The end of the Prep Provider debate (hopefully) only, everything, efficient, including

Nishant1

Hi guys!

I am going to TRY to put an end to the Prep Provider debate here by putting everything in perspective.

First of all, Prep Providers are only meant to provide 'supplementary' study matierials. All the readings have only been compiled in a formal curriculum for the last 2-3 years. Before then, people would either study from proper text books (fabaozzi et all) or use study guides from prep providers.

During that time, people including myself found it quite efficient to just study from these guides and pass the exam. You might have seen 3-4 questions max that were not covered by these guides, and it was a risk that most pepple were willing to take given the time and effort saved in referring to these guides exclusively. However, now with the purchase of the curriculum being made MANDATORY for every candidate, I for one have noticed that students have found that more questions are 'esoteric' and focus on 'nitty gritty' that they weren't really expecting on the exam. This does not mean that prep providers are not doing their jobs. They don't claim to cover everything, not are they meant to becuase they try to make your learning more focussed, and more efficient.

I have been tutoring students for a number of years, and I receive all sorts of feedback. Some people think I am an arrogant prick who loves to make students look stupid, while others think I am really cool and know how to control a classroom. Some of my most ardent fans have failed, other who have dropped out of my classes have passed.

What I am trying to say is that what makes a difference in the end is YOU, YOUR COMMITMENT AND YOUR DISCIPLINE. Your Prep Provider cannot be solely responsible for your failings, not can it take all the credit for your success.

People will swear by their study provider if they have passed, and blast them if they dont. Right now what you see on this forum is a larger proportion of people who are disappointed with their performance on the exam posting. But dont let this small sample of CFA candidates lead you to think that these guides are not useful. Most of the candidates who were very active on this board arent visitng anymore because they're done, and theyre taking a well-deserved breather for a bit.

Study guides can be very useful. But I would urge you to make your own decisons. Visit their websites. Browse through their samples and see whose style you like. You already have the curriculum if you have registered. It shouldnt be too hard to gauge whether you need their services.

I dont think there is a significant difference in quality across prep providers. Personal preferences play a huge role here. Their styles are a bit different. It is wise to refer to study guides but not ideal to rely on them solely. Lots of people HAVE passed using the study guides EXCLUSIVELY, but its not giving yourself the BEST chance of passing.

On an exam if there are 100 questions, then you will be able to answer ATLEAST 95% of them if you know the material in your study guide INSIDE OUT. If you focus on the curriculum and use your study guide as a secondary resrouce, I think you can fair better.
In the end its a cost benefit analysis that ONLY YOU can answer because it depends on your time and budget constraints, and on your academic and professional background.

There are certain topics that prep providers wont cover or wont cover in too much detail. This is where forums like this come in. You guys can help each other out and highlight concepts that you think arent adequately addressed in your prep providers' materials. I have students who will be using Schweser and Elan Guides for the June exam so I will be reading pretty much both of them plus the curriculum in their entirety, so I will try to contribute to the discussions here as well going forward. So help each other out- its the best way to ensure that we cover everything here.

Finally, learn to back youself! Dont rely on random strangers' opinions on an exam that can mean so much. Do your own research and be your own judge.

hariRaj

^ Agree, especially with that last point there. The exam was not tough and I cant say with confidence that Im gonna pass, but I still swear by Schweser, because I wasn't stupid enough to rely on others' opinions.

Initially I spent a couple of days reading both Schweser + CFAI booksand comparing the two in terms of understanding, content coverage, and time spent reading a chapter on each.

ishfaque

I would agree that Schweser covered 95% of all questions on the test.

Out of the other 5%, if you know the concepts cold you can figure out maybe half of the ones you don't know. That only leaves you completely guessing on 3 or 4 questions on the exam. Considering the test is 240 questions, I would say prep providers did a pretty good job.

JoeyDVivre

Excellent advice - this should be a sticky topic on the forum.

scr879

i used stalla, which it seems to not be getting enough credit on here! peter olinto lights a severe fire of motivation under your butt and has a great way of repeating things numerous times to tie all concepts together for memorization. specifically of note, i recall him stating that a different measure should be used if your sharpe comes out negative. when i saw that concept, his voice was in my head on saturday!

marsilni

I used Schweser Notes, Schweser MP3s and Schweser Secret Sauce. I think there were only 2 questions on the exam that were not covered in that review.

Daniel1985

I agree with the thoughts presented here, however there is one major problem for which there is void in the market of CFA materials. And that is the type of the questions given by the prep provider and the questions tested by CFA.

Everyone uses a prep provider and that makes sense, however if you practice say 2000 schweser / stalla questions it only "helps" you to get prepared for CFA type "conceptual " questions. I wonder if there some material available(and if not, someone from us would some day take the initiative) to prepare say 2000 CFA type "conceptual" questions. I bet that would increase the chance of passing.

hariRaj

hkalra32 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I agree with the thoughts presented here, however
> there is one major problem for which there is void
> in the market of CFA materials. And that is the
> type of the questions given by the prep provider
> and the questions tested by CFA.
>
> Everyone uses a prep provider and that makes
> sense, however if you practice say 2000 schweser /
> stalla questions it only "helps" you to get
> prepared for CFA type "conceptual " questions. I
> wonder if there some material available(and if
> not, someone from us would some day take the
> initiative) to prepare say 2000 CFA type
> "conceptual" questions. I bet that would increase
> the chance of passing.


I think the CFAI is addressing this, with sample/mock exams and additional exams available for purchase. Other folks are just guessing - the only people who can really say there questions are CFA type are the CFA, in my opinion. I think for that experience you need to rely on CFAI, which is doing a good job (again, IMO).

btcapital

bumpie (as my daughter would say)