I used Schweser and blue box only for all tests . I did ONE topic test… it was on level 2 and it was the “Erickson” question. I proceeded to get 0/6 and told myself I don’t need this kinda negativity in my life lol… so many different strategies and ways to take/ pass these tests and you just need to find the best strategy that works for you. It may be completely different than someone else and that’s totally cool. Deep down you know exactly what you need to do it’s just put in the work.
I also didn’t even know what a topic test was until 2 weeks before level 2… I’m sure if I did them all it would have helped a lot but just 6 schweser mocks 1 mock exam and secret sauce worked for me …
I feel ya. I did not take any mocks for L1 or L2 and passed nicely . Did only EOCs and some topic questions on CFAI website. For L2 found them to be hard and my hit rate to be very low and after about 50 questions I concluded no need for negativity
Am I the only one who thinks fixed income is way easier than equities for lvl 3? I really got my butt kicked during the equities part of the material, and for the fixed income readings, oh man, that was waaaaay easier!
How so? Writing (not typing) notes helps with memory retention and forces your brain to break up the material into digestible pieces. Works wonders, at least for me.
Everyone is different of course, but I’ve always been baffled by those that say L2 is harder than L3. For me, L3 was MUCH harder than L2. L3 is the type of test that you can know the material inside and out, and STILL fail the exam. In my opinion, L3 is much more about navigating the exam and understanding what CFAI is looking for than just mastering the material.
And as for L3 ethics, just guess at random because the questions are just plain absurd. It’s completely unfair.
Point being, in my opinion, L3 is an extremely difficult exam no matter how hard you study.
The wordiness of the material is killing me. I am debating on even taking substantial notes because it is slowing my down my reading. After my first read I usually speed read through all of it again anyways. First read takes the longest but this first read for L3 with the note taking sucks so bad…
After 2 previous years’ AM parts under my belt, I wholeheartedly agree. I thought I was doing pretty good, my EOCs were solid and I felt like I understood the concepts and even most of the nitty-gritty stuff. After the two AMs, this is how I feel:
***btw, never, ever search google with ‘‘little school boy getting spanked’’. You’ll see pictures that’ll make you want to erase your memory***
Level 3 is indeed much harder than Level 2. I was honestly shocked at the difficulty of Level 3. I came out of Level 2 thinking I had aced the exam, with maybe 1 mistake, maybe.
Anyways, on the 2018 exam I scored well into the 90th percentile (looks to be 99th percentile). The key to the essay is to master the historical essay exams found online. Group them by subject matter.
I’ve finished the material, and so far I feel the L3 material has been easier than L2. That being said, I haven’t scored and mock exams yet. Maybe I’m underestimating it. We will see.
I’m only 40% of the way through level 3 material, but it feels like there are more smaller topics in L3. In L2, there were the big hitters and core topics that was clear. You could zero in on those. But so far, there are so many little topics and tangents and side tracks in L3. I’m not sure how relevant they are or CFAI is just being thorough for the sake of being thorough in explanation.
. Did only EOCs and some topic questions on CFAI website. For L2 found them to be hard and my hit rate to be very low and after about 50 questions I concluded no need for negativity 