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CFA Level III
#1

Hey Guys, Congratulations to all those who passed this year!!

It was my first attempt this year and unfortunately could not get through (Band 10). Had invested significant time and effort with an aim to clear in the first attempt but was disappointed to find myself on the other side… Close but just not good enough!

Morning score –> 6 topics<50, 1 topic >50-70, 3 topics >70.

Afternoon score –> 3 topics <50 (including Ethics / GIPS), 1 topic 50-70, 4 topics >70.

Morning result was a bit shocking athough I had left almost 3 questions unanswered partly due to lack of knowledge and was running behind schedule… Apart from that, I thought morning was under control and overall would score around 60%.

Afternoon was Ok, except Ethics and GIPS. I was unsure of quite a few answers in those sections. I think that was the final nail in the coffin!!

Reflecting back on my performance, I think my downfall was as a result of two weakness viz. 1. lack of thorough understanding of few topics (surely Portfolio Risk Mgmt, Fixed Income, GIPS/ Ethics) and 2. Time mgmt during essay (barely was able to complete even after leaving 3 questions unanswered!!).

FYI, i have mostly relied upon Schweser notes and little bit on CFAI for Level 3. I realise that some of the topics in Schweser are not well covered and was unable to understand it thoroughly despite repeated revisions.

Having gone through many of the positive reviews about LevelUp videos. I sense watching these videos will help me to work upon my weaker areas. But I’d like to know whether these videos will actually help me to improve my essay writing skills and give me the necessary guidance for improving my AM score? (Pls note that I will not be able to attend the Bootcamp as i am based in India).

I am also quite impressed about the Go study custom morning course. What i really like about it is the regular practice & customized feedback that one gets on the answers which are written on each topic plus review of mock exam answers. I also understand they provide lot of other material such as videos on each reading, summarized notes, cram guide, equation sheet etc…Not sure how their videos are in comparison to LevelUp.

Could you please advise me on which prep provider I should go for given the background and my performance in the last exam?

Any other piece of advise is welcome with the aim to kill the 2018 exams.

Thanks.

#2

I’ll chime in since no one else has yet. First of all, you were band 10 which is insanely close to passing - it could have literally been a multiple choice answer that you decided to just circle because you felt like not doing the calculations under time pressure, or a word to an essay question subsection that you provided was the wrong word and didn’t have time to review your answer before moving on. So with that possibility out of the way, whatever your method was this year worked very well. I wouldn’t personally advise learning majority of your material from watching videos. You must focus on the CFAI AM exams as several people on this forum emphasize. Yes, the answers are extremely detailed, but if you do each of the last 10 years exams two times, then you will know what key words CFAI is expecting in certain responses. Just reviewing the answers in detail provides a lot of combined knowledge, the sort of knowledge you need to demonstrate on exam day. The best source to learn from is the CFAI’s source.

Last year I failed the Level 3 (band 7?), and what I had done was focus too much on videos by 3rd party providers. In fact, I stopped reading altogether half way through my study as I felt I was learning faster and more. But that’s the wrong approach because CFAI is looking for the same words in their answers as they provide you in their past CFAI exams and their EOC questions (lesser degree).

For Level 3, and I failed to understand this last year, 3rd party providers become even less useful. I would ditch Schweser altogether. If you must, buy FinQuiz’s notes (I did this year), but for the actual learning on how to write an AM exam, focus on what CFAI tries to teach. I remember last year I watched the Schweser videos multiple times and they teach you tricks and tips on answering essay questions but then you start focusing on the wrong things during exam time. Sorry my thoughts are scattered all over but my main point is to focus on the CFAI material in the CFAI’s words, rather than another company trying to interpret the material for you in different words. From your own comment, it appears that it was due to time management and thus overlooking small things on the exam that you barely just failed. Sincerely, I wish you the best of luck next year. I know that feeling but it will pass and you will be pumped to tackle it again.

#3

I thought that Levelup bootcamp was really great. Purchase the videos and book right away and work with the cfa book and Marc’s notes .

Then book his bootcamp course.

He is good and was definitely a big part of my passing !

