For those of you who failed L3, what band did you fail and what are your study plans for this next try? For those of you who passed L3 on your second try, what was your study schedule (targeted hours)? Did you change any study habits that resulted in a pass?
I failed band 5 with 300 hours of studying, I’m targeting 200 hours minimum this time around.
I also did 12 mocks last year with a major focus on the am essays and was disappointed with my poor am results. Used bullet points to answer.
Just trying to gauge the incremental work planned by retakers
I passed level 3 last year on my second attempt but have never had a specific number of hours target. I think going back and focusing on the areas that you were weak at before is the key and its more about getting the concepts down instead of looking at hours spent on it. I spent a majority of my time focusing on the morning exam portion and doing as many mocks as possible. I continued to do them until I felt comfortable
Thanks for the response. Would you say you put more effort into the test the second time around or just incremental effort to get you over the hump?
You shouldn’t be trying to calculate the minimum amount of time to just squeak by – you should be working your arse off *right now* to make sure 2017 is the last time you’ll ever have to sit for this exam. (Seeing that you’re a Band 5er, you’ve got some work ahead.)
#One&Done
Hi da_mad_tiki,
I know you since L2. I don’t know whether it is appropriate to say ‘good to see you as OP’ or not as you couldn’t make it in 2016. Hope we both pass this time. I couldn’t give proper time to study properly last year and had just read the Schweser text without doing *any* mock and so as expected I failed miserably. I’ve started studying now and as it would be quicker to go through the readings this time, I would be focusing on doing all the mocks available out there. Just to make things challenging, I’ve also registered for CAIA L1 this march so full month of Feb will be devoted to it. I hope dedicated 4 months of study for any re-taker would suffice.
I failed Band 10. Oh man, I remember how I wasted the entire first hour trying to calm my nerve after my encounter with that shark of a first question on AM, lol.
Right now, I’m really split on if I should register. I’m moving to a different country this summer and have lots to take care of before that; it’ll be stressful physically and emotionally. Do you guys think I should wait a year?
Always skip the first question and come back to it later.
Too many people get caught up and ultimately spend too much time in that first IPS question, which leaves them trying to play catch-up for the rest of AM session.
#TrustYouMe
hashtag-- is it always the 1st question?
#MeThinksSo
Yes that first Institutional IPS question caught me off guard. Got less than 50% on it. In fact, I got less than 50% on the first three questions, Fixed Income and Equity being the other two. Thank god I still passed though.
I’m not so sure IPS questions are always first, however I would agree to start on a low touch question that doesn’t require much reading, if possible. My head was spinning when I first opened the booklet and I skipped ahead to a few shorter sub-questions with lighter calcs to get some momentum.
Same the first question got me last yr. Mine turned out to be a band 7 fail unfortunately. Yet I dont think study hour is a good measure cox methink it all depends on how well one puts ones ans into words during the exam day (n not caught off guard by the unexpected.)
failed band 9 (got the first question correct, actually had a strong AM but PM was very difficult for me)
this has been very stressful for me… i started this program nearly 8 years ago and the defeat last August was traumatic and detrimental to my career progress AGAIN. i feel like im starting from zero as I have forgotten nearly all the formulas and the curriculum is just a blur right now… first priority is to at least catch up to last years level of knowledge BEFORE MAY… last year I only really started in mid April so I know I have it in me but the thought of exam day and wasting another year is brutal. always a risk of poor execution and having to wait another year… I know i could have passed last year and was very close.
the frustrating part is that there are is little incremental value in studying beyond 300 hours (time to cover each BB/EOC/Topic Exam/ Mock 2x)… another 100-200 hours does not guarantee any more points on the exam…m it all comes down to execution
i found the schweser for L3 lacking content. i will read the cfa books this time
I failed Band 9. I’m trying to get through the books by mid-January, and then review, review, review. I felt like I had to rush through the books to finish by mid-May last time, so I’m actually trying to understand the content better than I did last time.