AnalystNotes?

Question

I posted this in a different thread so I apologized for the repetitiveness...Regarding AnalystNotes, Rachel Bryant swore by them in her "Direct Path to the CFA Charter". She leaned on them heavily for L1. Admittedly being a bit frugal when it comes to the 3rd party study materials. Has anyone had good experiences with AnalystNotes as a sole supplement to the Curriculum? Some of it seems a bit choppy and I am going back and forth between the notes and book. I do appreciate the condensed summaries when it comes to ethics as that can be exhaustive in the curriculum. Any thoughts are much appreciated!

concernedape · Answer

I would use them as side material rather than the main one. They're good for looking up specific problems and examples but I'm not sure how useful they would be to study from.

JaminioSilva · Answer

I bought them as a supplement for L2 as was only around $100 or something. Notes were OK, but the question bank was much more valuable as it gave the ability to drill loads of practice which I felt was essential to passing. L1 isn't that heavy on concepts really so the notes work fine and if you're finding you're not getting it then check the curriculum and they'll have a blue box example. The only way you know if you're getting it is to do loads of questions!I would hesitate to use them as a sole provider unless you back yourself to work through and understand the concepts on your own; easier to do at L1, would not suggest at L2 or L3. If you're on a budget, IFT are doing all their video lectures for free and their L1 packages are mostly sub $300. I used their videos at L2 and they worked out good for me. Using Mark Meldrum for L3 and am liking it so far.L1 you need to smash loads of questions*, so whatever package you buy, make sure it has a Qbank. For $99 Analyst notes gives you 10 past papers (half papers), 5k questions, notes and a formula sheet. One thing i will say about some of the more premium services is that they focus in on the important/testable subjects and on taking the test specifically (i.e. how to answer questions/what to expect). There is a lot of ground to cover and it's very easy to get bogged down trying to get every section perfect and run out of time or focus on low percentage stuff if you're doing it on your own. Think about how much your time is worth, failing a level adds 6-12 months of extra work so is that really worth you skimping on $500?*(Every level you need to being doing loads of practice questions!)