CFA Level 1 Preparation: Kaplan vs CFA Singapore vs Self-Study

caterpede

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Anyone here not from a finance background and did level 1? I am a engineering undergrad and i'm contemplating studying for CFA during my attachment..

I think you need to be in your final year before you are allowed to take the CFA.
 

Junior87

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I think you need to be in your final year before you are allowed to take the CFA.

yeah i'll be studying for CFA during y3s2.. afterwhich i proceed on to yr4.. i should be able to take level 1 then right?
 

oompa2488

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Hi peeps,

I'm having a dilemma now. Not sure if i should sign up classes with Kaplan or CFA Singapore. Anyone got any recommendations?


And if i did go for kaplan, there seems to be a few study guides. Which one do you think is the best to purchase? :s12:
 

N707JT

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I think you need to be in your final year before you are allowed to take the CFA.

I am an engineering grad and I am going for the dec 2010 Level 1 paper! Go for it but put it plenty of hardwork!
 

rainyseason2010

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Stalla CFA Level 1 Dec 2010 notes for sale!!

Hihi,

I have following set of notes for sale.

1.Stella Study Guides for Dec 2010 CFA Level 1-SGD 200
2.Stalla Lectures Notes for Dec 210 CFA Level 1-SGD 150
3.Stalla Passmaster and multimedia lectures CDs for Dec 2010 CFA Lvl 1-SGD 80

Willing to let go the whole bundle (1+2+3) for SGD 300 for sincere buyers.

Interested, pls PM or email me: ac_milan007@yahoo.com.sg. Emailing is preferred as I dun not log in here frequently.

Thanks!! :)
 

TimothyLawrence

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Schweser Premiumplus Package

Can i just purchase the schweser premiumplus package and self study. After all it has video lectures and i can pause and rewind. It also has the mock exam.

If i were to go to kaplan, there would be so many students. I might not even focus during class and might not get the chance to consult the lecturer.

Thus, for a person with non finance background, do u think video lectures, mock exams and schweser books are enough. after all they still provide lectures. It's about 1.5k cheaper too now that funding is at 70%
 

TimothyLawrence

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hmm

did you have any finance background? cuz i don't. i don't know if it's better to listen to lectures in kaplan or watch vcd lectures from schweser. at least i can playback. kaplan no playback
 

Houjichasan

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did you have any finance background? cuz i don't. i don't know if it's better to listen to lectures in kaplan or watch vcd lectures from schweser. at least i can playback. kaplan no playback

Hi Everyone

I attended Kaplan CFA Prep class Level 1 betw June-Nov 2010 ($6,600++ and 90% FICS) and lecturer is Esther Thng. She is not too-bad I gotta say, she knows her stuff although certain topics she couldn;t explain well, e.g. Quan&Accounting. But she is good with the rest like Bonds, Econs, corp fin etc.

Btw I passed my CFA L1 Dec and this year pass rate is 36%.
BUT Kaplan CFA course didn't help me much though. I passed because I spent lotsa time studying

Kaplan is not that great I have to say. Can u imagine there are 70 students in a class? Weekend class even worse - a whopping 150 students.

They went through every chapter very quickly and you can only have the chance of asking question during the 10 mins break.
No exercise, no homework, certain parts of the topics in the CFA curriculum not covered.

Another point is that, you will face the same lecturer throughout the course. (for my weekday class I face Esther for all different subjects, other class I dunno) So it's really pot luck whether u can get good lec, u get a lousy one, good luck!!

So if you really wanna sign up - I will recommend CFA Singapore, they hire diff lecturer for diff topics, more specialized I guess ( This should be the way isnt it?)

Also, Kaplan staff all very unfriendly - be it the counter staff, the photo-taking part-time school girl, the sales staff, the library staff. You face very bad service there. the counter Aunties are quite ya-ya ...because they are like top player in the oligopoly market and they don't train their staff. After paying $6,600++ they still ask u to pay a $10 for the "Student Card" WTF....

How to pass?

My suggestions is:
1) Get a copy of schweser notes and the "Secret Sauce" and go through everything before u embark on the CFA Institute notes which are very very dry to read.
2) Do all the end of chapter exercises.
3) Do 30 sets of 120 ques mock questions before u go for the exam.
4) DO NOT GIVE UP, it's tiring I KNOW. Many of my friends sign up and gave up!

Cheers
 

jarlaxle1771

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Can i just purchase the schweser premiumplus package and self study. After all it has video lectures and i can pause and rewind. It also has the mock exam.

If i were to go to kaplan, there would be so many students. I might not even focus during class and might not get the chance to consult the lecturer.

Thus, for a person with non finance background, do u think video lectures, mock exams and schweser books are enough. after all they still provide lectures. It's about 1.5k cheaper too now that funding is at 70%


actually you can save some money by going to the sharetermpapers forum and dling their stuff...i think pretty much everything they have there. I took level 1 in dec 2010...actually I didnt find it that bad. Of course you will have to study the material but unlike what ppl say abt having to practise like 5 practise papers etc... personally i only did the topic reviews after I finished each study session...didnt do a single mock exam but i still passed.
 

kengirap

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I think kaplan's class is too huge to learn. As my friend who took CFA L1 classes from there say the lecturer actually cant teach.. The only possible reason why there are so many pple is because the fees are cheap.
($6,600++ and 90% FICS)

I personally taking my CFA classes in 7citylearning. (try google it-7citylearning)
Good points:
1. small class size of 20+ people.
2. fun and energetic lecturer.
3. No pass no pay scheme, which will pay u back ur sch fees if u fail. (if u pass, of cos its better than anyth else.)
4. Its online learning and an email a day style will make u dicipline to do your hmwk on tym.
5. Its located in town area, shenton way area.

