CFA - CFA Provided Material or Kaplan?

Question on CFA,

I'm taking level 1 in December, why wouldn't I just go with the CFA provided materials since they literally wrote the exam?

I hear great things about Kaplan books but why pay the $380+ for them? And why would I pay the $650+ for the other levels?

Thanks,

Side question: What forum will I find CFA topics in? Sorry if this is in the wrong one...

 

Hi gator10, the silence is deafening, sorry about that.... Any of the threads below helpful?

  • What is Distinction is Better- CFA, MBA, or CAIA? front. What is the CFA Certification? The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation is an ... spent pursuing the Chartered Financial Analyst designation or a Masters in Business Administration? ... MBA, or a CAIA? The CFA, many argue, is also not as much as a door opener, as it is a caree
  • What should I do over the next 3-5 years to improve my chances of an M7 B-School Admit? consulting field, work my way up and make partner in time. But, I consider joining a B-school as the ideal ... m-t-none">Business School and GMAT Forum Resources</p><ul class="career-resources list list-unstyled ... responsibility at college and school I am a Trinity college certified Pianist I'm a regular volunteer at an ...
  • Having serious thoughts about B-school for the first time- can anyone offer any advice? and b-school thoughts have started entering my mind. I'll lay out my background below but these ... are the main questions swirling around in my head: 1) will b-school help me get to be where I want to ... class="h4 m-t-none">Business School and GMAT Forum Resources</p><ul ...
  • Columbia B-School NEW Masters program- Opinions? Is it worth it? in NYC during and post graduation Thanks guys, appreciate your views. Columbia Business School <p ... class="h4 m-t-none">Business School and GMAT Forum Resources</p><ul ... Hi guys, So, I've been admitted into this very new Masters program at Columbia Business ...
  • Asking for b-school recommendation 1 year into job? to enroll in b-school fall 2020 and thus start applying fall of next year (2019). I am currently ... occurrence- 2+2 > MBA, but I am not in the IBD / PE space. Should I mention that I intend to go to b school ... Any advice would be appreciated <p class="h4 m-t-none">Business School and GMAT Forum ...
  • The perception of these b-schools to employers, job prospects, and college decisions being a financial analyst for few years, get my CFA and MBA, and then attempt forensic or managerial ... Now that I have heard back from the business schools I applied to for undergrad I am attempting to ... and I was wondering the prospects for me in I-banking and accounting coming out of these schools. And ...
  • Maintaining a relationship during b-school in similar situations. Thanks a lot. MBA B-School relationships mfin <p class="h4 ... myself marrying this girl. She applied to business schools during round 1, and I did applications for ... m-t-none">Business School and GMAT Forum Resources</p><ul class="career-resources list list-unstyled ...
  • Best B-school for Equity Research I'm applying to b-schools this fall for next and I want to do ER post-grad. What are the best ... schools for giving me the most ER opportunities after getting my MBA? Are any schools particularly ... well-known on the street? Any additional info related to ER and business schools is also a big help! Thanks ...
  • More suggestions...

Or maybe the following users have something to say: a12398767 CAC dathomas91

I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.

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Best Response

So, the CFA Institute books teach you everything that CFAi wants you to know. The Kaplan books teach you everything they will likely test you on for that level. The CFAi books are also significantly lengthier than the Kaplan ones. The Kaplan ones also seemed to be (relatively) somewhat sloppily written to me. Kaplan's questions also seemed to rely on tricks to achieve scores similar to what CFAi's did with sheer difficulty.

Are you time constrained and want the best chance of passing that particular level with no particular concern for the whole program? Go Kaplan.

Do you want the best chance to make it all the way, and are you willing to spend extra time now to do so? Go CFAi, they set you up significantly better for the following level.

Last I checked, the percentage of level 1 candidates that ever got their charter was

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 

I did lvl 1 with CFAI for Ethics and Econ, Schweser for the rest. It was fine and I was a bit short for time which is why I did it. I'm going to start in August/September for lvl 2 next year and intend on using only CFAI (and maybe touch on Schweser/Kaplan for some practice questions).

As mentioned above, CFAI is generally better but more time consuming. Lvl 1 you can definitely get by on Schweser (and I assume Kaplan as from what I've heard they're very similar), but try to use CFAI if you can.

 

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