Was it enough...

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jonnyc

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My first post, and I expect to take major flack and to be directed to the search function, however, to me there is no better time to get a coherent and bankable answer to this question, especially with such high speculation regarding changes in test strategy. So here goes.....

For those of you who had no finance background was Schweser/Stalla enough on its own or did you feel as many have been suggesting that the Institute tried to elude the coverage of these prep tools ?

a coherent answer to this question would help all the newbies like me who begin this process on the right track.
 
I highly suggest using the CFA material - if you know this material well, you won't be surprised when you see a question on a topic that was not covered by Schweser/Stalla. You have loads of time if you are taking the test in december to go through all the CFAI material.

I used schweser and they weren't too bad but their tests were so quantitative and not representative of the actual exam......so if you are going to go with them then just know that so you know what to expect.
 
So essentially, the material coverage was fine but the questions in the CFA curric were better prep for the exam ?

I think thats the general sentiment on the board from what i've read, as long as the coverage is there, you can approach the practice questions in the curric.
 
I used Schweser only for all my readings.

The only CFAI material i used was their end of LOS questions and CFAI mock exams online.

When i wrote the exam yesterday, there wasn't a single item that Schweser had not covered.
 
schweser is more than enough. as i'm sure anyone will tell you, what you use (schweser, stall or cfai) is less important than how much you use it. if you don't have a background in finance, you're probably going to have to put in much more than the 250 hours recommended
 
I think Schweser is enough, but consider the big picture...you probably want a strong foundation from which to attack Level 2 and Level 3...will be a good idea to invest extra time in Level 1 (especially FSA) in order to make other levels more manageable.
 
i agree with bostonkev. if you have the time, use cfai materials. i wish i had.
 
It seems then that rumors of the CFA institute being upset by Schweser, Stalla etc.. and trying to limit there effectiveness are baseless. Not only have the answers from you guys suggested it's sufficient but I also read on the CFA site that the CFA body actually approves a number of prep courses such as Schweser and it suggested that former CFA exam writers actually worked at some of these companies (however the companies are not allowed to publicly claim this). I would think these companies work synergistically and the CFA body would not benefit in anyway by snuffing them out. I assume they pay the CFA for this label of approval each year, and moreover promote the proliferation of the designation.

I appreciate the help in answering my questions and no suggestion to "use the search function"
 
Well. Before it might have bothered them more. You`re stuck buying the material anyway.

I personally think that even if a question is more intuitive than quantitative, if you know it you know it.

If you know the inside out of an equation, you could easily work it out to find the answer to an intuitive question.
 
bostonkev Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think Schweser is enough, but consider the big
> picture...you probably want a strong foundation
> from which to attack Level 2 and Level 3...will be
> a good idea to invest extra time in Level 1
> (especially FSA) in order to make other levels
> more manageable.


I am sorry to say, but your comment is completely baseless. Did you use Schweser?

How can you imply that Schweser doesn't give you a strong foundation of the concepts. If anything they do a much better job at it through their Question Bank. Personally i felt that the Question Bank was the single most valuable resources and worth the $700 that my company paid for the training materials. If you want these concepts embedded in your head i am sure that the 4000+ MC questions with comprehensive explanations be enough.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 11:50PM by Alexandrov.
 
I studied from Schweser and wish I had used CFAI text as well, not saying that Schweser is inadequate but I would rather use it with CFAI text.
 
Alexandrov,

Hmmm, let me clarify. If you do that much...then that's most likely enough for a strong foundation. So I admit my comment was only halfway (or even mostly) baseless...not "completely" baseless, lol.

However, I think that you can pass Level 1 with "far" less preparation than what you suggest and thus not have a strong foundation despite passing. It seems passing Level 2 is much, much, much harder than passing Level 1.

