Hey! I just failed level three. It was my first time failing at any level. Just wondering for all of those who did pass, how many attempts did it take you at each level? A little motivation would be nice. Thanks!
I passed my 2nd time around. What I did: I read every chapter like 3x, first time skimming, second time in extreme detail, third time a normal reading. I also did a lot of practice exams. You don’t need to time the practice exams, you just need exposure to questions. Your speed will improve as you increase your command over the material.
2012: I used Schweser and failed
2013: I used CFAI material and easily cleared it
That helps ! Passers pls pour in your suggestions!!
I agree, Schweser is not the way to go for Level III.
Schweser for all 3 levels & went 3 for 3. Advice for level 3 is do practice exams! I would say time your practice runs near the end of your studies, since a lot of people have said they ran out of time this year during the real exam. Best of Luck.
First time pass here…
Honestly, I was soooo burnt out that I couldn’t even get myself to open to CFAI book until the last month. I studied the whole time out of Schweser.
I did take the in person class and the boot camp - Although I really can’t say if that was much help for me.
Honestly speaking this was the first year I relied only on Schweser and my conclusion is… It doesn’t really matter what you study with Schweser does a great job summarizing. What’s important is the last month or month and a half. Then it’s critical to use CFAI and Schweser and all the mocks. It’s getting comfortable with the essay format, and doing the questions just over and over again. I ended up doing the EOD on both sets of books at least twice, did all the mocks that Schweser provided, and all the AM mocks that CFA provided during the last month and a half.
My 2 cents - Read whatever you want… But DO THE QUESTIONS on all the books… just as many as you possibly can.
Truer words were never spoken. Cover the material multiple times. Take as many practice exams as you can. Answer as many Q-Bank and EOC questions as you can. (And by “as many as you can”, I mean “all of them in every book and software package”)
For the record - I used only Schweser materials (except CFAI EOC questions) and passed on my first attempt.
I failed band 9 last year (first fail) and passed this year. I walked out of the exams both years feeling almost identical, but I knew I crushed the afternoon this time. My advice would be to stick to the CFA curriculum and only use prep materials after you have gone through all of the blue boxes and EOC about 5 times. Obviously use the previous exams and when you feel like you have done them so many times that you are remembering the answer before you read the entire question…keep doing them. I think the sample exams that you have to pay for on the website are useful too. I didn’t buy them last year, but wanted to get my hands on everything this year. After the fail last year, I started reading in October. I was finished with the curriculum the first time around by the end of the year.
Yeah, I believe the best thing you can do is read and reread and reread some more. It is an iterative process, especially if you’re slow like me. The first read lets you learn 30% of the material. The second read can give you the next 30%, but if you want to really understand material on a high, intuitive level, then you will need to read multiple times, and things start popping out at you.
Passed all three Levels on first attempt.
Failed L2 once. I found that it came down to not studying effeciently. Most of us here have demanding jobs so really don’t have time to write detailed notes and re-read the material countless times.
My study strategy for L3 was:
Skim read all Schweser material on the train in the mornings and evenings to-from work. Read it from mid January - mid Feb
From there it was almost solely practice questions on my own. Once a week I met with a group and we would discuss our answers to CFAI EOC and Practice exam questions. That more than anything was helpful as you need to be able to explain as well as recall info this time around.
Trimonious probably has the best strategy I’ve read though, here it is: (http://www.analystforum.com/forums/cfa-forums/cfa-level-iii-forum/91314226)
Good luck next time!
Level 1 - Passed first try
Level 2 - Failed twice
Level 3 - Failed twice. Key was reading the CFA material (knew it cold this time around) and using schweser secondary for review
I never unboxed CFAI and crushed it.
practice exams are the key. end of story. period.
Schweser is good. Complement with cfai examples. Peace and out
2012 - band 4
2013 - pass
Use the CFA books. The blue boxes in the readings are for AM prep. EOC readings are for PM. Do them all multiple times and do every past AM exam you can get.
I passed all three level at first try. I don’t think there is a secret recipe for this, it is just the effort you put in. Normally I start from CFA book, and Schweser, then re-read CFA again. I did all the CFA EOC questions at least twice, and put my hands down on any mock that I could get.
Read through once cover to cover making note cards along the way. Did all the EOCs. I never used the note cards in the end but it forced me to be able to explain a topic in a concise way so that I can understand it. Afterward I just re-did the EOCs and took about 6 years of CFAI mocks plus both volumes of Schweser mocks. I didnt use Schweser for anything else. Just wanted more practice exams.
I failed band 5 last year, I had excuese but who cares…Although passed this year but the socre isn’t that pretty. (65% on 40/60/80)
If I can go back, I will use both CFAI and Schweser , rather than Schweser only.
PM session is a big factor, tagert on at least 85%. Spend time on the mocks, they are great, feel confortable with them. PM session is a gift.
It is hard to master Ethic part, I thought I gonna get <50%, but I did well. I can definitely be lucky, but to increase your chance, you need to clearly know the rules, and form some soft of reflect on those tricky ones
Never under estimate GIPS, as one multiple choice can test you 5 million key points.
For morning session, I still don’t get it.
Do CFAI EOC and blue boxes…3 times if you have time.
I used Schwesser exclusively for all three levels including the videos for level 2 and 3.
Passed first time everytime.
Schwesser will see you right if you put in the hours.