CFA CFA Level 1 Studying options- Going with the Dallas CFA chapter review course or Schweser materials

Studying options- Going with the Dallas CFA chapter review course or Schweser materials

  • Author
    Posts
    • Up
      1
      ::

      Sitting for the CFA L1 this December and found myself at an intersection in my studying options and wanted to reach out the community. Here are my options:

      1) CFA-DFW Chapter Weekly Review Course which includes Schweser Notes, 3 practice exams,Schweser’s QuickSheet, and Schweser question bank. In aggregate, the package is referred to in the course material as the “Schweser Notes Package” and values it at over $650. The course will run me about $500 post-scholarship. Also, the class meets once a week for 14 weeks, 3 hours at a time. See more here: http://www.cfadfw.org/associations/3922/files/2013%20Spring%20DFW%20brochure.pdf

      <<<>>>

      2) Buying a la carte programs from Schweser. In particular the ones that you all found most useful. Which ones did the community find most useful?

      I am leaning to option #1. In your opinion, would you consider this the route to go or do you stand by the idea of purchasing the material directly from Schweser a la carte?

    • Up
      5
      ::

      So you only get the scholarship if you proceed with the Dallas course? In which case I say just go for it – the basic notes package is $350 and doesn’t include Q-bank.

      Audio lectures didn’t work for me because after the first 10 seconds or so I just tuned it out…

    • Up
      4
      ::

      @Christine thanks for the information! To clarify, the Dallas CFA chapter course is $950 all in pre-scholarship. Post-scholarship, the course comes out to $450 and seems like a heck of a value. I did receive the scholarship and as a result am definitely leaning towards that route. ^:)^ ^:)^

      As for supplementation material, I definitely see myself buying audio lecturers considering that I can review material while driving and working out.

    • Up
      4
      ::

      @christine What turned you off most about it?

    • Up
      2
      ::

      The equivalent package from Schweser is about that ($599 according to this link). If you’ve decided to get Q-Bank in either case, that puts the premium of the Dallas Review at $400.

      Is the Dallas Review course good value at $999? Yes. God knows I’ve spent the same amount buying random crap that didn’t matter to me in the end (audio lectures). 7city is the other good provider for classes (haven’t heard of Dallas but I’m assuming you’ve done your research) but they cost $1,395 for a full course class (although 300 Hours readers get 10% off).

      So it really depends on what you think you need. The risk here is not that the options you’re considering is not value-for-money (because they are) but rather whether you’ll end up buying extra stuff you won’t need/use.

      To be honest most people get along fine with just the notes and self-study, but it really depends on how much time you have to study, and how bulletproof you want to be come December 😀

      BTW what scholarship are you on? Does that only apply to these two packages?

    • Up
      2
      ::

      @christine That’s right! Sounds like you have done your homework on the audio packages. Did you find any killer deals on the audio packages? Best I have seen is reach $220 post-coupon code.

    • Up
      2
      ::

      @TonyPetrunin I just didn’t seem to learn much from it. I’d put it in my MP3 player (yes it was that long ago) and after a few seconds I’d stop listening/paying attention for a few seconds, and it was really hard to jump back in.

      So I found that it was either I sat down and concentrated hard for the entire session, or the entire thing was pointless. And if I had to sit down and concentrate I might as well study properly.

    • Avatar of ReenaReena
      Participant
        • CFA Charterholder
        Up
        1
        ::

        Hi @TonyPetrunin, I think it depends whether classes work for you. If they do, then the premium seems justified. If you’re a self-study sort of person like me, then just the notes will do.

      • Up
        1
        ::

        That sounds about right. I’m still not convinced they’re good value though…

      • Up
        0
        ::

        That’s a great deal @tonypetrunin!

    Viewing 9 reply threads
    • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.