Ill keep it short 2011 - band 3 2012 - band 4 Gave up… thought its not meant for me. Family encouraged me to give it another shot 2016 - band 10 I was shattered. Closed my books for good. But found a mentor and he encouraged me. 2017 - passed with >70 in 8 topic areas. Moral of the story ; if u want it, Just dont give up. It’ll take some time but you’ll get there
Many congrats on your journey jbjr201! Onto the final hurdle!
Cheers Mate 
back to back band 10s for me. This is encouraging, thanks for sharing your story.
You’ll get there, Just dont give up. I had decided not to go ahead in 2012, L2 is a beast but it can be tamed.
Congrat guys!!!
Thank you for sharing the story.
I set a goal to get 50-70% and thought it would be enough. Wrong idea
What did you do differently to put you over the cut? I am essentially in your same situation…
The first 2 times i was only focusing on CFAI books (big mistake). They are an amazing source but extracting relevant information takes up alot of time and isnt worth it.
This time i only did EOC questions and the BB examples from the CFAI books. I was making my own notes from lectures and material provided by kaplan.
All these attempts i was working full time but for the latest one, i took a week off from work . Also i didnt find CFA mock exams really helpful. They arent a true representation of the exam. Instead i did topic tests multiple times. I found kaplan mocks useless.
The key is practice, repetation and retention. Goodluck. You can do it. We all can do it
Likewise - Started 2013 - Band 3 -> 9 -> 10 -> Passed last year. I know how you feel! First 2 times I did not have the time cuz of work - so I was pretty surprised when I got the Bank 9 too (very close). The Band 10 year - got kicked by Ethics. Agree with your approach - lot of practice and just running through the material repeatedly.
Congrats on persevering through Level 2 - Best of Luck at L3! For those who didn’t make it through - chin up.
hey I think this will be my 5th attempt…
I know sounds a bit crazy, but this is what I want and I don’t care how long it takes, as long as I get it. My first few times were I think below band 5…I got rear ended and the full recovery took longer than I thought (18 months). I think my back would have healed faster if I didn’t physically push myself too hard to study for the exam by gobbling painkillers…
then I got a band 7 and band 8…I only focused and studied with CFAI books, which was a big mistake.
This time, I am thinking to focus only on the questions of CFAI books, and try out bloomberg and just do crazy reptition.
Keep it up. I used IFT videos and mocks which helped tremendously this time. I will probably at least do his two mocks again and probably add all six Schweser mocks along with CFAI mock, prior mocks and TTs, EOCs, BBs. I think everything will still be pretty fresh so probably start in December doing quick reviews through each chapter and right into questions again.
I see people using Bloomberg for CFA studies and mocks? Any insight? I looked and packages seem to be $500+
Definitely inspiring… congrats jbjr201!
How’s the IFT?
I just wanted to try out bloomberg because it provided similar package to schweser package at about the same price…I don’t have any insights…there basic package was 599? for 6 mocks and study materials, which I think is about the same for schweser… I heard mixed reviews about schweser tho…some said it helped, some said it did not…
5x’er here: Bands 1 ,2, 5, 9, Pass
I’m not a great test taker, but finally accumulated enough knowledge to have a chance in almost every question no matter what CFAI threw at me. In the first two attempts, I bone-headly used the CFAI curriculum only, rotely reading and doing EOC’s and maybe one or two mocks. Then, I jumped from Band 5 -> 9 using Kaplan and maybe 3 mocks. Kaplan seemed to crystalize some concepts that I was missing, whereas CFAI is so detailed, I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. Then finally this year did the TT’s and 7 mocs and finally pass. If I could do it over, I would start with Kaplan, do a read by December, then do EOC’s/TT by mid-April, and have 6 weeks for mocks. I would use CFAI text only for the high value sections FRA, EQ, and FI.
I registered for level 2 - 3 times before passing… did not sit one year… if you have difficulty here level 3 is HARDER… I’m on my second try at level 3 and after 600 hours between two years I don’t know if I passed this year…
the game is not over… you have to push more at 3… exam is more difficult IMO
Props to you and your mentor, jbjr201!!! 
You all are really brave that you prepared again and again till you got through. I failed Band 9, I really feel so frustrated with every passing second. I know I could have been there, it was just a matter of a few questions.
But result is also bit surprising and am thinking of Retabulation. I know it won’t work but maybe it will give me a relief that I at least tried.
Hats off to those who have re-appeared again. You are all so brave.
respekt