Hello all,
I know this topic has been beaten to death, but let me poke the dead horse one more time since I was unable to find this exact topic. I am planning to take CFA® level 1 and wanted to know how to prepare.
I have narrowed down my choices to The Premium Instruction Package vs The Essential Self Study Package
I have majored in quantitative finance in a B.S. program, but I am the type of test taker which always thinks negatively. I don't mind spending the extra $400 for the premium if it will give me a huge boost in chances of passing, but I don't want to buy it if its going to be extra garbage. Please let me know your suggestions. Thanks.
I passed L1 using the Schweser Notes and their Q-Bank. I think that is plenty as the books do a good job of teaching you the material in a more "easy-to-read" language while cutting the fat that the CFAI books have. The practice questions/mock exams they provide are a fairly good gauge of difficulty and style as well while the Q-Bank questions are simpler but designed to hammer home topics rather than reflect exam questions. I've not used any other products offered by Kaplan so can't comment on video lectures, workbooks, etc. However it comes down to you personally: do learn by doing or learn by reading, perhaps by live instruction? I know people that only read CFAI books and passed as well as people who've done nothing but practice questions and passed. The materials you get should be suited to your style. If i remember correctly though, Kaplan is so confident in their premium package that if you use it and don't pass then you get it for free should you attempt the test again? Best of luck.
For level I if you already have a finance and accounting background I think the regular notes are sufficient. I used only the basic notes package for Levels I and II, I did fail level 2 once, but that was more of my preparation process failing than lack of resources in the basic notes.
Level III I used everything, and took a 3 day review class, but level III is just a different beast I think that benefited me in helping prepare for the constructed response questions. I would say for any level I think the online classes serve as keeping you on Task, if you can read prior to the class then the class reinforces your reading, but also keeps you on schedule to finish all the reading by a certain date with plenty of time for review. So if you are motivated and can stick to a schedule you would be fine without the classes. If you learn better by the reinforcement, then consider it, but if you are able to read and comprehend sufficiently, I think all you would need are the basic notes.
Thank you guys for your help. I will go with the basic for now and see how that goes in the practice tests. If it's sufficient, I'll stick with that. Thank you again
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