I don’t understand the purpose of this thread.
The CFA Charter is on a very tall pedestal for a reason. I like it and it’s a big reason why I took it in the first place.
Back to 2005 that was 4.5 years program (please correct me if I am wrong). During that time frame one was supposed to accomplish everything: all the 3 levels + working expierience.
In 2005 my post was not even imaginable: you could fail a certain level one time at most + retake, after that you will not be able to finish in time. That was the reason the Level 1 was given twice a year: it was considered the real cutter and people needed one more try.
In 2006 that limit was cancelled and the game has been changed: no time frame and register as you go. From that time on multiple ‘retakes’ pop up. They are quickly silencied on AF but even yesterday we all read 2 threads: one guy quits and he’s on the program from 2007 and the other passed level 3 - but it took him 10 years (all the 3 leves).
And when retakers like me flooded the testing centers (sending milions of $ to CFAI as fees) the exam has been changed. Nobody announced that they are going to kill the hopes. But… like one year 3 Readings are added and 1 gone, the next year 5 new Readings and one went to Level 1… My assessment that during 2007 - 2014 the amount of pages in the Readings grew at least 50% (I cannot check it since CFAI eliminates every old curriculum after the test and no archive is available on their website).
Tons of people are stack on a certain level like forever.
And I would like to tell you even more. For big part of the candidates the exam is not for their career. Perhaps it was, in the past… but it is like… personal challenge… perhaps you can say that this way. a challenge.
Lots of my friends are employed in the fields faaaaaaaar away from the investments and do not need it ‘so badly’. For instance me - I do not hold a title of investment analyst since 2008, I am not a banker since 2010. I work in software company - previousely as a BA, now I am also developer. One of my friends (level 1 forever) is in public relations, another one (rocketed levels 1 and 2 to stock in l3 for a good) - in logistic field.
I would never ever write my letter to Paul Smith if I was sure that the CFAI follows its own principles. After the failure in 2015 I would take a year off and return - but opaque grading of AM (once again - slowly - for the people in the tank who do not hear - not my AM session, but of all the candidates) made me go here.
Which CFA Institute principles, exactly, do you believe CFA Institute doesn’t follow?
I earned all my AFpoints in the last two days explaining that.
Could you please read?
I would never ever write my letter to Paul Smith if I was sure that the CFAI follows its own principles. After the failure in 2015 I would take a year off and return - but opaque grading of AM (once again - slowly - for the people in the tank who do not hear - not my AM session, but of all the candidates) made me go here.
Things to Remember When Taking the Level III Exam
Know your acronyms Common acronyms are no longer spelled out in the exam questions. Download and review Level III acronyms you should know (PDF).
Manage your time
Many candidates say that the morning (essay) section of the Level III exam is the most difficult. The time management challenge is very different from the item set or multiple choice questions.
- Take the time to read and understand each question completely before you start to answer it.
- Keep your answers short (bullet points and incomplete sentences are acceptable).
- If a template is provided, use it.
- Avoid laboring over questions on topics you do not know well; return to those questions after you have answered the questions you are confident about.
- Formulate a direct response to the command words.
- Try to complete your answer within the amount of time suggested for each question.
Answer only the question that is asked
- Avoid introducing information not directly relevant or responsive to the questions asked; be particularly alert to this tendency on topics you know well.
- The exam questions are not designed to trick you or test you on rare exceptions. For example:
- If a question asks for one advantage or two reasons, provide only the one advantage or two reasons requested. In this example, only the first advantage or the first two reasons that you provide will be graded. If you are uncertain, choose the advantage or reasons that you think most strongly and directly support your answer.
- If appropriate, state any assumptions that support your approach to solving the problem.
- Make sure your answers are clear and do not contain contradictory information.
- lf you change an answer, cross out the content that you do not want the grader to consider.
Record your answer correctly
- Only the answers recorded on the answer sheets are graded. You may circle or underline important information and write down your equations or logic in your exam book for your own reference.
- Answers written on the question pages or on the pages marked “Intentionally Left Blank” are not graded.
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Follow the instructions given in the template and record your answer on the templates provided. CFA Institute grades the answers written on the pages labeled for a specific answer, regardless of whether the template is used. You will not be penalized if you do not use the template provided.
- Templates are provided to assist candidates in providing only the information necessary to directly answer the question.
- Instructions in bold print immediately preceding a question will direct you to the page numbers of the template (if a template is provided).
- Valuable time is wasted by repeating words from a template that is already provided for you.
- I f the question says ‘show your work’ then do so. Show work for all calculations. Partial credit is often awarded for correct formulas and inputs even when answers are incorrect.
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Pay attention to the instructions on the front cover and throughout the exam book. This will help you
- Avoid overlooking any questions or question parts.
- Avoid answering sequential, related questions out of order.
- Manage your time in accordance with the stated minute allocations.
- Avoid writing your answers on question pages or pages intentionally left blank, where the answers will not be graded.
- Answers are not graded for language and style. As long as the answer is clear, the grammar does not have to be perfect.
- Use short phrases and bullet points to save time, but be sure your meaning is clear.
- Common abbreviations and symbols are okay , but when in doubt write it out.
- Points are awarded for direct answers to a question. Points are not awarded for general knowledge that does not address the question.
