cleared all levels in first attempt. Due to time constraints I never referred to anything other than Schweser. Kept focus on practicing questions.
1st attempt on all 3, but barely snuck by this last one
CFAI material exclusively. Heavy amounts of underlying and margin notes made it much easier to review.
120% focus while studying, That means, all cell phones and all computers powered in the vicinity powered off. Absolutely zero distractions. No emails, FB, linkedin, twitter, kik, porn, chat,etc…
Another thing that I think is helpful. When you do the mocks, DON’t take them like a real exam. Do an item set, then look at the answer. Rinse and Repeat. Trying to do a timed test for practice IMO won’t help you in preparation. What you want is exposure to QUESTIONS and INSTANT FEEDBACK.
I passed all levels in 1 attempt. In all levels had started studying ~1.5 mths in advance but in L3 just studied for 1 week before the exam from the modules provided by the institute.
Passed first time. For this level I think it’s good to look at Trimonous (sp?) post from last year. I printed it off and posted it on my whiteboard in my study.
I used the CFAI books (started reading late Dec) and Schweser Videos for Alternative Investments and quick recaps on smaller weighted sections.
I think the most important thing you need to realise for this level is that we’re no longer dealing with questions with answers you can retreive through Random Access Memory. There are multiple concepts involved with which you need to filter and prioritize the inputs and choose the correct method to compute the answer.
Practice EOC questions and blue boxes - spend a lot of time on this. Make 1-2 page summaries for each chapter if you have time and run through those before bed or when you have a spare moment and need a light activity break. There are a lot of EOC questions but if you do them enough times, your brain will take care of the rest. It’s all about method. Learn the bread-and-butter questions and make sure you know them well. Pay attention to the smaller items as well, as it seems CFAI is pulling those out to make it more difficult.
Do AM mocks at the very least, as many as you can. I did three for this level and I did one in MARCH just to show myself the gap between my knowledge and what was required. Don’t get down on yourself because you didn’t pass, you’re not going to pass in march. You need to pass in June. Find your weaknesses and fix them, or at least get as much knowledge as you can.
Learn to write briefly and concisely, USE KEY WORDS AND TERMS. In the mocks I was finishing AMs in around 2 hours. The actual exam is much more intricate and detailed and pushed me to 2:45. The more concisely you write, the less chance you’ll run out of time. I cannot stress this enough.
What’s important is that you know how to use your time, know how to approach questions (only comes with practice), and understand what they’re asking you. Mocks help a lot but they aren’t always predictive. I’ve never passed a single mock exam and I’m done Level 3. It’s what you bring on game day that determines your fate.
Good luck guys.
practice every essay exam you can get your hands on.
buy the schwesser ones as well as the cfa free ones.
do them over and over again to get the format and your style nailed down.
2nd time taker, knocked it out of the park. CFAI texts only for me. Crushed blue boxes, exhibits, and EOC’s, multiple times. Only read to backfill stuff that was confusing. Made about 500 flashcards of the aforementioned. Started out slowly in October and built up momentum into June 1. This is key, because on my 1st attempt I burnt out in May, so keep a reserve for the last 2 week sprint. About 8 pracice exams (AM and PM is 1 exam) starting in April. Go to Creighton bootcamp. Work like a maniac and don’t give up, so when you walk out of test center in June, you’ll know.
Here’s what I used in terms of study materials:
2011 Level 1: 95% schweser 5% CFAI - Passed
2012 Level 2: 80% schweser 20% CFAI - Passed
2013 Level 3: 60% schweser 40% CFAI - Passed
Relied more on CFAI text for level 3. Studied the Schweser notes first then looked through CFAI and focused on topics I felt I needed greater details (this will probably vary from person to person). Did all EOC questions for both Schweser and CFAI.
Schweser gave a good overview and framework while the CFAI gave more precise information (sometimes too much).
Hope this helps.
Took me 2 times to get L3… second time I essentially scrapped Schweser and went with 7city and CFAI about 50/50.
I may be exaggerating because the morning really was my hurdle for L3, but learning HOW to take the morning is the absolute key to this test. At this point, we all (should) know enough material to pass. For L3 though, you have to be able to construct answers that CFAI is looking for. It sounds cheesy, but the most helpful thing I did with a few other candidates was basically create these “buzz words” sheets to practice with… almost like how publicists create pre-canned answers/topics for politicians/athletes/celebrities so they always know what the “right” answer is for the typical questions they will get. Worked wonders for me and the people in our study group (we went 7 for 8 in our group… most of us had taken L3 once before).
