Could The Grinch steal my this year AM session results? Your thoughts are welcome.

CFA Level III
#1

This year was the third time I took the Level 3 exam. The first time I took it in 2013, and honestly speaking I was too busy at work and did not have enough time to prepare and failed it with a score band of 4. Then in 2014, I put more time in, but did not do enough practice tests and failed it with a score band of 9. This year, I made sure that I was well prepared and covered the required material and everything else that was available on the CFAI website and Schweser.

Then I took the exam and felt very confident about the AM session (which I fully completed) and was more worried about the afternoon session. However, I still got a FAIL and surprisingly my band score went down to 6. What really surprised me was that I completely failed the AM session and scored pretty good on the PM (72% using 40/60/80 rule); in addition, my 2015 AM session results were much lower (I guess close to zero) than the ones from 2013 and 2014, which dismisses a suggestions of testers not being able to read my handwriting. I also compared the results for the individual sections that were included on both: AM and PM sessions (Fixed Income, Economics, and Portfolio Management – Institutional) and for sure I did well on them in the PM and completely failed them in the AM. Does this really make sense to anybody? Any ideas?

To avoid any questions regarding my determination to pass the exam this year, I am listing all things that I did this year in order to prepare for the exam below:

  • Started studying in the end of January

  • Took the Schweser weekly classes

  • Read the material at least twice, some more difficult parts I re-read 5-6 times.

  • Did all previous years CFA Level 3 exams that were posted on the website twice getting from 65-85%.

  • I also did about 90% of the sample tests that were available on the CFA website.

  • I did some after chapter questions from the CFA books

  • I did most of the practice questions from the Schweser 3 day seminar book, because the questions closely resembled the ones from CFA materials

Here are my score results for the last 3 years.

2015 Your score band: 6

Essay

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70%>70%

1 Portfolio Management - Institutional 14 * - -

2 Portfolio Management - Institutional 17 * - -

3 Fixed Income Investments 19 * - -

4 Alternative Investments 20 * - -

5 Portfolio Management - Performance Eval. 15 * - -

6 Portfolio Management - Risk Management 14 * - -

7 Portfolio Management - Individual 18 * - -

8 Portfolio Management - Individual 16 - * -

9 Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 15 * - -

10 Economics 14 * - -

11 Portfolio Management - Indiv/Behavioral 18 * - -

Item Set

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70%>70%

  • Economics 18 - * -

  • Equity Investments 18 * - -

  • Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - - *

  • Fixed Income Investments 8 - - *

  • Portfolio Management 18 - * -

  • Portfolio Management - Individual 18 - - *

  • Portfolio Management - Monitor&Rebalance 18 - - *

  • Portfolio Management - Risk Management 36 - - *

2014 Your score band: 9

Essay

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70%>70%

1 Portfolio Management - Individual 20 - * -

2 Portfolio Management - Individual 19 * - -

3 Equity Investments 17 - * -

4 Economics 15 - * -

5 Portfolio Management - Institutional 16 * - -

6 Portfolio Management - Institutional 16 - - *

7 Fixed Income Investments 11 * - -

8 Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 15 - - *

9 Portfolio Management - Risk Management 15 - * -

10 Portfolio Management - Monitor&Rebalance 19 * - -

11 Portfolio Management - Individual 17 * - -

Item Set

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70%>70%

  • Alternative Investments 18 * - -

  • Economics 18 - * -

  • Equity Investments 18 - - *

  • Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - * -

  • Fixed Income Investments 36 - - *

  • Portfolio Management - Individual 18 - * -

  • Portfolio Management - Performance Eval. 18 - * -

  • Portfolio Management - Risk Management 18 * - -

2013 Your score band: 4

Essay

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70%>70%

1 Portfolio Management - Individual 20 * - -

2 Portfolio Management - Individual 15 * - -

3 Portfolio Management - Individual 16 * - -

4 Equity Investments 17 - * -

5 Economics 20 * - -

6 Portfolio Management - Institutional 18 * - -

7 Portfolio Management - Institutional 14 - * -

8 Fixed Income Investments 17 * - -

9 Fixed Income Investments 9 - * -

10 Portfolio Management - Risk Management 18 * - -

11 Portfolio Management - Performance Eval. 16 * - -

Item Set

Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70%>70%

  • Alternative Investments 36 - * -

  • Economics 18 - - *

  • Equity Investments 18 - - *

  • Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - - *

  • Fixed Income Investments 18 - * -

  • Portfolio Management 18 * - -

  • Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 18 * - -

  • Portfolio Management - Risk Management 18 - - *

#2

Your preparation seems more than adequate; however, judging by your grid, something went horribly wrong in the AM section. IMO, either the CFA institute screwed up somewhere with your answer sheets or you completely misuderstood the requirements of the case studies. Honestly though, the only way for any of us to help you is to compare what you actually wrote on the AM exam. For that, you need to wait till CFA institute releases the AM exam to avoid any risk of violation.