#4

All I can tell you is how I prepared. I solely used scheiwser materials. Read a chapter, watched the corresponding video. Did some practice questions. There was also videos every other week in a class setting that I didn’t have time to view at all. I finished this review well in advance. For the remainder I did a crap tonne of practice questions from the q-bank. Did all the scheiwser mocks. Did the past AM exams that were available online, and watched the scheiwser videos on them going over the answers.

Scheiwser offers pass protection if you do >50% of the q-bank and score >80% overall, that if you fail you get the material for free the following year. So I aimed to do that. Re-did my wrong answers until I got my score to >80%. And well I passed.

#5

I prepared the way described below and passed level II and III first time with this preparation.

I used only Finquiz material. Their notes are very good and cover everything - I did not have any surprise at the exam. The notes go straight to the (critical) point. After every reading, I did all EOC questions and all blue boxes in the CFA books. When all done, I did all Finquiz item set questions and the 6 mock exam they provided.

When I though a topic was more difficult, I looked in the CFA books for more details. No Schweser at all.

#6

i was fail band 4 last year and passed this year. major changes included SOLELY using CFAI text. i used schweser last year and never felt like i grasped the material. Also, did every single BB question and every single EOC question in addition to crushing mocks dating back to 2009.

that’s it. in my opinion, that’s all you need.

though, for what it’s worth, i like the way schweser writes out the H-Model formula versus how the CFAI writes out the formula…

#7

100% Schweser. Didn’t touch cfai

#8

Damn, that sucks! Lost out on hundreds…

#9

I feel like the curriculum is the source of truth and you have to live within it for a while. But even at L3 there are parts you can gloss over, and other parts you should double down on.

I liked GoStudy because for a small price, I felt I got a guide to that. Not that it directly states what’s not important, but it helps you prioritize. I augmented that with Topic Test analysis – a LOT of record keeping at first, but thereafter, some fast pivot tables.

#10

I passed Level 1 and 2 in first attempt (did 10 mock exams for both). In 2016 Level 3, I could manage only 3 mocks and failed with Band 8. So for the 2017 attempt this is what I did and got a 1/6/3 in AM and 0/2/8 in PM for <50, 51-70 and >70:

  1. Did 10 full length practice exams (6 Schweser, 6 FinQuiz and 2 live - Schweser and Boston CFA. The Bostn CFA mock is useless so avoid it.

  2. Did past 10 years (2006-16) CFAI AM exams. Use the pdf link in below link to see what is relevant for 2018:

https://ift.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/13000007794-relevancy-of-past-cfa-exams

  1. Did all the CFAI itemset assessment tests that they provide free of charge - that is 64 item sets. Remember you need to nail the PM (see my score above).

  2. Did all CFAI EOC questions in last 2 weeks before exam. This ensures you covered all topics just before the exam.

  3. I started early in Sept 2016 and put in 6-8 hrs on weekends reading up CFAI material (I used 2016 material for 2017 exam after comparing since I had amm highlighting etc done in the 2016 CFAI material and only one chapter had changed. See link below for 2017-18 changes. You need to use only those 2018 materials that changed, rest use the old one with your highlights etc.

https://ift.world/2018-level-iii-program-changes/

I started taking AM mocks in Jan 2017 - 1 per weekend. I moved to full mocks in April.

Good luck and don’t give up. You are close to getting the dragon slayed! Msg me if you want to talk.

Ganesh

#11

My 2cents.

Reverse read what you did last year. Read CFAI for most and schweser for some. Do a few mocks. But start by Feb or so. I mean it.

At Band 10, you probably know most of the material already. You probably need not do much differently from 2017.

Best wishes for 2018

#12

You might analyze how you have your study program set up in your life as well. Stress can keep you from learning even though you are diligently studying. I got the charter in 1993 after 3 years of study and had support from family and friends to take all that time away. Work stress occupies mental space needed for learning and processing as well. A way to think about it is how much of the hours you study are totally devoted to the study. Just a thought! Good luck!

#13

S99,

You’re so close. If I was in your position, I would focus mainly on doing morning session practice exams. I finished 6 or 8 of them and reviewed the answers carefully. I also used a erasable pen during the exam, which was very helpful as I wrote very quickly in bullet point format. I was able to finish all the questions with about a few minutes left to spare. This strategy allowed me to get 7 >70% for the morning session.

Good luck next year!

J

#14

Go for it dude. Do it again!!! If you don’t you’ll regret it.