Which CFA Study Program Do You Recommend?

Taking level 1 this December and using Schweser. Will let you know if it works...

I used Schweser because it was the most popular one, and it worked. The CFAI books are dense so you need something to condense the material into its essential components.

When studying for the CFA exams, I had read good things about Elan (now Wiley, I believe) but I've never seen a sample to say it is good or bad. Schweser is more than sufficient for Level 1.

Currently using AnalystNotes for condensed notes and Allen Resources for notes/Qbank for Dec L1. Both have been great so far for me.

I used Schweser only and never touched the official notes.

I took Schweser books + audio + video lectures.

I think you can do without the video lectures. However, books + audio is a good approach, as you can listen to the audio when travelling to work, walking the dog, running around the park. My understanding is that getting the same information in two different forms works better on the brain for memory, even if it's word for word the same. Something along the lines of your stimulating the same conceptual understanding from different stiumuli directions, building up more and stronger access points to the concepts/memories.

Save your money and just read the CFAI books and definitely do the practice questions. It always made more sense to me to read the books assembled by the authors of the exam rather than a third party. Maybe it takes longer, but was successful in my case

None.

Seriously, just read the books in two months and then pound the mock exams mercilessly a month before the exam.

By the time month 3 rolls around you'll have forgotten what you read there anyway, so you might as well save yourself the additional money for the course. The mocks are what make or break you.

All those prep course books are floating around on the internet anyway. There's no secret sauce in them.

I used the CFAI material for Level 1 - skimmed through the easier sections and focused on the tougher. If you took upper level accounting classes along with finance classes, coupling this with mock exams (a must) will get you by.

I used Schweser Notes & did their weekly class for Level 2 (I passed, thankfully). I found the class to be quite helpful in keeping me on target and the notes were succinct so the reading wasn't daunting. I coupled that with referencing CFAI for sections I was struggling in and mock exams - earned me a pass.

No Level 3 suggestions as I am taking it this June. Good luck!

Schweser. Hands down.

Talk to your local CFA society, my old one offers discounts on the notes AND on the live mock exams through Kaplan, which I would HIGHLY advise you take. They also proctor 2 live tests a year for candidates. If you want, DM me and I'll pass it along

I've passed the first two levels so far. A good book that helped me get a bit more comfortable with the whole test was Direct Path to the CFA Charter. (I have no affiliation)

Level I - I studied with analystnotes which is cheap, I think around 100$ and worked for me. Level II - I read the books. Level III - I will read the books.

If you look around you can find some Chinese knock offs of schweser and good providers, although I haven't dealt with them so not sure of the quality.

If you have the time read the actual books, ya know the things that the tests are based on...

Use Schweser as needed

Kaplan Schweser is a good resource - used it for all 3 levels. I also recommend giving yourself time to complete the problems in the CFAI textbooks.

Also, use the Topic Tests that CFAI gives you on their website.

Schweser worked for me for Level I but I'm switching to the CFAI for Level II. I didn't find the QBank super helpful but like others have said, start taking mocks AT LEAST a month in advance. I took a ton of notes and barely touched them during the week I took off before the exam. If you're going to use Schweser for Level I, I'd suggest using the CFAI material for Ethics, FRA, and possibly Fixed Income. The CTRL+F function with their online text is clutch for quickly referencing formulas/sections you want to review. I cannot stress enough the importance of practice problems... best of luck.

Could someone explain to me why, like I`m a 3-year old I should do a part time MSF when I can do two levels of the CFA by then? Full disclosure: I am in Atlanta debating the MSF at Georgia State vs the CFA.

Currently doing analyst notes. Very condensed and to the point. I like it a lot for its simplicity.

Also got the Fitch learning videos. Haven't really used them but they're video lectures. Got them from Udemy for 10 bucks around New Year's Day, so look out for those if you're into videos. It has lectures on every single section.

Heard great things about Schweser.

Schweser and CFAI books - I wouldn't mess with much else, it's all you need. I would honestly worry less about multiple providers and just focus on crushing practice problems and mock exams. Level I is all about repetition, the material is not difficult to grasp.

You should get Schweser. Couple that with CFAI end of chapters questions and you should be fine.

Check out their 'Secret Sauce' too to review material on the train, at lunch, etc...

Good luck!

Actually read the books. Use supplemental study materials to learn material you're struggling with. Practice exams and questions are where supplemental materials are the most valuable.

Using Schweser for lvl 1 in Dec. Just finished the readings, gona bang away on q-bank practice problems and mocks til the cows come home.

BPP: couldn't recommend it highly enough. Passed CFA LI in June this year; first time, without working in a financial institution, largely thanks to BPP and a bit from analystnotes.

You get practice questions by email every day, a massive book of questions, mocks etc etc.

Their guide book is fantastic: the CFAI materials are huge, and the guide book is great in what it says you can just skim through. The more time you spend on the more relevant materials, the better.

Most importantly, though, their practice questions and mocks are far harder than what you get on the day. If you can ace the BPP questions then you're sorted on exam day.

It is expensive, but I would argue it's worth it. The courses that offer abbreviated CFAI materials don't actually help you study any better, and there will always obscure bits of the syllabus that will come up on exam day that they have left out, but you might have picked up from the full CFA books.

Hope this helps.

I took and passed Level I this past summer. Spent about 2 months prepping hard with the Schweser books and nothing more. If you don't have alot of time to study, I'd recommend them because the material is fairly straight forward and condensed. I never took a mock exam or used the Q-Bank.....just did the questions in the back of each section and I was fine.

/

I used Kaplan Schweser and I'd also recommend doing as many problems from the CFAI books FIRST. You'll see a few questions on the real exam that Schweser doesn't touch on.

Passed Level 1 on the first try. I just used the books, took notes on them and did the odd problems at the end of every chapter. Then when I finished a section (or whatever the 3 or 4 chapter blocks are called), I would go back and do the evens. Spent a month doing mock exams, they were very useful as well, pirated them off the internet.

Thank you everyone for the advice it has been helpful so far. I am leaning towards a combination of Schweser and the CFAI books. I am having trouble finding the books for the CFAI and I have checked on their website. Can someone tell me where I can find the books everyone is recommending?

I used kaplan schweser Fitch and the CFA institute. I would do kaplan schweser again it was both short and comprehensive.

I'm also registering to take L1 in June 2016 and definitely leaning towards Schweser. I've spent a good deal of time on other forums and talking to candidates/charterholders at my firm, Schweser seems to be the consensus.