All but 1 topic over 70%
I only used LevelUp BootCamps and CFA materials – I think Kaplan is good but doesn’t reflect what’s actually tested as well. Definitely consider the bootcamps for the next time you take it. Don’t despair – you can do this!!!
Personally I found schweser to be much more difficult than the exam on the AM portion and not as good of a prep for PM as I felt on level 1 and 2.
Hard to give advice other than to keep your head up, keep at it and try to work on your weaknesses. most of my prep was spent doing mock exams (mostly CFAI and Schweser AMs, throwing in PMs during the last month or so). But everyone is different.
Am I the only one who is content or laughing at not passing? It seems so. Colossal fail LOL
Wasnt even surprised. But for a moment i did wonder if that was my result or if they had it mixed up with somebody else’s. But then I remembered why i deserved the fail so mehh. Not like having the L3 will immediately give me drastic life changing career.
i will also say that i walked outta the exam room thinking i failed band 9/10 (yes i know there arent bands anymore) but also thinking “t_hat wasnt terrible, i will crush it next year”_
TJ - I know people have said it already but try Marc at LevelUp next time. This was my second go around and although I went through all of the CFA material books myself this year it was having that extra guidance from Marc and his materials that got me through the finish line with ease.
It does sound like something flaky happened given that you were pretty confident in your answers. If the retab doesn’t work out then don’t give up and use the CFA curriculum and either invest in Marc’s videos or do the bootcamp as well. I didn’t use LevelUp in 2017 because I wanted to save money but then I ended up having to sit for the exam another year.
I’m not trying to plug LevelUp all the time but it was just nice having a TON of material from Marc and a nonstop pattern of reviewing it that helped me out.
I hope for the best for you - whether it be a successful retab or another go in 2019!
Right there with you, TJ. I was band 2 in '16, band 10 last year and now it looks like I’m a hair over the bottom 10% level. Of course that’s bottom 10% of all test takers and not just the failures so maybe it’s like Band 4 (yuck). I did Schweser all year and did better on the AM and nearly 10%ile on the afternoon. Just fizzled out. I couldn’t believe I got 10% on the ethics after getting 85% on QBank, but it was a tough couple item sets for me. This would be my fourth time with L3 and I’m not in the industry. Corporate finance director. Therefore, I’m going to assess the situation before resigning.
Cheering for you Tommyjohn. I used CFAI books strictly, mocking 60 on Essay and 75 on MCs. I had access to schweser mocks and one look at the format, I refused to practice with it. I felt better practice can be spent on TT, EOC, or BB. I failed band 7 last year, leaving no AMs blank. This year, I left more than 25 points on AM blank but killed the PM. AM score was slightly less than 50% and PM score was good chunk above 70%. If I were you, I’d send in the retabjust to get closure, accept whatever the outcome… then take a deep breath, refocus, and move forward again. Your knowledge and your family is your tailwind! You can do this!!!
Tommy, one time through the QBank is not enough IMHO. I went 3 or 4 times through, and while my percentile may have been inflated due to the resets, I learned new things each time through. I also went back as far as the 2006 AM exams and took them 3 times. I recommend more practice with the QBank/online tests and past exams. Best of luck.
Sorry Tommy. That sucks. If you’re that low though, then something fundamentally went very wrong on the paper which I find weird given your scores. Perhaps you just weren’t hitting those key words they were looking for in AM and getting caught in traps in PM… it’s all I can think to try explain this anomaly.
If you’re scoring well in mocks then you are in good position for next year. Keep at it my son, there is no use stopping now so close to the finish line. You’re better then that homie and I believe in you! Get back up and demolish it next year. All the best!
I failed as well…I scored above 70 on wealth and ethics but under 50 in all others although close (to 50) in a few. To accomplish some things in life might require more effort on your part than others. Makes me mad as well some people study for three months and pass these things. Your posts (and others) help me get back in saddle. I plan to start December 1st and begin with the subjects that caused me to fail. Wish you the best going forward. Life is not easy.
I think I’ve only made like 1 post here since joining ~2.5 years ago. But wanted to post and send a note of encouragement. There’s so many factors that lead to a passing score (environment, preparation, a little bit of luck, etc.). So many smart people fail and there’s really nothing wrong with that. Don’t think too much about it and don’t give up just cause you didn’t get it this time, hopefully you learned something and you’ll get it next time!