FYI: I used a friend's Schweser 2006 and a shady question bank with repeated questions and some with 6 answer choices (with Chinese writing in some instances...I can't read Chinese)...I don't know if some were from Schweser QBank or not. I will be using Schweser and CFAI materials for Level 2 to be more efficient.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Monday, June 9, 2008 at 12:07AM by bostonkev.
 
bostonkev Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Alexandrov,
>
> Hmmm, let me clarify. If you do that much...then
> that's most likely enough for a strong foundation.
> So I admit my comment was only halfway (or even
> mostly) baseless...not "completely" baseless,
> lol.
>
> However, I think that you can pass Level 1 with
> "far" less preparation than what you suggest and
> thus not have a strong foundation despite passing.
> It seems passing Level 2 is much, much, much
> harder than passing Level 1.
>
> FYI: I used a friend's Schweser 2006 and a shady
> question bank with repeated questions and some
> with 6 answer choices (with Chinese writing in
> some instances...I can't read Chinese)...I don't
> know if some were from Schweser QBank or not. I
> will be using Schweser and CFAI materials for
> Level 2 to be more efficient.


LOL@the chinese writing...i don't know about that type of Qbank, mine was great :)
 
Its hard to cover both Schweser and CFAI books at a time unless you are a single or a student ( at least in my opinion). Schweser covers 95 percent but not 100 percent of the material and easy to follow. CFAI is very detailed and needs ton of time.

I will give an example, Price weighted index is covered in detail in Schweser notes but never discuss adjusting the index for stock splits. So you miss one or two points there. Probably go through Schweser and glance through CFAI material.
 
After being through the level one process....my recommendation to a newbie would be to use the CFA I material exclusively. Register for the exam asap....get the CFA texts. Print out a seperate copy of the Learning Outcome Statements....follow the LOSs while you study.....highlight and make notes (especially reference notes to LOSs), go through the end of reading problems.....do the problems to a point where you do not have to look in the text for the procedure in executing the problem. For the June exam, I would go through this process twice from August of 2008 through Mid-April of 2009. Use the last 6 weeks for an intense review of all the material. Also, take all of the available CFA mock exams.....take those exams once you complete the CFA material in April then really study your weak areas as you keep working your strong areas so they are in top forum for the exam. I believe you should do extremely well. If you use Stalla, I would use there pass master software......the Level 1 SW has 2700 problems, you must determine how many questions a day you need to do to complete all 2700 problems by mid-april. You must do those passmaster problems in parallel to reading the material or you'll never finish all 2700. If you follow the Stalla process of Reading the Study Notes, watch or attend the lecture, do the homework...you're potentially doomed for failure, you won't have enough to go through all of the pass master problems. However I believe the Stalla material represents what you'll see on the real CFA exam with a mixture of quantitative and qualitative problems.

WarrenB1



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at Monday, June 9, 2008 at 12:44PM by WarrenB1.
 
I studied the CFAI material max 1 times cover to cover, Schweser books multiple times. finished all of Qbank and took both mock tests.

If i were to give someone any advice i would say this:

Devote plenty of time to study. 250 hours is a joke.

Get schweser. Study it cover to cover multiple times.

Get schweser Qbank. Yes its not representative but once you have finished off 3000+ Qbank questions taking real tests, you have taken the harder tests compared to CFAI.
You are going to see 5-10 questions max (extreme case scenario) that you might not know anything about and have to guess. That is not going to prevent you from passing the test if you study Schweser well.


I dont know whether I will pass or not. The reason would not be lack of studying or prep thru practice tests. It would be because I was just not on my "chill" mode on the day of the exam.

I had aced Schweser tests, I had aced the Mock exams. I still feel very unsure whether i will pass or not because on exam day I felt that I just wasnt my usual relaxed/"in the zone" mode. i was just too pumped up for my own good.

No excuses to myself if i fail. However, I never felt for a second following 2 things.
1) i should have studied more
2) I should have practiced more exams.

i am just so exhausted by studying for the past few months, it would be a huge downer to motivate myself to go through it again !! But if it does come to that, it should be a breeze next time around (not to jinx myself again ha ha !!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Monday, June 9, 2008 at 01:43PM by drymartini.
 
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