@ultimatecontrarian
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Up3
I had success on level 2 (passed on first try 2013) by starting with classes at the local society. It was monumental in opening my brain to topics that may have been too dense if I dove straight into CFAI texts. I assume the Schweser video series could have the same impact. So spending a month or two, say December and January, watching high quality instructors covering the high level concepts and taking light notes can lay a great foundation for using either set of texts. I passed level 1 primarily with 1 year old Schweser texts, but I don’t personally think they’re up to the task for levels 2 and 3. Plus the Q-bank becomes increasingly irrelevant as you move to problem sets. Also, there’s no substitute for doing as many CFAI generated item sets and mock exams as possible.
Up2After a few years of this crappola I think the Schweser mocks are actually harder. Particularly for level 3, every question is basically a max-difficulty format. 2nd and 3rd derivatives are asked in a single question. The CFAI does this as well, but only once in a while rather than in every question or every topic.
For instance: “easy” difficulty is being given tobins q and equity q and asked whether overvalued or undervalued or fairly valued (1 concept). medium difficulty is being given the inputs for tobins q with some extra numbers and being asked to calculate the figure (1 calc). Hard difficulty is having to calculate equity q from inputs AND then evaluate the output to get a single right answer (have to know 1 concept and 1 calc). MAXIMUM difficulty is having to work to tobins q from the equity q and then evaluate the tobins q figure (2 calcs and 1 concept). Schweser likes to ask most of the questions like that last one in the mock exams, to get the most bang for the buck when preparing. But it’s a bit frustrating when trying to shoot for a passing score without going overboard on the prep.
my opinion anyway.
