Just keep grinding, bud. Whatever we got isn’t going to effect your score.
You’re in good shape, keep crushing as many vignettes as you can and you’ll do fine.
Schweser practice exams were really helpful.
The CFAI mocks were really difficult and confusing. I think I scored 70% on the CFAI, and 75-80% on the Schweser ones.
Because I never timed myself, I came out the exam in half the time, thinking I failed by going too fast.
I got between 55-65. I took maybe 5 mocks. I remember one item set being really hard (fixed income, I think?) and I had to guess on 3 of the questions.
I do find overall that the actual exams are easier than the mocks for the first two levels. If you put in the time, then you’ll do well. It was fair.
I never crossed 65% on a schweser and passed level 2
pff 2 years ago… used to score 70-75 on the mocks
Haha I know, but I like to be extra comfortable. And knowing the scores of successful candidates and matching that makes me a little more relaxed
Not sure if this adds any value but i was scoring consistently between 70-85% on mocks and ended up with all but one sections above 70 with econ between 50-70. Having said that, I found the real exam to be easier than the mocks and quite straightforward.
I took 2 mocks. One 2 weeks before exam and one 6 days before the exam. Got around 50% to 54% in both. Hit FRA and Equity really hard in those remaining 5 days combined with review of notes. For low mock scorers like me, dont lose hope, just go give your best shot. Goodluck.
What did your grid look like at the end of it all?
Any more input from L3 candidates?
I took the CFAI mock (63%) and 5-6 practice exams from Schweser and BSAS (high 60’s to high 70’s) and finished in the highest score bucket for all but two of the topics. Definitely do the CFAI online topic tests - those were VERY valuable in the final week. good luck!
I think that my highest result was 65 even on second sittings, was bricking it before the exam but as others have said found the actual exam a lot more straightforward than either the CFA or Schweser mocks and although wouldn’t say I felt confident coming out of the exam felt a lot better about it than I expected
I scored 65% on the CFAI mock; and did 3 practice exams from Schweser and scored ~60%. I also did a bunch of previous mock exams and I never scored above 65%.
I didn’t feel ready and I barely passed (I think I had 3 subject below 50 and 2 above 70); I am pretty sure my background helped me a lot as I think I crushed the Equity section of the exam and that made me pass.
Mine were 60’s (on the lower side IIRC) approaching the exam and I didnt time them or do them in one sitting. The 30/50/70 calc 300hrs uses put me right at the 50th percentile for people who passed and reported to them.
That being said, I spent a disproportionate time reading and less than I shouldve on review. I think that study strategy left me prepared for a lot of simple questions that were less complex than the mocks look at. If you’re focusing mostly on reviewing mocks, you might not know as many of those oddball trivia questions.
How to tackle those oddball trivia? A quick once over of the notes?
bump… good thread to boost some confidence!
I think I started mocks last year like 2 months before the actual exam. I did the 6 Schweser ones first, got in the mid 50s, then low-mid 60s, then I remember the third one was a 55, which I remember specifically because that made me pretty mad.
Idk about the 4th or 5th ones but they were definitely better than the 55. I took the Schweser live mock 2 weeks before the test, got a 55 on that one too which sucked, but that test was brutal. 4 days later, took the CFA official mock and got a 58. So basically I knew that I needed to step it up a bit if I wanted to feel good about passing. So the 9 days before the test I really didn’t do anything but study (topic tests, EOC questions, general reveiew probably 14-15 hours a day), and work a little. Got an 80 on the last Schweser a couple days before the test and then passed the real thing with everything >70 except ethics.