@wesmantooth
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Up7
This section took me the longest to read through. Most complex IMO.
Up6I’m not a fan of this chain. I get that you’re shooting to broaden your target market by showing the “lighter side” and to just ‘take it for what it is’ but this whole story flat out rubs me the wrong way. For a couple reasons:
A) I still don’t believe it…I believe that whoever this is passed the exam and i’m sure people have met him but I would bet money that his antics the night before are exagerated.
B) Ignoring my disbelief, I don’t get the point of the story…
“I passed my exam, no thanks to my pre-exam antics, but rather to good luck and good preparation (in the months before obviously)”
Is he saying that he prepared so well beforehand that it didn’t matter that he was out all night and wasted? or is he saying that he was super lucky and pretty much was struck by lightning in passing? It sounds like it was more random guessing that got him through if he got up halfway through the second session and left, or maybe he’s a genius savant that can work through problems 10x faster than the average joe, even when wasted.
C)Straight up personal preference, I am not looking for this type of story when I visit this website. I’ve committed a lot of time to try and get through this designation and reading a story about someone fluking out when they probably didn’t deserve to pass doesn’t appeal to me.I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading the rest of the articles on this site but this one just seems oddly out of character and against the general feeling and image that I think is portrayed throughout.
Just my two cents.
Up5I wrote Level one in December and have signed up for level two in June also. So far I especially agree with #2, having the Level one material relatively fresh in my head has been a big plus. If I’d waited a year I imagine it would take a lot more time to get through the material because I’d for sure have to go back and review.
Up5Looks very cool! Wish I had that for L1 & 2. Hopefully the L3 comes out early 2015!
Up5@TheLetace it is highly probably that you will have everything you need to study for L1 with those resources. Key for level one seems to be to get through the material relatively quickly and then hit the practice questions hard and often! Good luck!
Up5I did with 4 months and working full time. 3 months without a job is possible but not easy, make sure you have enough hours to get through it all!
Up5Has anyone here taken or started this course?
Up4I’d be super curious to know how your band scores from level 1 correlate to your result or potential result in level 2!
I’m hoping that the majority of people who get good band scores on 1 usually do well on level 2 also…I’m assuming this is the case but it would be cool to see the stats on it! Something along the lines of your odds of passing level 2 based on your level 1 score…Up4Oops sorry, band score was not the correct term to use, I’m meant to refer to the range of scores that you get on each topic (<50%, 50-70%, 70%+) and your calculated range of possible scores on the whole that 300hours provides you with based on these. Good catch @hairyfairy thanks!
So i guess I was hoping for an odds of passing level 2 based on your potential range of scores from Level 1.Up4I don’t know, if you filtered the data for only people who completed a minimum # of practice exams on both exams, wouldn’t that improve the results drastically (probably a few filters you could use to further improve the data)? I agree you’ll never be able to make any drastic conclusions but I bet you could pull a few facts at a respectable level of significance. For example, I’d go out on a limb and predict that some sort of regression could be put together with people who scored +70% across all topics and attach a coefficient that would be significantly different than zero with at least 90% confidence…
Up4@tacheman speaking of flashcard-style reading, wouldn’t it be great to get the CFA material this new Spritz app http://www.businessinsider.com/spritz-speed-reader-app-2014-3 , has anyone tried this? It would be a great way to at least scan through chapters!
Up4nevermind just got it…and i’m pretty sure that proves the “late email = fail” myth because I passed and didn’t get my email until 2 hours after 9am!
What a relief! Congrats to all who passed and I feel your pain if you were not succesful this time around!Up4I second @tacheman ‘s sentiment. I used the L1 Schweser videos a decent amount but wasn’t too keen on the Level 2 videos. I like Signals visuals throughout the videos rather than looking at some dude talking. I would definitely pay a small fee for access to L3 topics, even just a the biggest hardest ones!
Up4For L1 & L2 I used Schweser books, Qbank, Practice exams and Secret Sauce (L2 only) then used EOC from CFAI texts. Worked well for me.
Schweser books are easy to follow and understand…and obviously shorter. I found Qbank useful for L1 but not at all for L2. I bought Secret Sauce for L2 and really found it useful for review purposes. I used a lot of Schweser practice exams towards the end for L1, but only one for L2 (used more CFA old exams instead – way more valuable time spent there).
Never tried any other providers, but those online videos by Signal that @Sophie blogged about look pretty sweet.Up4I disagree @mattyc because I think his point was that in a perfect world with unlimited time it would be best to read the full version of the CFAI texts because they are more comprehensive and are guaraunteed to cover everything tested on the exam, which is hard to argue with. This is by no means the most time efficient way to study for the test. Reading from the 3rd party providers instead of the CFAI texts is a shortcut no matter how you look at it. Does it provide you enough knowledge to pass the exam? Absolutely, but the point is that you would probably accumulate more knowledge by reading the CFAI texts. The CFAI doesn’t put the supplementary readings in there for kicks, they are meant to provide more depth to your understanding.
If you took Candidate A and Candidate B who are identical twins with the exact same abilities and experience until now and you give A CFAI texts only to study, and you gave B 3rd party texts only to study for an exam what would the results be? They might both pass the exam, but I would bet that A would have a higher % chance of scoring better and coming out with more knowledge overall than B.
“the only thing that can quantify the actual skill or level of expertise of the surgeon is the medical degree hanging on his wall”- I really disagree with this statement but that is a tangent I will avoid for now.
The main point I focus on in the analogy is that using “summarized” texts of some form is a shortcut and can be a signal of having less of an understanding than someone who did not take the same shortcut.Up4Love it. #8-10 really nailed it!
Up4feeling old…be interesting to see pass rates based on age. I’d assume the older crowd would have a higher pass rate overall, theoretically having more experience. More pressure to pass when you start late, can’t afford to waste a year of life! For me its in and out in 18 months or bust! These “young bucks” have nothin but time!
Up4I’ve found mock questions from CFAI and any 3rd party providers to be vague and slightly unfair. My experience on the actual exams for L1&2 was that all the questions were very clear in what they were asking and I never felt as though I was missing information. If there is one thing the CFAI does really well, it is picking exam questions that are tough, fair, and unambiguous.
Up4@jim @mattyc @abhay @fitmba @hairyfairy any updates on progress?
I’m currently up to Swaps at the end of book 4. Recently started going back to the start to review CFAI questions from the beginning of the material, haven’t gotten far on that though. Finding my first pass on the material may have been too light, having to relearn concepts is taking time.
Just got access to the Schweser Secret sauce. This year I went with the online version, which I’m regretting, I need a paper copy to read, not a fan of electronic readings.
