Hi Guys
Is qbank from Schweser essential for L1? Did anyone pass without schweser Qbank?
The CFA pgm has online practice tests, would that and mock exams not be sufficient to passing? Do we have to get the qbank? the qbank itself works out about 1/3 of what I paid for the cfa programme in total ( After conversion rates)
please advise
From CFA you already have:
examples within chapters
end of chapter questions
online tests for each module
2 mock exams
The first two you can do as you study, the third a bit later, and the mocks after you ‘finished’ studying.
At that point, if you did the mocks correctly and fairly and got a high score… probably no need to continue studying.
If you got a low score on the mocks, examine each wrong question and re-study those points. After that, you may want another fair test so the Schweser mocks and Qbank could be useful to be sure you are ready.
Bear in mind that each mock is 6 hours and each Qbank question is at least 1 minute… and then study time for the questions you get wrong. Plan if you have enough time to really get value for money.
Sorry to disappoint, but the answer is “it depends”. I know two guys that work in my dept. that both have the designation and one was always using it and the other never ordered Qbank. I think, however, how I used it and how it helped me might answer your question.
With the Qbank, most of the questions will not be exam level questions, though there are some. There are about 4000 questions, with different ranges of difficulty covering all 10 topics in the curriculum.
Qbank helped me reinforce basic concepts in the curriculum and allowed me to review multiple concepts at a time. In a 4 hour study session, I could essentially review hundreds of problems covering 6-8 of the 10 topics in the curriculum. It allowed me to keep the concepts I understood fresh and learn a few new concepts as well.
I found I got the most out of it, by doing 10-15 questions at a time on each topic and then reviewing each question. For me, this was way better than going through 30, 40, 50, 60 questions at a time and then reviewing all of them (you have the functionality in Qbank to select the amount of problems you want). The short question quizzes allow you to focus much easier, and reviewing 10 questions at a time isn’t that bad at all.
Again, keep in mind that a sizeable portion of these questions aren’t exam level questions, although the intermediate and difficult level questions can be challenging. To me the biggest benefit is seeing more questions, being able to review multiple topics at a time to keep the information fresh and reinforce the basic concepts that will allow you to have a base for the exam level questions.
As you are reading the books, by the time you read book 5, how much time has gone by since you have read book 1? Maybe not much, maybe alot, for me it was several months. So using Qbank helped me avoid the feeling of needing to relearn the info. Also when you start taking mock exams, you spend a lot of time reviewing them and learning what you missed, you sometimes forget to brush up on the familiar topics that may not have been asked on a particular mock exam. This is where I found the value.
Its up to you…I passed Level 1 and I definitely will get Qbank for Level II. There are not enough questions for me in the Schweser books and the CFA books. But depending on your study approach, you might not find it necessary.
it’s a great help at level 1, but useless at level 2 and 3
Thanks guys for your comments.
TE600 I understand what you are saying. The Qbank is good for cementation of concepts and problems. it would give one an idea on how to interpret and solve problems