First Time Fail,Reflection and strategical re-routing plan. Sincerely searching for your advises

CFA Level III
#21

Thank you all for your advises! feel motivated again.

Just registered for june 2015 and paied another 800 bucks to CFAI.

Back to the game.

#22

I passed the L3 on second attempt. it is not an impossible exam to pass. I have seen lots of incredibly smart people fail the first time. I failed, like many others, because I did not figure out how to answer the Essay questions.

You seem to have gotten that right. I would be able to help if you can share your test scores. I can use that as a diagnostic tool to advise. my mail id is vpusapati@yahoo.com.

#23

I actually really liked the Schweser videos. I watched the lectures and made notes off these.

Then once I knew what the chapter was about, I was able to open the CFA text and read faster than I would have if I didn’t already know what was coming. I filled in my notes wiht the CFA text and examples.

I barely opened the Schweser books and it seemed to work well for me :slight_smile:

#24

Can’t speak much to the Schweser experience. Used CFA material for all three levels. Here’s my startegy:

  1. Read all CFAI material.

  2. Create my own notes with the goal of using these notes for review.

  3. Do all CFAI problems. Shoot for doing these twice.

  4. Practice AM and PM exams going back as many years as you can.

Really not worth it to spend money on prep providers at L3 (except for extra PM questions maybe). Being on this site for 2-3 years, anecdotal evidence suggests people relying exclusively on prep providers fail more often. I enjoyed the CFA curriculum, so may be a bit biased, but take it for what it’s worth.

The only prep provider I’d spend money on is Peter Olinto (for his videos). But even then, I don’t think he can help you prepare for AM questions.

Good luck.

#25

The schweser books are someone else’s notes of what they think was important from the CFA curriculum. The people who make test questions look for differences between schweser and CFAI materials and ask questions to try to trap the candidates who only used schweser. Why would you give up a few questions just by taking the easy way out and use only schweser materials? I think the weekly online classes are 100% worth it, Marc was amazing. I’d invest in those and then buckle down and read the actual curriculum. You will know the material very well.

#26

Thank you very much for your kind offer of help :slight_smile:

I have just sent my results report to your email adress.

#27

Why, why?! Didn’t you see the guy only had 1 AF point. He’s probably a troll, so expect some spam or request for your credit card number. LOL.

Please let us know if it turns out to be a genuine exchange.

#28

In the same boat, first failure at this years’ L3, band 5. Not surprised though, due to various constraints and laziness, I crammed it all in one month, spent little time practicing and timed out in the AM portion. So didn’t really deserve to pass anyway.

Compared to previous levels, I probably spent less than half the time on L3 preparation. Will start earlier this time and hopefully be done with it next year. Best wishes.

#29

Most common problem is spending too much time on reading and too little on problems… I spent maybe 2/3 of my study time on problems and mocks alone.

I did the essays from 2006 to 2013 and redid the problems I bombed or felt very shaky on (unless it was clearly something that is no longer in the curriculum.)

If you watch the videos, take notes as you watch them (like in a college lecture.)

#30

Camille - I only studied Schweser as well (mainly focused on Videos) and had no problem with PM at all. I thought PM was a walk in the park and my scores show. There were only maybe two questions I didn’t recognize in the PM Session that were not discussed in either Schweser Videos or EOC summary. I do want to state I studied and learned all the main topics Schweser presented. A month before the test, I could pick up the Schweser video slides and know exactly the concept of the slide that was discussed. I also started studying in September and probably made it close to 500 hours total.

I only looked at the CFA books for the EOC ethics questions. I don’t think Schweser does a good job with Ethics and it’s kind of a waste to use Schweser there.

I’m also not a fan of picking a thousand study sources and ways. Pick something as your main way of studying, learn it inside and out, and stick with it. Mine was the Schweser videos but maybe that doesn’t work for everybody.

#31

My experience with CFA lvl 3 is I failed at first attempt with Band 9 last year, and I only studied CFAI textbooks without doing any mock exams and practice questions. This year, I used Schweser notes and practice exams from CFAI to review and tailor all knowledge together and passed the exam. My conclusion is CFAI textbooks plus CFAI practice exams are the bible for you to pass level 3, and study notes are good resource for quick review before the exam.

Wish you all the luck for next year. :slight_smile:

#32

Only Schweser, except for ethics and GIPS. I also made lots of flashcards and drilled until I knew them all by heart. This got me many points especially in the afternoon.

#33

Personally, I thought Schweser was complete garbage for L3. I used only the CFA material and got through it on the first shot. The only thing I used Schweser for was the PM practice exams because I had nowhere else to go for practice.

#34

Use both CFA books and schweser (each complement each other) and watched Irfan Videos and practiced CFA EOC questions and greyboxes… Took notes from videos

Plan at least six weeks before exam to do PRACTICE especially for AM papers which CFA releases…

#35

Better to Start early Like November… so you can have at least 8 weeks before exam to REVIEW and PRACTICE

#36

Why, why?! Didn’t you see the guy only had 1 AF point. He’s probably a troll, so expect some spam or request for your credit card number. LOL.

Please let us know if it turns out to be a genuine exchange.

[/quote]

haha Aether thanks for you concern but yes it was a genuine exchange :slight_smile:

i read all your comments carefully and tried to sort out the things in common. On the other hand I know I have to approach the exam in a way that suits me.

so my plan is :

1.November-mid Feb : read CFAI textbooks, make notes/flash cards , do all the black box exercises and EOC problem sets.maybe listen to video classes if necessary.

2.Mid Feb-April : read through Schewer notes, practice with Finquiz Qbank

  1. May: Mock Mock Mock …( I’m taking two weeks off before the exam)

details are subject to change, the focus being grasp fully the materials.

Again an immerse THANK YOU to all of you who are so generous and kind to help !

#37

Okay, I can’t argue. If it makes you feel better and you see the utility, buy the bag. But you’re right. I can’t relate. Buying designer anything has the opposite effect on me. I just feel silly paying $500 for a bag that has a production cost of $20. There are more than suitable substitutes. Half the Worlds billionaires made their money in fashion. That tells me quite a bit. Makes me the fool. Hell, I have a $12k watch(yes, I know that’s not particularly expensive) and I’m frankly embarrassed to wear it sometimes. Dated a girl that would buy last year’s designer dresses for literally 80% less than they cost a year ago. I’m telling you, she looked great and it didn’t take me any longer to remove it than if she was wearing this year’s design.

But if you’d like to explain, I’m sure most of us are all ears.

#38

Ghibli hi!

i never though I’d be ask to explain why I love designer bags … Hum. Let me put it this way: if two girls stand in front me, one wearing a Hermes birkin, the other wearing a 40 dollar bag, even I don’t know the brand, I can instantly tell you the birkin girl is more classy…I think most of the girls can tell… Even my mom, she doesn’t know most of the designer brands, but when I showed her my new balenciaga bag, she said this was so beautiful! ( most of mine guy friends hate it)

i think this is the charm of designer things- not because they are overpriced so they are classy, but because they are classy even to layman’s eyes, they are overpriced…that’s the price I am willing to pay for pretty things.

of course not all of the designer bags are good looking like some of the miumiu bags…

one more important message I think vital to get across: we don’t wear designer things to please men, my husband couldn’t care less. I please myself.

I need more girls to back me up on this in this forum! feeling quite intimidated when guys here outnumber me by such a huge margin.:stuck_out_tongue:

#39

This is bizarre, the PM is supposed to buffer up your score…

#40

Do you think I should do a retabulation…? I have been actually thinking about that…