I am not a promoter of the school but just trying to share that there are actually many other schools out there that provides CFA courses, other than KAPLAN and CFA institute, which i think are better.

Btw, i would like to ask if STALLA or schweser notes are better? and whats their difference?
 

Cereal

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Hi Everyone

I attended Kaplan CFA Prep class Level 1 betw June-Nov 2010 ($6,600++ and 90% FICS) and lecturer is Esther Thng. She is not too-bad I gotta say, she knows her stuff although certain topics she couldn;t explain well, e.g. Quan&Accounting. But she is good with the rest like Bonds, Econs, corp fin etc.

Btw I passed my CFA L1 Dec and this year pass rate is 36%.
BUT Kaplan CFA course didn't help me much though. I passed because I spent lotsa time studying

Kaplan is not that great I have to say. Can u imagine there are 70 students in a class? Weekend class even worse - a whopping 150 students.

They went through every chapter very quickly and you can only have the chance of asking question during the 10 mins break.
No exercise, no homework, certain parts of the topics in the CFA curriculum not covered.

Another point is that, you will face the same lecturer throughout the course. (for my weekday class I face Esther for all different subjects, other class I dunno) So it's really pot luck whether u can get good lec, u get a lousy one, good luck!!

So if you really wanna sign up - I will recommend CFA Singapore, they hire diff lecturer for diff topics, more specialized I guess ( This should be the way isnt it?)

Also, Kaplan staff all very unfriendly - be it the counter staff, the photo-taking part-time school girl, the sales staff, the library staff. You face very bad service there. the counter Aunties are quite ya-ya ...because they are like top player in the oligopoly market and they don't train their staff. After paying $6,600++ they still ask u to pay a $10 for the "Student Card" WTF....

How to pass?

My suggestions is:
1) Get a copy of schweser notes and the "Secret Sauce" and go through everything before u embark on the CFA Institute notes which are very very dry to read.
2) Do all the end of chapter exercises.
3) Do 30 sets of 120 ques mock questions before u go for the exam.
4) DO NOT GIVE UP, it's tiring I KNOW. Many of my friends sign up and gave up!

Cheers

what is the "secret sauce"?
 

TimothyLawrence

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Thanks for the advice. After hearing so many advice, i thought about it too. Going for lectures is simply not worth it. You pay so much money and after subsidies you'll pay around 2k+. During lecture, you might not focus 100% of the time. Face it at times our mind starts to wonder, at times we don't understand what the lecturer says and we're stuck.

The better option is to get the schweser package with their secret sauce, online lectures and their mock exam. This way, you could study at your own pace (Don't take your own sweet time of course), and replay the video if you don't understand. This way you won't miss out and you be able to go through every single little point. Furthermore if you don't understand something and you find it yourself you may tend to remember better. Thus schweser's package sound good.

Well have signed up for the June exam and will be mugging hard. Good luck to everyone out there!
 

Houjichasan

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Schweser Videos

Thanks for the advice. After hearing so many advice, i thought about it too. Going for lectures is simply not worth it. You pay so much money and after subsidies you'll pay around 2k+. During lecture, you might not focus 100% of the time. Face it at times our mind starts to wonder, at times we don't understand what the lecturer says and we're stuck.

The better option is to get the schweser package with their secret sauce, online lectures and their mock exam. This way, you could study at your own pace (Don't take your own sweet time of course), and replay the video if you don't understand. This way you won't miss out and you be able to go through every single little point. Furthermore if you don't understand something and you find it yourself you may tend to remember better. Thus schweser's package sound good.

Well have signed up for the June exam and will be mugging hard. Good luck to everyone out there!


Hi

I hope you would enjoy Andrew Holmes' (schweser) videos!
Ain't sure if he still covers for the 2011 topics.
Hope u can get him! He is the best (according to comments)
 

dunno98

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if someone got zero background and interested for level 1
self study with discipline is it good enough?
 

TimothyLawrence

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you must need lots of discipline. sometimes you will get stuck and frustrated. you just applied for the june exam?
 

dunno98

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I have not apply yet but doing some research on the time n effort i need to do on first take

Normally how long do one study before the actual exam?
6 months?

Sorry for noob qns
 

TimothyLawrence

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Well it is written that you need 300 hours to study for the level 1 exam. so assuming you spend 12hours a day, 1 month is enough. haha, you can sign up now! But realistically speaking, sometimes you'll get stuck, sometimes you get lazy, sometimes you get distracted. So it's up to the individual. i myself am panicking cause i get lazy at times. not a good sign
 

G_Zola

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for those singaporeans not working in financial companies, are they eligible for FICS funding?
 
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