Hi all. I am slowly realizing how screwed I am reading all the posts… So far I have only read abpout 3 ss, all from CFAI textbooks. I guess this new job - 12 hour days, sometimes more when earnings season comes - has made it really hard to find the time. At this point I can keep reading but I don’t think I’ll finish in time… Should I abandon the textbooks and start Schweser instead? I used their material at Level 1 and during my first go at 2. When I rewrote 2 I read every page of the CFAI and did 8 practice exams and nailed it (top bracket in 8 of 10 sections) so I thought I’d do the same for 3. While it’s great to have gotten the job that I have, the timing really screwed me and threw me off schedule. I will get 2 weeks off immediately before the big day, so that’s about the only silver lining at this stage… Any advice?
At L3, it’s critically important to finish your reading early, so that you have lots of time to do practice exams. This is really the only way to become competent at the IPS problems that will make up the first 2-3 questions of the exam. Anyone that wants to read the CFAI texts in their entirety needs to start studying early – like 6 months out. At this point, you should look at accelerated study methods, and formats that you can fit into your lifestyle. For example, maybe look into audio review, if that’s something that will fit in to your daily commute. Several providers offer condensed in-person reviews, that are a good way to cover the entire curriculum (in brief) in a few days. Also, the various last-minute-guides are a great way to hit the highlights of the curriculum.
Can’t use Schweser. Not for this L3 exam. Need to read the text to fully understand.
bell99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Can’t use Schweser. Not for this L3 exam. Need to > read the text to fully understand. That’s a strong statement. I’d say that there are portions of the CFAI text that are sufficiently important that it’s worthwhile to read the original: * Reading 6 (Asset Manager Code) * Reading 48 (GIPS) * Readings 3,4,5 (Ethics)
I am solely using schweser. all i have used for the past 2 and only been out of the top bracket once i think. i feel that the most important thing is practive exams. read through schweser or whatever other text and start doing problems. you have enough time. (people said the same thing about L2 - “have to use CFAI” - bs). everybody learns differently though. good luck. 2 weeks off before exams is going to be huge for you.
jmac01 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > i feel that the most important > thing is practive exams. read through schweser or > whatever other text and start doing problems. you > have enough time. I agree with jmac. Get through the readings as fast as you can, however you do it. Spend the 2 weeks before June 4th working on practice exams – especially the old ones on the CFAI site.
Wendy Wrote: > I’d say that there are portions of the CFAI text > that are sufficiently important that it’s > worthwhile to read the original: > > * Reading 6 (Asset Manager Code) > * Reading 48 (GIPS) > * Readings 3,4,5 (Ethics) Do you recommend any other readings from the cfai text ? Less the better ofcourse 
You have plenty of time. Agree w/ jmac and Wendy, esp’ly re Schweser…I could not have made it through all this without Schweser! Good Luck and keep up the momentum!
I’m with Wendy. CFAI will suck you dry as far as time goes. I’m a Schweser Purist. I have CFAI open too as I read in case there is something I don’t understand in Schweser or want to go more in depth. I’m also planning on going back and doing a substantial amount of the CFAI end of reading questions.
Schweser is OK. However, you should use the CFAI text for Ethics.
Schweser is sufficient except for Ethics and don’t forget the CFAI EOC questions.
bell99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Can’t use Schweser. Not for this L3 exam. Need to > read the text to fully understand. WRONG. a guy i work with passed all 3 levels using nothing but Schweser.
bell99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Can’t use Schweser. Not for this L3 exam. Need to > read the text to fully understand. Yawn! I went 3/3 with 100% Schweser each time. Someone please explain to me how you could possibly fail if you had every page of Schweser committed to memory. Its just not possible. If you fail using Schweser its because you didn’t learn everything in the Schweser books.
Schweser all day e’day
To me it is pretty straight forward, if you are a repeater and didn’t pass the first time using Schewser only, switch it up and add CFAI readings. If you have plenty of time and don’t want to spend the money on Sch use CFAI exclusively. If you are a first timer for Level 3, give Schweser a spin and see if you can hack this using Schweser only. I have heard lots of stories about people passing using Sch only but everyone’s studying style is different.
I’m noticing substantial discrepancies between schweser & CFAI texts. For example, see the reading of risk management: reading 39 in CFAI. Schweser gets into detailed FRA calculations, whereas the CFAI text doesn’t. Even in the practice questions at end of chapter, schweser expects a calculation of the loss / gain of FRA positions. There is no such thing in L3 CFAI as yet. in general, i don’t see any good reason to rely on schweser. why take a chance? they aren’t administering the exam, CFAI is. is it really such a time savings? risk-adjust that expected return on schweser, guys. It ain’t worth it. btw, off topic, buts its extremely annoying that this forum doesn’t think schweser is a word, or L3 is a word, or CFAI is a word. seriously, forum? really?
3/3 with only schweser books and stalla flashcards. Biology degree with a 62% undergrad average. Barely used practice exams for the first two, but they’re critical for level III written section, especially for IPS. No practice exams = crazy hard to pass as they have a format and pattern that works best for IPS questions when you look at the answers. Level III written section was the most time crunch exam I’ve ever written.
if you know the Schweser material cold, you should be in a great position to pass. Agree w/ montanidate, mossy695 and wake2000. and the more practice exams, the better!
zoya Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > btw, off topic, buts its extremely annoying that > this forum doesn’t think schweser is a word, or L3 > is a word, or CFAI is a word. seriously, forum? > really? Maybe because it’s Friday but I have no idea what you are on about.