non financial background using Schweser only, background, anybody, through

neil1234

Is there anybody out there with a non-financial background who used Schweser and only Schweser for Levels 2 and 3 and got through?

skycfa

Yes I did (though I also used other tools like secret sauce, question bank, and CFAI exams/mocks)

Wendy01

I’ve used Schweser Notes only for all three levels and passed all exams on the first try, with a wide grade margin. I had science/engineering education up to Master’s level, but no accounting/business/finance classes prior to taking CFA. I do work in finance, but I write quant programs, so my expertise is quite narrow.
If you have good math/analytical skills and background, I would recommend using Schweser (notes only, the rest is redundant). For good retention, do all of the practice questions right after you finish each section. You’ll probably be done in
One exception may be the Ethics section. You may want to read through all the case studies and questions in the CFA curriculum. The exam writers really enjoy testing the special corner cases and splitting hairs, some of which Schweser may omit. Ethics is the only section that I could not get 70 with Schweser alone.
Past L3 written questions (freely available from CFA) are extremely important for L3. Also, I would recommend doing CFA practice exams, to get a good feel for the difficulty level. Schweser exams tend to have more math and accounting work compared to the real thing, though they are good practice.

Palantir

I used only CFAI materials and really enjoyed reading them. If you have spare time, I’d recommend not looking for shortcuts.