I scored ~70% on PMs, above 80% on Fixed Income, between 50-70% on Derivatives, AI, and Eco. Failed Equities ( below 50%), and completely failed Ethics (below 30%).
So annoying and absurd, that bc of Ethics failed an entire exam.
Similar for me. 3 time above 70% 3 times around ~ 60%. Failed Econ (I have a PhD in Economics) and Ethics… 
Fully agree on comment on Ethics. In particular, as we all have already shown twice that we passed Ethics. Content is the same as in Level 1 and 2.
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I totally agree with your sentiment. I am a CAIA charterholder and have had a strong dose of Ethics in both levels there in addition to CFA. I scored btw 50-70 in ethics which left me dumbfounded. I don’t think the problem lies with the candidates, the problem lies in the exam questioning. It appears more to trick you rather than actually test your knowledge of the subject.
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When I prepared for L3 in December of 2020 I had access to essentially all prep providers. What worked for me was essentially following the tips prescribed in a book called ‘Make it Stick’ I made flashcards on Quizlet (using the snip function in windows 10 to create them quickly and elaborate on them with time - Window + Shift + s) I also did quizzes daily on all readings already covered (in one quiz). Likewise, i did all of the qbanks, mocks, blue boxes, and in text examples. I know a lot of folks here liked level up but it didn’t do it for me. I got the most utility from Bill Campbell’s mocks and MM qbank + mocks. Both of those resources were really great when it comes to explanation as to why something was wrong or right.
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How did you get your detailed score? Ethics wasn’t my strong area for L1 and L2 , i put in an inordinate amount of time for L3 , i did manage to pass the exam but i would have been nice to know how i did on Ethics
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Looks like they give details only to ones who didn’t pass
I wish everyone could get detailed results for L3. Apparently they now only give detailed results to those who didn’t pass, in order to help them understand their areas of strength/weakness for the purposes of retaking the exam.
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Same. Failed my second attempt.
Based on that second page and brackets of 50-70%, I could high-level estimate (measured on screen the line compared to 50-70%) that my score increased from 42,06% to 58,28%. However I see I failed completely ethics (think around 30% - again) and alternative investments (42%), the rest has improved (estimating equity - 49%, economics - 55%, fixed income & derivatives - 56,2%, behavioral finance, private wealth and institutional - 86% and asset allocation, trading and performance evaluation - 66% - again these are estimation based on that bucket of 50-70%). Just would love to know how to practise ethics? Will you take it again and how would you prep yourself better on ethics? Would MM be a good one?
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i scored above 70% in ~50% of the exam specifically in heavy weight topics (like PM) and between 50-70% for ~40% of exam (Ethics, FI, AI, equity) and just in derivative below 50%. My score line very close to MPS (see screen shot below. Any one closer than this ?
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Just as a side question - have you tried doing all the ethics MCQ questions in CFA’s learning ecosystem, on their website? For me at least, the ethics part of the exam eventually became a repetitive pattern of “typically tricky” scenarios that kept tripping me up in the ecosystem but once I got used to the command words and scenario triggers it almost became the easiest part of the test over time. Because the command words and triggers couldn’t change much, only the people and places could change in questions. Have you tried this? I found this turned a potential weakness into a strength for me.
Cheers you got this next time surely👍
Yikes …. That hurts ! That line … I mean. I know way too well. Used to be called Band 10 !
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In ethics i think i got close to 60%. I practiced all CFAI learning eco system a couple of time and also made a few notes to myself on incorrect answers. I read their example and practice problem from text book and revised once. It did helped on exam day, i think atleast a couple of question were direct hit.
Probability, I think next time i will re-read this a few time do make a point not to forget by the time exam comes in. I did a few mock exams which helped answering by keeping in mind command words, I wish they could share AM score so i could assess if it is CBT or AM score that killed me.
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It’s not sinking in even after a week. I am in self doubt. There are very thin chances i can do better than this even after 10x mock exam because you can still have a topic below 50% that can give you a fail.
Its hard to understand what is ask from Institute. I strongly think its not a knowledge test but there is huge weight on test taking skills. Right after exam i post on this forum same feelings that there other crap in this test which get more weights than knowledge test. why to trick that much by command word, why extreme level of time pressure and so on. Again, that all is my personal view.
Hi.
My study material (for the second retake) was Kaplan schweser notes + did 3-4 exams schweser notes and did a couple of previous years exam questions (just on fixed income as I saw that was a working point on my first attempt). Despite taking again +/- 3,5 weeks off of work (and understanding all the details of KS), I think I could just do more exams/questions. If I remember well I did a couple of them - **You are referring to the online questions of CFA, with that ecosystem? (It’s just I can post a link in this comment box)
Cheers,
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Hah, I feel you completely (although yours is slightly higher). I was relatively comfortable with my second attempt, but my motivation was completely crushed last Tuesday 
Constantly thinking if i would just have 60% on ethics and would have passed this exam, with my current score and reading about the mps of december 2020 (first attempt) I would have also passed… All that work…Constantly thinking, how could do better or even thinking can I do better…
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Yes @cedric1990 I am referring to the MCQ questions on the CFA Institute’s website, candidate resources - learning ecosystem. For ethics in particular I found this a great way to become fluent with how the Institute likes to word their question “setups.”
Kaplan can sometimes do it a little differently than the Institute does. The CFA official MCQ questions are great for reviewing your weaker sections and excellent for ethics at least in my opinion.
Also - look at other posts here on AF about Brinson Model. Kaplan for some reason confuses Brinson Fachler model up a little bit in their materials, in my 2020 version at least. All the way through their mocks. If you get a question you won’t want to get it wrong on a future exam. Also double check your QuickSheet formulas against core source formulas… there were some minor errors and shortcuts in the 2020 version fyi, that could have tripped you up unawares because you memorized one with a typo or shortcut that didn’t apply to the question setup.
Cheers you got this👍
My score just ‘gently’ touching the MPS line from below.
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Hang it there.
Passed this time mainly with MM (video, online mocks and question banks), BB and CFIA online question banks and “paper” mock… I did a total of 4 to 5 mocks in the last 2 weeks before exam date.
Supplement with CFIA and forums on unclear topics and items.
Never used KS for L3, but used KS for L2 and L1. Some areas of KS books are difficult to follow because of short cuts (intentional or not).
MM videos and notes help tremendously on concepts with exercises. I would recommend MM.
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I am no expert but my 2 cents on CFA Level 3…I just used KS for all three levels and always did EOC , blue box and CFAI questions. Used CFAI text or IFT where i cannot understand from KS and needed more information but that was like 10% of the whole material. I didn’t use my time wisely though on am exam but fortunately passed. I think KS covers everything if you can retain the information. I believe i retained 80-90% KS information if I had revised enough but if you can retain only 50% when you read double the material in original CFAI text, then it doesn’t help you. In level 3 am, you are not provided all the information to chose one answer but you have to retain key words and information which you can put in to words and write concisely. But end of day everyone has their way of retention and working.
i didn’t have time for any mock exam but i read questions and answers for last 6-7 years without actually solving.
Good luck to everyone for your next exam.
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Pretty close.You surely deserve to clear this thingy.But will need motivation,and concentration.And be calm on exam day,next time.
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