Just curious as to what all the Level III posters think about this: What was the most difficult level to study for? Why? What level took you the longest? Also, I’d like to know if you need to know Level I material to pass Level II, Level I & II material to pass Level III, etc.
L3 is the hardest because of the format of the exam. They all took equally long to complete… Obviously you should understand the basics from L1 and L2, but nothing is going to get tested besides the L3 curriculum.
McLeod81 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > L3 is the hardest because of the format of the > exam. > > They all took equally long to complete… > > Obviously you should understand the basics from L1 > and L2, but nothing is going to get tested besides > the L3 curriculum. I couldn’t agree with you more on this.
I have to argue that getting this far (by being a level 3 candidate), the past hrs of study and examinations have prepared your brain to tackle level 3. Your brain and body has been nurtured and cultured into sitting down for two 3 hr sessions in one day without getting DVT and getting taken out by an ambulance during the exam.
When you look at the large number of candidates that don’t make it to level 3 and look at the still-low pass rates (49% this year), level 3 certainly looks hard on paper. I agree the exam format is a major issue and it seems time management in the morning is crucial.
No doubt level 3 You have to really master the material+ loads of practice( relevant ones- i.e EOC+ past exams).
L3 is hardest by factor of 10… L2 is a just a bunch of formulae to a certain degree. i spent the last 2 weeks of L3 trying learn a whole bunch of lists and remembering the institutional investor characteristics section (which most year’s won’t be on the exam, but you never know) i think there’s people i know who got their charter 10 years ago or never tried who could do marginally OK on the multiple choice of L2 without studying. the written section of L3 is completely different. EDIT: i do know charterholders who thought L2 was the hardest , so i don’t think that my opinion is anywhere near fact or anything… probably has somewhat to do with your affinity for numbers.
Doing the morning section of L3 was the only time I was somewhat worried during my CFA run… I definitely was a little uneasy during that lunch break. The other 5 sections of the exams I felt like I was cruising, more or less. I took L2 in 2006, so memory has faded, but I would say the study demands are roughly equal… Although I studied a lot for L1 and was super prepared, so L2 felt like it was downhill to a degree.
I passed Level 3, it si twice harder than L2 and 3 times than L1
Level III has gotten a lot harder over the past 5 years. This will become evident to you all once you start to look at the prior year AM sessions (and by looking at the pass rates).
^ Agree. Much harder than it seems.
L3, for all the reasons stated above.
Preparing for L3 starts to feel like you are getting ready for 2 exams, with AM and PM being separate animals.
In terms of material, level II. So much to read! Exam wise, Level III by far
My complexity grade (10-scale): L1 - 5, L2 - 8, L3 - 9
Level 3 is the most interesting material and less material than level 2 or level 1. The exam made me feel better about myself than either level 2 or level 1 did. Then… on result day I turned out to have passed only MARGINALLY and lots of candidates who felt equally good about their performance turned out to have failed the exam. So I can’t quite explain but I think level 3 is easier to study, easier to write but harder to pass.
I thought that L3 was the hardest to study for by far because of the subjective nature of the material, and the fact that you are basically studying for 2 different exams. Preparing for the essay session (especially the IPS ?'s), took up an incredible amount of time.
Agree, level III was the hardest one to study for because the material is very subjective AND it seems sooooo easy when you read it. Then you start doing questions, and for some reason you get them all wrong…
Interesting. Judging only by the comments made, Level II used to be considered the most difficult, hands down. It looks like that view has changed in the past several years.
I was hoping that Level III might be easier. I guess not. I wonder what the stats for how many candidates still did not make it after reaching Level III.