Wow there like.....arent ANY formulas...

CFA Level III
#1

high 50s low 60s band 9 guy here! how are we progressing?!?!

I haven’t started reading the material like i promised myself I would (6/23, i still have time) but i went through all 5 schweser books to make flashcards for all the formulas, and much to my surprise, i made only 91.

last year at L2 i remember making 326 flashcards for formulas. there are less than 1/3 this year. crazy. do you guys read this as a good thing or a bad thing?

just flipping through the text, it seems like nearly everything is qualitative and conceptual. i guess charter holders really mean it when they say “level 3 is a different exam”

#2

Depends on how you are I suppose. Some people like all the formulas, some don’t.

I’m fine with less formulas but bear in mind that at least in the Schweser books, they are expecting you to know/remember stuff from the previous two levels and aren’t going over them again.

Some of the examples reflect that and there is at least one or two that will actually point this out to you that it’s on you to remember the formulas. So you may want to keep some of the old flashcards you have handy in case you need a refresher.

Lastly, don’t underestimate the qualitative/concept stuff, some of those can be way worse than questions requiring formulas.

#3

are we really expected to remember formulas from L2 on this thing?

i remember worrying about L1 formulas at L2, and it was a waste of time. nothing from L1 showed up on the exam.

but am I in for a surprise?

#4

if you are expecting the Level III exam to be a whole bunch of formula oriented thing you are in for a surprise.

But that does not mean there is none.

Also - it does not mean (and I mean it when I say this) - there are portions in the books that make sense to write qualitatively only if you understand them quantitatively.

Also - be sure to understand, learn and treat those few formulae with respect - because they could give you the 2-3 points you need to say you finished successful.