Does anyone know if the L3 exam is fair, in terms of the types of questions relative to the depth of the material? My experience with L1 and L2 was that the exam questions were reasonably what I expected to see. The Schweser material was pretty good and I didn’t feel like a lot of the questions were unexpected.
Everyone has access to the same materials. Everyone writes the same exam. So the exam is fair on that front. But to what you are asking I’d say the questions asked are totally fair. I don’t know if I would have considered the quantity of questions in the morning session last year fair. There was a whole lot of people who didn’t finish big parts of the morning session, so I would say if you are quicker at reading, comprehending and writing you had an advantage. I’m not the fleetest at the above especially writing. I have terrible hand writing so I really have to be concious to print so the graders can read it. It kills me for time. I didn’t get to some questions that I know I could have answered. It seems to me they tried to pack too much into that morning session. I would think it would be more worthwile to have quality answers over quatity of answers that are written. But, that’s just my thoughts. Others may beg to differ.
Not to hijack the thread, but… can we expect an ethics/code/gips set in the morning session? Or is that guaranteed to be only in the afternoon session?
I’d say it’s possible we could see a GIPS question in the morning, but highly unlikely Ethics will be anything other than item set.
from experience, especially university… i’d say the problem for my isn’t illegible handwriting (although it’s not good) but making sure you don’t write two paragraphs and then cross it out. but i’ve found the questions aren’t the equivalent of “discuss napoleon’s role in european history” in which case you write 3 paragraphs and then don’t like it. basically NOT giant open-enders. anyway, appreciate the thought and the comments.
Big babbu, a quick concern, did you felt that you needed more space to finish your answer? Are there specified margins? Thanks a lot.
You will have enough space to write. Like I have said many times before, time management will be a major factor on the AM section. Time yourself when you take the sample/mock/previous exams. Write the answer down.
Hey Babbu, sorry to hear you didnt make it last year (I know im late to the party on saying that but i havent seen you since the level 2 forum). Let me ask this if you dont mind; Schweser makes a point of saying its not about quantity but rather quality. In that vein, they suggest simply writing one or two lines that directly answer the question, almost by stating a definition, and the moving on. In your experience with the test and in conversations with others, do you find that to be an accurate assessment in terms of what should be put down for an answer?
Thanks caspian. Good to see you up here. I’ve seen a few other that old L2 crowd that is good to see them all here as well. I had some friends that passed L3 the year before I wrote last year, and that’s the exact advice they gave me. Keep the written answers clear concise and to the point. Verbal diaharrea (sp) is going to get you nowhere. Bullet points are the way to go. Try to use catchy words or phrases that you would see in the material. I saw these guys morning results from when they passed and they were scary good considering what you see get released in here from most that pass. As well, like ws said there will be plenty of room to answer your questions. I even bumbled a couple of them and had plenty of room to scratch out my original answer and fix it in the same area. Time management is huge though. It’s very easy to get sucked in on the individual IPS question that will be there.
Thanks
So assuming the “bullet point” strategy is the way to go, and the method I will 100% be employing, why do I see so many people talking about not having enough time in the morning? That seems counter intuitive?
no offense… but what do people have to say on these questions that makes the answers so long? personally the schweser answers seem really wordy but they aren’t really too long. EDIT: BTW very nervous about this exam and passing… just not thinking having too much to say will be a problem.
caspian Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So assuming the “bullet point” strategy is the way > to go, and the method I will 100% be employing, > why do I see so many people talking about not > having enough time in the morning? That seems > counter intuitive? I’m guessing it isn’t writing the answer that is taking up the time, but sorting through the vignette to extract the info needed. It is deceiving how Schweser goes over the past exam questions and only pulls out the recapped info…in my mind that is going to be the tricky part. An L3 repeater suggested to me to bring one of those 4 color in 1 type pens so you can mark up as you go along.
any idea what % of people don’t finish??? good news is i know of someone who apparently didn’t finish a pretty large part of the morning last year and he passed… can’t vouch for it being accurate, but i respect the guy who told me and he knows the guy well.
"personally the schweser answers seem really wordy but they aren’t really too long. " As best as I see, the schweser answers are tiny bullet points. “An L3 repeater suggested to me to bring one of those 4 color in 1 type pens so you can mark up as you go along.” Interesting.
I thought it was a good suggestion, but then got thinking “do they even make those anymore?”…I haven’t seen anything that would prevent us from being able to use them.
Sponge_Bob_CFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I thought it was a good suggestion, but then got > thinking “do they even make those anymore?”…I > haven’t seen anything that would prevent us from > being able to use them. I think we are only allowed to bring pens with BLUE or BLACK ink.
I haven’t downloaded my ticket, is that in the rules?
maratikus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sponge_Bob_CFA Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I thought it was a good suggestion, but then > got > > thinking “do they even make those > anymore?”…I > > haven’t seen anything that would prevent us > from > > being able to use them. > > I think we are only allowed to bring pens with > BLUE or BLACK ink. There goes the pencil issue again…so for past takers, what’s your take on use of pencil. I have said here before though that last year four of the five guys I know who took the exam in a centre used the pencil…
Hey guys, quick question… For those that took the L3 exam previously, are there are a lot of complicated calculations (namely in the morning section)? I’m working through the schweser mocks and have found that there have been a large number of questions regarding calculating certain things…