How to pass Level 3

CFA Level III
#41

lol The Trimonius Rises in IMAX now

#42

This is an amazing post trimonious2.

Really appreciate your time and effort taken to articulate your thoughts and experience !

Kindly ignore those who want to side track or put down your opnion and would like to appreciate your intent to share the knowledge!

This is easily the best post i have found. It will surely be on the side of my study table !(print out) cool

Wishing you all the very best for your result on Aug7. You will make it…!

#43

yup maybe a board member could sticky these useful posts as a permanent fixture somewhere for future L3 ers or when the next exam is around the corner.

#44

We have so many posts but I would sum up with my re-confirmings

  1. Level 2 material is harder than Level 3, but the essay is a game changer.

  2. I found and have been told by everyone who has ever taken level 3, the key is to finish the morning session.

  3. Therefore the key is learning how to not essay answer, but bullet answers. Make it very clear and very concise. Also show your work. You may have only 4 mins for an answer with 1 min spent on reading. Show them all 3 mins you spent answering that question.

  4. A lot of people say Schweser does not do a good job on level 3. I think that is because there is simply no way to fully prepare anyone for the essay questions. They give you practice books with practice essays and grading. You go through those and you get use to the pace you have to keep. That is all you can ask.

#45

Thanks for the valuabe tips… trimonious2

#46

Hey, buddy! Are you what, sitting in a stripbar? Your way of argumentation seems to be strange at least. Do not make me think you’ve just got off a palm. And you are still under the Ethics Standards, ar’nt you? Remember that - OK?

#47

Thanks, Trim, it really helps.

#48

  • Really know the format of the exam. I did 4 practice exams 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 morning sessions and i still felt like i lacked something somewhere. Couldnt finish the exam.

  • Don’t basically depend on schweser, go for CFAI books. They are the real deal.

  • Memory work is included, dont you go easy on this one.

  • START EARLY.

  • Review the material more than once and focus on individual / institutional portfolio.

  • FOCUS on Biases … They’re really important.

  • I would love to pass this monster but to me level 2 was just applying what you learn with a bit of twisting the questions by CFAI, however level 3’s way of shooting the question is way harder. You’d leave the exam thinking you did good however once you get back home, it all starts coming back at you and that’s when you find that you’ve messed up big time. Guess I’ll stick around for June 2013 :).

#49

Awesome post OP. Many thanks.

#50

How to pass Level 3: Study.

#51

Thank you all for the support on this post. It looks like karma came my way. Unbelievably, I PASSED!!!

#52

I told you! :slight_smile:

#53

So happy to hear that trimonious2! :slight_smile: Hearty congratulations mate!

#54

I’ve never been so happy to be wrong. I’ll be rooting for you and come on these boards to check in and send some of the karma your way. Thank you for all the support.

#55

^This. If there is one thing that applies to everyone no matter your study schedule prior to the exam it is time management in AM. I did fairly well in the AM but did the same thing. If I could do it over I would flip through the AM section at the beginning and do the quantitative problems first. I passed, but I know I totally screwed the last derivatives problem merely because I was panicked and actually wrote some formulas wrong.

You WILL write longer than you think on the real test, no matter how good you get at writing bullet point answers on the practice exams. So do the quantitative problems first (or at least look at them) when you are not too stressed to remember an easy formula.

#56

I am talking about the topic weightings. e.g. in L1, you knew the exact number of questions assigned to each topic which made targeting your studying easier (i.e. focus on FRA, Ethics, Quant, and one other topic). In L2, you knew the ranges associated with each topic so you knew the min and max number of questions assigned to each topic area. In L3, there are ranges but there are also a bunch of topics all rolled under Portfolio Management at 45-55%. So for the economics reading, for instance, you have NO idea how many points will be associated with econ (or whether it will be ignored completely) because it is included in the umbrella heading of PM without a separate breakdown.

#57

There is no secret recipie to passing L3. I would say it’s 30% hardwork, 5% intelligence, 15% test-taking skills and 50% luck.

#58

I agree there is no secret recipe. I’m not saying that anything I said guarantees a pass. I’m only trying to give the kind of overview of how to tackle it that I would have liked to have received when approaching L3 after passing L2.

#59

^ not about you bro. You are doing a great thing sharing your expiernece with the forum. But these hyperactive new blood candidates should relalize that they need to customize the study plans according to their needs. Congrats on the pas trimonious2, you have a brave life (read your other thread about cancer)

#60

I take an analog watch with me and time stamp every question. In other words, if the first question is supposed to take 20 minutes, I mark 9:20am on top of the question #2. this way, I know right away if I am behind. I also do the morning section in order.

In the afternoon section, I mark the hard questions and come back to it wheever I am running ahead on time. I don’t wait till the last 15 minutes cuz I don’t think clearly at the last minute.