you think it will hurt me too much?
2) For level 1, most of the complicated formulas are not realistic for the exam so I ignore them and it proved to be a good decision. Can we do the same for level 2? For example, the formula to calculate the standard error of the forecast(Sf).
3) What is the format of level 2 Qbank? Is it based on individual questions or does it use a vignette style?
Thanks in advance.
 
> 1) For level 1, I only did the multiple choice
> EOC, because most of the essay questions are too
> time consuming. If I use the same strategy for
> level 2, do you think it will hurt me too much?
Yes, probably by a lot too.
> 2) For level 1, most of the complicated formulas
> are not realistic for the exam so I ignore them
> and it proved to be a good decision. Can we do the
> same for level 2? For example, the formula to
> calculate the standard error of the forecast(Sf).
SF is considered one of the easier equation in L2. Commit that to memory or risk losing one easy question on the exam.
Also, a LOC doesn’t need to explicitly say “Calculate X” to hint that you need to memorize a particular equation for X. CFAI could simply ask “what is the most likely effect on X if one of its inputs Y has increased (or decreased)? A) overstated; B) understated; C) no change.”
> 3) What is the format of level 2 Qbank? Is it
> based on individual questions or does it use a
> vignette style?
MC with 3 stems, with some questions arrange in vignette style. Majority of them though are the good old concept checker style you can find in SchweserNotes.
In general, do as many vignette style questions as you can and use the non-vignette style questions to improve your memory retention.
 
Thanks for the reply.
If one of the easier equations to memorize is already that long, I think I already have 50% chance of failing the exam next year. I can understand most concepts, but when it comes to just pure memorization, I am not able to remember that many things. I wonder why the level 1 exam did not have that kind of plug and chuck questions.
 
I guess the exam is “unfair” in this sense. There are just so many details (6 books worth) that could be tested on but there can only be 120 opportunities for a candidate to show CFAI that (s)he deserves the passing grade. So as a candidate, there aren’t a lot of choices: it’s either you cover as many ground as possible or pray to the Divine that whatever you are good at actually show up in one of the 120 opportunities.
Nevertheless, that’s my advise if you ask me. As far as Quant sectio is concerned, there are only two equation that look imposing (the SF equation and the Adjusted R^2). The rest I believe are relatively straightforward. Wait until you reach the cash flow valuation reading in Equity, the equation in that reading are even more confusing. <_<
 
eltia Wrote:
——————————————————-
or
> pray to the Divine that whatever you are good at
> actually show up in one of the 120 opportunities.
>
>> <_<
Did you want to say, in all 120 opportunities? I guess, just one would not be enough to pass the exam
 
thanks to everyone who shared their opinions of Schweser and Stalla here. Really appreciate them. Especially Eltia :)
Btw, would like to know usually how much time does it take to finish the CFAI materials once?
Does that include note taking? Is the Secret sauce useful for Level 2? I bought the Level 1 SS but didn’t manage to go through it because I only managed to finish the Study notes on the last day before the exam.
 
I didn’t go through the entire CFAI text. I only did the EOC questions and read the section that I feel Schweser didn’t cover well (e.g. Treynor Black model in PM) or the sections are covered in the EOC and didn’t get cover in SchweserNotes (e.g. alternative binomial models for bond valuation in FI). I believe that took me about 4 months (including a 2nd pass on SchweserNotes and some notes taking along the way).
SecretSauce, IMO, is critical in the last 1-2 months of preparation. As it gives you an overview of all the materials and help you to see how things connect together. If you pre-order now it costs about $75. I believe it’s worth it. But beware though the SecretSauce isn’t perfect and occasionally you would still find errata and/or materials that contradict SchweserNotes and/or CFAI text.
P.S. Yes, I meant to say to pray to the Divine that whatever you are good at actually show up in the 120 opportunities. Sorry about the confusion.
 
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