Of course, congrats to all those who passed!
Sorry to those that have failed, must be very disappointing and discouraging. I hope you find the motivation to carry on and strive next year. This is the first time I’m taking level III and I passed. My score was slightly below the 90th percentile line. Nothing to show off about but I didn’t feel confident at all that I would pass but I was fortunate to be able to. Judging from the results, I scored around 60% in AM and 75% in PM. I thought Ethics was horrible but I managed to score above 70% for it mainly due to luck in my opinion. I spent 650-750 hours in total and burying myself in CFAI books for 8 months neglecting my wife in the process. Yet, i still didnt feel confident after I stepped out of the exam hall. Hence attributing a large component to luck; if you get a question that you have studied and you were able to recall it because unless you have photographic memory, you are not going to remember everything thats being said in the books. However, you do need to study alot to increase the probability.
i scored band 3 last year and was just under 90th percentile this year. you can definitely still do it just adjust, study more, and retake.
Don’t rely on Schweser for exam prep, use it for notes but nothing else. Stick with CFAI for practice.
Good luck to you next year, stick with it, don’t quit now.
PLEASE report back on your outcome! I am in the same boat, I’ve never felt more confident walking out of a CFA exam and my results make it look like I hardly cracked the materials. I put 400 hours into level 3 studying. I’m at a loss for words here…
3rd time L3 retaker here. Used Schweser for the first and second go-around. Same story as you (the original poster) – super high marks and fell flat on my face in the exam. And that’s because there’s so many tricks and traps and curve balls that they just don’t cover.
Trick me once, shame on you (Schweser), trick me twice (shame on me)…third time, no more schweser (even if you give me that retaker discount no thanks).
But my approach is kind of different.
First off, you have to use the curriculum. Period. It’s long, it’s boring. It ain’t easy. But it is what it is. Second off, there’s a prep provider called Deep3 headed by Gurmeet Gill. (you can google and get in contact with him). Small shop operation but his attention to detail and customized AM grading is excellent and provided excellent feedback. His structure and approach is different.
Towards the end, I supplemented it with LevelUp, which did an excellent job summarizing it all weeks before the exam. I don’t have to say beacuse you read all the raves about his program yourself here.
So why did I do this? I need help in AM…BADLY…because I needed unlearn the crap from Schweser and relearn it. Feel free to PM if you need help or need to get in contact. When I failed the second time (and trust me, I knew the material the first go-around) I needed drastic measures to correct whatever was wrong. Panned pretty well.
Also start early. Like November/December. Not March.
Being very honest I expected you to pass.
I scored over 90%tile with ~85%(percentage point) in PM(~70% in AM), I had 0 mock but scored ~70% in TTs - 250 hrs overall I could put in
1st time taker, used Schweser as primary resource and CFAI EOCs and BBs as complementary.
NB: pretty surprised to see I scored close to 50% in Equity
Even if I had to retake, I would never use any 3P material for AM session. Those were BS.
seems we have exactly the same results (incl equity :o )
but no surprise on my side for equity as i left blanc item set 1 of essay part (i really did not see to which parts of the Schweser books it referred to…)
Only worked on schweser (plus CFAI questions).
Slighly less than 250 hours i think (about 13 h / day * 2 weeks + 3h/Day * 2 weeks).
I would advice to only work on CFAI for L3. I was really disappointed to feel that several questions of the morning part in particular did not seem to me familiar although I went through all Schweser books.
Hey Tommy.
I never comment on these type of posts but I remember you from level 2. You made a lot of posts comparing the mock to the actual exam which really helped me; so I’ll try and return the favor.
It was my first attempt.and I scored above the 90th percentile overall (AM was like 56, PM like 90). Main point is USE THE CFAI MATERIAL ONLY. I don’t understand why everyone uses third-party resources (time yeah, yeah) because everything you need is in the Ebook. For level 2 I bought Schweser mocks (volume 2 from your recommendation) and the main thing I noticed was the strange verbiage. The words they used and the way they frame questions is different than CFAI, sometimes I couldn’t figure out what the hell the question was asking. Point being, I didn’t score well but got > 70 in everything but one subject on the real exam. This is where I think you went wrong. Study the CFAI material and you’ll get used to the way they talk. It will make it much easier. Either way, good luck.