Hi Everyone. I’m not one to write posts on AF, but decided that I should this time.
I failed. Its a horrible, horrible feeling. This was my second time taking level 3 - got band 8, previous year was band -3. Both results have kind of been a slap in the face. This time I definitely felt more prepared, was calm, actually thought the AM portion of the exam wasn’t bad. I recall feeling particularly drained in the afternoon session, but not the level of a fail. But anywho, here I am.
I wanted to share my experience because its been really encouraging reading about other who’ve retaken this exam once, twice, even thrice, preserved and finally made it. So guys, if you didn’t make it this time, remember you are not alone, and that if you’ve got this far, you can pass this thing!
I could probably give some long depth analysis of where I went wrong in 2012. But in the end, I realized that it all boils down to one thing for me…lack of motivation. Yes, of course i studied hard, probably put in the 300 hours or so, sat a couple of mocks (and passed btw). But it took me a long time to get serious. In January, I was still debating whether or not to do this. If I can say one thing to other candidates thinking of retaking the exam, be 100% sure you want to do this. You can’t be on the fence, because you should know that if you are 90% convinced, its the 10% thats going to cause you to fail. Seriously, its that 10% that makes you a little bit lazy…“oh, i’'ll sit 3 mocks instead of a bazillion”, “oh, i didnt study my 15-20 hours this week but ill make up for it”, “it’ll be easier this time round…”. Honestly, if you don’t feel it, even after trying to psych yourself up, don’t bother. You’ve got to respect this exam and give it your all.
Another thing, if you felt totally drained after the exam…like for 2 weeks post exam you were just exhausted, and you didn’t pass…I promise you it wont be as bad the second time round 
that was part of my big “dread”.
So how am I feeling? Pretty depressed to be honest. But yet, I have more motivation to resit this thing this year. I could literally start studying today. Perhaps I’m angry, before CFA I had never failed an exam in my life, my college gpa was 3.84, everyone thinks ( or used to at least) that I was supersmart. Oh yeah, thats another problem, don’t think cos you were some kick ass student before you can cut corners…ok a few of you can…small minority methinks.
Within a month I’ll make my decision. Although I feel ready now, I don’t want to act prematurely.
This post is way longer than I intended it to be. I just wanted people to know, that there are others out there.
Find your fighting spirit, make sure its right, start early, and kill this thing!!! I wish all of you retakers good luck and sincerely hope you pass!!
P.S oh yes, I’m turning 30 in a few months…can I just say, make adjustments for getting older. Within the same of a year, I could literally feel the loss in memory retention. People had warned me about this.