7city is by Fitch and based out of UK. I got a TON of material for what I paid for - about $1,200 got me access to their database/qbank/materials, sent me an email a day with a question, provided weekly live online classes, workshops, and practice tests, a 2-day in-person crash course in NY, and they even provided a preloaded Droid tablet with all the CFA videos/audio/questions/etc that they had so you could study without internet too! I looked up the tablet too and it was about a $250 one just by itself… so considering all the other stuff you got, it was a great value… That same material would run you well over $2k from Schweser.
2012 L3 - Scoreband 2
2013 L3 - Passed
2012: I never opened CFAI books, read Schweser once, did most of the Schweser end of chapter questions, did about 2 Schweser mock exams, did the CFAI mock exam the night before the exam and freaked myself out, did not use the sample exams. (I also got married around the test date, so I was generally unprepared.)
2013: I re-read Schweser but typed very detailed notes, then reviewed my notes as much as possible in the month before the exam in detail. I only read about 20-30 pages of CFAI text, focusing on a few of the topics not covered well by Schweser. I’m convinced the reason I went from a scoreband 2 to a pass is because I did about 70%-80% of end of chapter CFAI problems, and I did as many practice tests in the final 6 weeks as possible. I felt much more confident this year going into the test knowing that I had knocked out so many practice exams and problems. For the most part, the Schweser problems are way too easy and don’t help much for L3, in my opinion. If you can answer all the end of chaper CFAI problems, you can probably pass the test.
I knew the material inside out by just reading the cfa books 3x cover to cover. However, this was my third attempt so I recalled most of the material from my previous years of studying. Ask me now if I remember anything? HEEELLLLL NO!!! I got my pass and waiting for my experience to be approved to use the damn letters and that’s what I care for.
i am here to stay… lol
i don’t think i have anything else to add regarding studying techniques, but i can only give you one additional piece of advice…
LIVE YOUR LIFE!
don’t let an exam take over your life and try to do something fun and exciting and interesting! your life experience will benefit you 1000x more than a CFA charter!
BEST OF LUCK and see you next year~
NANA
After 3 years doing this, I have become a super loner
mills87, sorry to hear about your results. This is my first post on the forum but I’ve been browsing for awhile now ever since I sat for the 2013 exam. I figured I should drop a word of advice since I finally made it this time around. I’ve struggled with Lv.3 while breezing by the first two levels despite what people say about how Lv.2 is hardest and Lv.3 is a walk in the park. Don’t underestimate the material, don’t fall into a trap that portfolio management for both individual/institutions is all about common sense, don’t skim risk management (all that stuff around market & non-market risk, ERM, credit risks) either. It really is about practice exams and utilizing those questions to help you think about what you have read. The content is ngot difficult but the application can be very broad. Just remember to ask yourself a bunch of questions after every LOS… Find new angles to digest the material… And don’t be intimidated by derivatives… It’s the easiest part to score pts… And it’s the LOS that requires the most common sense… Good luck… All the best. It’s not about how many times you fail that makes the man… But how he gets back up and redoubles the effort.
Now that you’re done you ahve some catching up to do!!!
I still think your friends and network are your biggest resource, so it’s almost like quitting your job to study for your CFA… WHY? it’s so counter-intuitive!
pointless thread
I passed 3/3 on first attempt - only used Schweser study books, never even opened a CFA Institue book.
For level 3, I only did PM (multi choice) practice exams from Schweser. Didn’t do mock and didn’t do any practice exams under exam conditions. Didn’t do any online tutorials nor did I use any forums.
What worked for me was actually stopping to realise that endless reading, making notes and doing questions wasn’t particularly effective. Instead, I chanted things (e.g. saying out loud the list of all the behavioural finance biases over and over, and repeat this over the week before the exam, until it was committed to memory) and I took a pile of blank paper and, as I worked through the topics, made sure I could write each formula down (without looking at notes), understand how changing one of the inputs affected the output and list at least 2 advantages & 2 disadvantages/limitations of it.
Different things work for different people.
I passed all three levels on the first try.
The only materials I used for Level 3 were the CFAI books, mock/past exams made available by CFAI, and this forum from time to time.
After I read the CFAI material once through I went back and worked every end of chapter exercise. I made a bunch of notecards (at least 100) for formulas and definitions in the exercises, and I studied these during my commute. Notecards were definitely helpful for me for Level 2 and Level 3. After that I just did a lot of practice tests, all of which I took timed and under actual test conditions (no water breaks, etc.). For me, taking practice tests is how I really learned to pass the exams.
This was the first level where I read all the CFAI material from cover to cover. To be honest, that took a lot of time and I don’t think it was particularly helpful for me. As some others have mentioned, much of the material is too chatty and uses 1,000 pages to say what it could more effectively say with 300 in my opinion. When I started doing excercises after the reading I realized I hadn’t retained much of what I had read, and that time would have been better spent on exercises and practice tests.
Hope this helps. Different things work for different people.