+1 - true word. I passed level 1 because of Mr.Olinto. Always a big big fan of him 
Nice to know people like him still.
Wileys derivatives videos are fantastic, I’ve learned some much more from them this time around than last year using schweser
I just ordered and have had very fast response times from customer serivce both email and telephone; issues seem to be fixed
Who does the derivatives videos?
PO does sir.
Well, there you go: Peter’s awesome.
You are absolutely hopeless…your customer service personnel have no regard for courtesy and will extend none, either on the phone mail or chat…chat being the worst. The videos are very good no doubt…but service counts a lot…I’d give you f***ing 3 on 10…And thank God they just offer 2 levels…an offer for level 3 would have been disastrous at least for me.
I’ve used Schweser in the past and hated it. I’m the type of person that absorbs more information via lecture than just reading. I found the Schweser videos to be very dry and didn’t provide me much more value than just reading the curriculum. It certainly didn’t make concepts more easy to learn.
For Level 1 I used Stalla. I felt confident before the test and walked out knowing I passed. The videos were great and that was driven by none other than Peter Olinto. The next year, when I took Level 2 the first time Stalla had basically folded and I went with Schweser. I found myself thoroughly unprepared.
This time around I went with Elan because of Olinto. I couldn’t be happier. I’m gaining far more this time around than I did with Schweser. Elan videos with him lecturing are worth the cost. He really makes concepts understandable and teaches in a way that it’s easier to retain.
When it comes to questions, I believe there are fewer with Wiley, but realistically the best questions to use are the CFAI anyway.
As for service, I’m sure people have received poor customer service, but I just haven’t seen that. I haven’t had any issues with service so far and don’t anticipate it at this point. Just about everything has been released by now and I’ve been able to make solid progress.
I can’t stress enough…Peter Olinto is the man and the value proposition with this product.
There are a few vignettes in there. Particularly in Equity if I’m not mistaken. There aren’t a ton, but they are there. I don’t mind so much because I’ll use their questions for the base and then exhaust the CFAI EOC questions.
Really apprecite the collaboration on AF…and the fact that we can all come here from many corners of the world and share what we do. In the end, I went with Wiley for level 2 and feel it saved my a** in a number of ways and Olinto does indeed rock.
I used Schweser for Level I and switched to Wiley for Level 2.
I thought part of the Schweser readings were difficult to understand - derivatives, fixed income and econ. I ended up spending a lot of time reading the CFAI material trying to understand the topics. After switching to Wiley for Level 2 I couldn’t understand what it is that I didn’t get. Everything was crystal clear.
I didn’t have any problems with Wiley’s customer service and had no problems printing from VitalSource.
I’m an active learner and really regret not purchasing the Schweser Qbank for Level 2. For Level I I did all of the qbank questions 2x and was absolutely sure I passed when I finished the exam. I might be retaking Level 2 so I’m glad that Wiley has a “we’re with you until you pass” guarantee.
Just buy Schweser Books and practice exams. Forget about videos, they’re not worth your time.
Hey Guys–
Here’s my two cents. I found Kaplan really good for Level 1 prep. Their Qbank is top notch and they prepare you rather well. However, for Level 2 they are seriously lacking. Last year I tried to use their Schweser Notes instead of CFAI material and it was a big mistake. I used the Qbank again this year for “soft study” but ordered nothing else from Kaplan. I’ll probably only order Qbank subscriptions from them going forward.
To be honest, I’ve never used Elan’s full prep stuff, only its formula sheets and 11th Hour guide. Honestly, I found the 11th Hour Guide to be well worth the money I paid for it. Honestly, there was nothing better than Elan’s 11th Hour Guide. If you don’t order it you are missing out. I hit concepts before the test and during breaks. Seriously, buy the freaking guide. I promise you I’m not a Wiley plant, but it’s the best spend of money for L2 materials.
However, it sounds like Elan is not investing in this business well with customer service and shipping problems…so I’ll probably not buy their full suite of materials.
Tl;dr: I used CFAI materials to study (the material isn’t as long as it looks if you take out the EOCs and tests), Kaplan Qbank for repetition, and Elan’s 11th Hour Guide for memory. I may be wrong, but I think I passed. I didn’t feel Kaplan wasn’t great for L2 (although good for L1) and in my limited use of Elan’s materials I found them to be the best. Of course, that’s one guide though.
Hope that helps!
They’re only doing packages? That’s messed up. Big chance for Elan to steal market share.
Now that L2 results are in, I thought it might be a good idea to revisit this topic. Many people said that using 3rd party study guides as your sole resource was not sufficient for passing L2, but that was my strategy, and I had no problem passing.
I used Schweser (books and Qbank). I can only recall one question on the exam where the answer involved something that wasn’t in the Schweser readings. Fortunately, the other two answers were, so I was able to arrive at the correct answer.
>70% in everything with the exception of corp fin
Used Elan first time at L2, failed poorly, but didn’t have enough time from end of Feb… Books were good IMO, but the practice questions were frustrating to do online… I liked Schweser’s Qbank much more at L1, much easier interface. Trying to decide how I want to tackle this for 2016… read CFAI material or buy books again and maybe just Qbank?! I learn by doing tons and tons of problems so Qbank might be my best option this go around…
I passed with Schweser study guides, Q-Bank, and CFAI EOC. My study partner used ELAN study guides, ELAN practice questions, and the CFAI EOC and also passed.
The question of which provider is better is always going to provide a biased answer, but in reality, there probably isn’t much difference at all. The most critical element to me is to practice the CFAI EOCs and CFAI practice assessments. If you use a third-party provider and run into a CFAI question that baffles you, just read the text/Google/post a question.
Of course, some will have you believe that reading the actual text is the only possible way to pass. That may be true, but I struggle to make sense of those books. No matter which route you take, just be sure to work all of the CFAI EOCs in order to have a shot at passing.
Does someone know when the Level II June16 packages will be available from Wiley?
When was it available for June15?
Thx
I asked Wiley, it will be out in October 2015.
I do advise any candidate to go with IFT for online lectures.