So finally I took the decision to do the CFA program, and I am aiming for the CFA Level l exam in June 2016. I work full time for a Swiss bank and I have some experience with continuing education along with work. In the past I always tried, before officially enrolling to a program, to gather the learning material and make a kind of trial period where I can allocate my time and find out if it’s actually doable. Unfortunately in this case I must firstly enroll in order to get the study material from the CFA institute. Considering the vast choice of companion programs and study book, I actually wanted to know if these complementary study material eg: from Schleser Kaplan, Wiley etc. suffice to acquire the required knowledge in order to pass the exam or not. Furthermore, which provider you consider as most complete, and is one enough or should I combine the study material from several providers? Many thanks in advance,
Last year’s L1 study materials are available in abundance on eBay and such. Although I would not rely on them for your “official” preparation, they still be 90+% applicable and fulfill your initial goal.
I found Schweser to be very helpful if time is a limiting factor, particularly when combined with end of chapter (EOC) questions from the official curriculum and practice exams. If you have a decent finance, accounting, and economics background though, L1 should be a slam dunk regardless of what you use if you put in enough time to refresh your memory on those topics.
You are in fact able to order the official CFA curriculum without actually signing up for the exam…you just have to give them a call and order it over the phone. That’s what I did to get my L2 material before I had actually signed up.
S666, out of interest, roughly how much did the materials cost in isolation?
Assuming I pass L1 in December, I won’t be sitting L2 until 2017 as I’m getting married next year. Would be keen to get started with some casual study to keep as much of the material in memory as possible.
Good question…I can’t remember exactly how much they were but I do remember the overall cost being slightly higher than when bought as a candidate. Bearing in mind I am talking about the print version of the curriculum and I believe it was the shipping costs to the UK that were higher…with the actual books themselves costing the same. Or something like that…
Long story short, it was more expensive, but nowhere near enough to make me not want to get an extra few weeks of study in so it can’t have been that bad. I believe the difference was only in the tens of dollars.
Mind you, if you’re in Australia perhaps the shipping will be even more.
So just to be clear (from what I understand from your answers), you think that the official books are necessary and the companion books/programs alone are not enough per se?
On this site if you ask 10 people what the best combination of official curriculum and third party provider material is, you’re gonna get at least 15 different answers.
There are some who swear by the curriculum as their only source of material, and same for some with Schweser…
I sit somewhere in between. Horses for courses, but I used pretty much exclusively Schweser for level 1 and pretty much exclusively the official CFAI stuff for level 2. I plan to use the CFAI material for L3 too.
Hey guys, new to the forum as well. I am taking the CFA L1 in June 2016 and was wondering if I need to sign up for a course (probably Wiley) to pass the L1, or will the curriculum and online study guides be enough?
Just look at the top bar. What do you see? Brands! Big Brands like Bloomberg, Fitch and Wiley! You know what; they have entered in prep products market in the last 20 months.
Now just think for a moment; Why would these brands enter into CFA prep products market if they were not confident of success? Even any one of them entering in this market will give me confidence that there is demand/need for third party prep products but THREE big names is a sure sign that candidates spend money and time on CFA prep products and these guys see big growth potential in furture.
Many have passed all three exams with Schweser only. Never opened books from CFA Institute, never had time or temparament to read 3000 pages for one exam level. Always prefer hard books over soft; you can jot down your notes and highlight things as you go; makes it easier to reveiw 10 times before the exam!
If you have finance background, most of L1 should be review material. I’ve never signed up for a course for any of the exams and never really felt the need. Schweser is more than sufficient IMO. Even if you don’t have finance background, as long as you commit yourself, courses aren’t necessary.
Thanks guys, I did Econ and Finance in college so it did not seem necessary to sign up for a course for L1. Will most likely consider Wiley for L2 as I have heard many good things about Elan.
I hope you pass your exam this December and start preparing after that. You can go for Wiley, Kaplan, Fitch or any other thrid party provider. But here is something important for you to know:
No CFA Training Provider in the whole world recommends Elan Guides. That is correct. Not a single college or Institute. You get that! Let me repeat. Not a single institute in this whole world.
My recommendation - Go for Kaplan and save yourself risk of wasting a whole year!
tluu20902, Both Schweser and Wiley have their strengths and weaknesses which are covered in any number of posts. I used Schweser for Level I and Wiley for Level II, and passed both exams on my first attempts.