#3

simple answer is to go for retabulation and only available one…but one thing to remember is the lowest band is <=50 so it could be you got 45-50% in all of the questions…maybe didn’t explain your answers well enough or made some wrong decisions for zero credit…

although it does seem strange that u got a minimum of 46/60 mcqs correct and still ended up in band 6 which means u must have scored around 50 or lower in AM…

IMHO just spend USD 100 and find out…

#4

I was 99% sure that I did well on the AM session. I knew answers for all questions except 2 or 3 of them and completed everything on time. I thought that they could not read my handwriting, but I remember that I took my time and wrote slower than usual at least for the first half of the AM just to make sure that they could read it.

#5

Two things I would suggest:

Read CFAI books. Apparently Schweser is not working for you.

Start earlier. I started in the beginning of December.

#6

dwheats:

FYI - I did CFAI after chapter questions and all past 3 years exams that were on CFAI website twice and 90% of all sample questions from CFAI website. Do you really think i was not prepared?

#7

I think you would’ve passed if you combined your 2014 AM result with your 2015 PM result. Tough break, but am definitely looks fishy.

#8

I keep thinking that I could have gotten a better score for the AM section if I had written a love poem to my wife instead of the answers.

#9

I really wish you the best of luck. Unlike some other candidates who complain about their AM, despite the fact that they have failing PM scores, you acctually did very well on PM. I don’t think your preparation had anything to do with the score on AM. People who say that you failed in your execution of the AM have not looked at your 2014AM carefully. You clearly know the exam format, since in 2014AM you had quite a few sessions with scores above 50%. Hence, you can rule out things such as illegible handwritting or “you failed in your execution of AM.” In your case, I tend to lean more on the possibility that CFAI screwed up or that in the rush to finish the exam, you might have not written your asnwers on the right page.

I would do all of these things, in no particular order:

  1. Draft a letter to CFAI making a very compelling case that there could be a mistake in how the essay was graded. List all the evidence that you have. Be persistent. You might have to send that letter/email to a couple of people. Who exactly? I don’t know.

  2. Call the CFAI. Ask them to explain what retabulation involves in the case of someone who has failed their AM. Explain your situation to them. Explain that you didn’t just fail, but that you have a relatively high PM score and that your AM is even lower than the year in which you took the exam unprepared. Ask them to pull your record, so that they don’t just throw back canned responses, “You sir can do a retab”. I think your matrices speak for themselves. If you think a retab might help with this issue, pay for a retab.

Good luck

#10

OP, I’m not sure what you expect from AF folks. you post 3 sets of failing L3 scores and then ask if your last one makes sense. Well, the questions are changed up yr/yr, it’s all open ended, and the only answer I can say is yea it looks like it makes sense, becuse your AM is consistenly where you are weakest.

You’ll see the actual answers yourself when it’s posted in soon.

When I got my L3 results, there were definitely a few qusetions I thought I totally nailed expecting >70, and ended up <50. It’s a crap shoot in some ways, one word could have reversed the entire answer.

#11

INC: Thank you so much for your suggestions. I really appreciate them.

I did open an inquiry with CFAI on the same day and got a standard response saying that they had significant quality control and offered a retabulation. My subsequent inquiries were just closed without a reply and when I called to talk with a rep, she listened for a couple of minutes and then gave me the standard response and refused to talk further.

I really regret that I did not spend time to initial all pages in my AM booklet.

#12

^did you request a retab?

#13

Be aware, OP, you are going to be called a whiner during the next hour or two…

#14

Yes, I failed 2013 and 2014 and I expected those results, b/c I did not have enough time to prepare, which was completely different this year. I just don’t see how I could possible get so many of them wrong. Considering the score band of 6, it looks like i got only 20-25% on the AM session. Do you think this is reasonable?

#15

When I spoke with the rep., she also suggested it. I asked if she knew if someone’s results were reversed. She said that non of the retabulation requests that were processed by her had ever been reversed. That stopped me from going to that rout, but if I don’t find a reasonable answer, I will submit the retab request.

#16

So they will took a calculator and sum up the zero scores they gave you on am since (just an example) some of the graders was not able to read your handwriting. Do you realky think anybody will reread your answer book? You paied your fees, they pocked the money - why bother with additional expencies? Reread the Paul Smith’s reply to me. From their point of view case ended. From yours it is all about the trust - do you trust them or not to pay fees the next year.

#17

Well, yes. I would expect them to take a closer look at some odd cases, just to make sure that no error happened and no tampering was involved. I knew the rules, just did not expect this to happen to me.

If i decide to continue the program and take the exam next year, I will make sure that I initial everypage in my AM booklet.

#18

How would that help you? Nobody will reread it the next year as well. Money paied and case ended.

#19

My past exam results, except this year, matched my expectations, so I cannot really compain. I am just not sure what happened this year and I am looking for AF members opinion and clues.

#20

Who you think is going to reply you? People who pass 2015 and drunk with their success? Trolls on payroll? Say them you determined to pass and they will tell you thst you are great. Complain - and they will tell you that you are a whiner, a moron, failed 3 times in a row and you have nothing to do with the program. You - even more fearable - felt into the sin of disbelieve in cfai. They will tear you to bites, you’ll see.