- Focus on addressing the bold command words used in each question. Command words are defined on the inside of the front cover of the exam book. Review the LOS command words (PDF).
- If the question requires a decision (e.g., command words Determine or Recommend), clearly state or, in template questions, select your choice. When your intent is unclear to the grader, or contradictory information is included in an answer, no points will be awarded. For example, if the question requires you to Justify a recommendation, the information you provide should clearly show why the recommendation is correct. Make sure to provide reasons that clearly and directly Support or Justify your answers when asked to do so.
Dear AFers,
Thank you for your time you put into your comments.
I believe that many people who did not find suitable to comment here read the discussion and understood my point.
The discussion here heads to anything but not the letter I published. I do not want to put any efforts in fruitless swordplay.
I’ll be back to publish Paul Smith’s reply (I was assured that CFAI is working on it) and perhaps I would like to make some final comments concerning the reply.
Meantime please waste no time and put here another 40 pages discussion about me.
Biiig hug to all of you, AFers 
Can a moderator please kill this post or file it under the “Consipracy” section of the site?
I’ve read through every post here.
I’d simply like you to distill your position into a few bullet points: which principles, exactly?
After all of your posts, surely this is a trivial request.
What did I violate ?
http://www.analystforum.com/community-rules
Or just post your suggestons here:
http://www.cfainstitute.org/ethics/conduct/complaint/Pages/conduct_complaint.aspx
I get some of the frustration with the lack of transparency, but the fact is that half of the people who took the test were able to do enough to pass, so the passing criteria is not blatantly unfair. The whole ‘tell people how many hours it really takes’ gripe is ridiculous. I put in about 220 for L3, 150 for L2 and maybe 200 for L1 and passed all three. Its how you study not how long you study.
This sort of reminds me of the people I’ve met who studied very hard but were simply not good at obtaining high grades back in university. They actually appeared knowledgeable and were able to answer many questions I asked when studying with them, but somehow come the exam day, they just completely bomb it. I think it all came down to studying technique (specifically tailoring it to the exam style) and exam writing technique (strictly following the forms of answers they are looking for). People seem to particularly struggle with written responses because I’ve seen people who can write tons, and all of them make sense, but they simply weren’t the answers the markers were looking for.
I’m in IT, never went to college and I passed Level 1 the first time after 300 hours of study. The math and statistics concepts I learned in Quantitative Methods were almost completely foreign to me - I was learning most things from a blank slate.
So I think you’re spot on. If you actually spent 300 hours studying for Level 1 and failed… that’s probably telling you something. Taking Level 2 seven times… sheesh.
I think think this is my favorite thread ever, I laughed out loud a few times at some of the comments
CFAilure - Jokes aside, it is easy to see why you would have trouble with the AM session. You are not really able to express yourself fully in a concise manner. A lot of your posts ramble on and are confusing for people to understand - this is the exact opposite of how the AM session needs to be addressed. I do not mean to put down your English, in that I speak a little Spanish but your English is ten times as good as my Spanish. But you are taking a professional exam in English, which the majority of English speaking people would never be able to pass. With your writing style, it is hard to see how you could pass the AM section. You probably can at some point, but I think you need to work on your English and your writing style.
S2000magician: As I heard from the people who went throught the program in those years, the exams were much easier and there was much less material to read
Skandalouzt: So was this a problem with insufficient information provided by the Olympics organizers or was it the lack of your self-organization and inability to adjust to the Russian reality?
I think he’s being sarcastic.
This is too true. All of CFAilure’s posts are incoherent rambling. He doesn’t get to the point quick enough. But he only failed L3 once so it might be too quick to jump to conclusions. On the other hand, he failed L2 seven times so maybe it’s his study habits? I just pray to god that he doesn’t waste another seven years doing L3.
The exams were much different then, but not necessarily easier.
For example, when working a PWM question, we had to write out an asset allocation, instead of choosing one from a list. (At Level II, I recall writing out an income statement and balance sheet, not merely answering multiple choice questions.)
The curriculum then wasn’t published by CFA Institute (AIMR back then); it comprised a number of chapters from various textbooks: chapters 2, 3 & 5 from this book, chapters 22 – 24 in that book, and so on. You ended up with a stack of textbooks 2 feet high, of which you read about 20%.
everyone, please… seriously. as much as there is temptation to reply to what is being talked about here, please, STOP WRITING ON THIS THREAD. I know CFAilure (and Godism to some extent) want to/need to vent their frustrations and somehow argue that, because of “CFA policies” they failed Level 3 (yet somehow got this far). We all know that there is NOTHING that the CFAI can/will do that will change anyone’s test scores, now or at any point in the future. As Galli says, the CFA program has its prestige for a reason. And, only those who maybe aren’t able to climb that mountain, or have yet to do so, feel the need to make it seemingly “easier” to get to the top, blaming the weather for why they couldn’t summit Everest.
when my 4 yr old keeps doing something she should not be doing, just to get my attention, I stop paying attention…
so, please, stop replying to this thread , and hope that CFAilure’s frustrations, and those who agree with him, will soon dwindle away as the hot american summer will soon do as well.
I believe that we sould support all CFAilure. He is writght. All the things are organized for money. They are just as unreal as all the situation in America is!