Hopefully… pass Level III before I retire…
agree L3 is the hardest by far
what happened to “L2 is the hardest,” gonna go start studying now for L3 then.
Going into L1 in Dec 06 my understanding was that L2 was the big cull and that once you had completed that L3 wasn’t a big deal. L1 may eliminate more people but it gets rid of those that would have no real chance in the programme anyway. L2 was a killer but when you got through that pass rates shoot up to around 65%. Then with hard work you would back yourself to get into the top 2/3. Then CFAI moved the goalposts big time by slashing the L3 pass rate. I am very thankful that I got through first try but it was marginal, and that was after putting in 8 months of very hard work. L3 2008 morning exam was just about impossible to complete and I even contemplated going home at lunchtime. Thankfully the PM multi-choice was not difficult and I managed to scrape through on those results. But conclusion is that L3 is the new L2, morning session is really tough. But no matter how hard it goes for you in the morning don’t give up as the afternoon is not so bad and with a bit of luck you can redeem yourself.
golfer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I was hoping that Level III might be easier. I > guess not. I wonder what the stats for how many > candidates still did not make it after reaching > Level III. http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/pdf/candidate_results.pdf ~274k have ever passed L1 (taking out June 2009 candidates) ~161k have passed L2 (59%) ~118k have passed L3 (43%) Rough estimates. Also looks like ~145k had passed L2 as of June 2008, and ~118k passed L3 ever, so about 80% of L2 passers eventually pass L3.
L3 - easier material, significantly harder exam L2 - more challenging material, easier exam L3 you need to know your $hit. All of it. Cold and in great depth. The MCs are trickier and set up for you to make mistakes.
It just comes down to the individual. LI (12/07) was super hard because I’d never done anything like it before and didn’t know what to expect. I’d only had 1 finance, 1 stat and 2 accounting classes in undergrad and I had to retake the stat and 1 of the accounting because I failed (I used to be very irresponsible). So the material was all new and a job change only left me 6 weeks to study. Barely scraped by LI with a Herculean 450 hour effort in that short stretch. LII (6/08) was in my mind the hardest. I think the day before the LII exam represents my academic high water mark in terms of detailed memory storage, I thought my head would explode and there were definitely major highs and lows along the way. The breadth and depth were intense and I probably sunk 700 hours over 4 months. I did kill what turned out to be a soft test and in hindsight my perspective may have been skewed by over preparation. LIII (6/09) was also very hard due to the foreign and ambigous format. I probably owe the most to the forum on this level and can’t emphasize the importance of the CFAi sample and mock exams enough. I thought LIII was somewhere between LII and LI in difficulty with LII being my personal hardest. However, I’ve seen people much smarter than me fail both so it makes it difficult to render any reliable judgement. I studied about 450 hours in 1 month for LIII to pass (full time in the month following grad school) and killed it, which is something I doubt I could have done for LII. In the end it really doesn’t matter though, just take it seriously and leave every thing you’ve got out on the field. CFAi has taken the last two years of your life, something you will never get back. You’ve already beaten the CFAi twice, there is no room for fear in the final round, send a message and decisively take what’s yours.
L1 - not that hard L2 - very hard (many formulas) L3 - very hard (less formulas, but new way of thinking and memorizing)
If I recall correctly (I don’t have the data in front of me) the pass rates on L3 tests tend to deviate a bit more than L2. Didn’t L3 have something like a 70% - 75% pass rate only a couple of years ago? I think it will vary from year to year; most of the opinions in this thread are from people who took the 2009 L3.
SmokeyJoeWood Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > year; most of the opinions in this thread are from > people who took the 2009 L3. And most of these people have taken every one of the CFAI essays going back to 2004 or so (since they are publicly available).
Pretty obvious that L2 is much harder than L1 when you take the L2 test. Of course, at least by then you are expecting it. L1 can definately take you by surprise. L3 is harder still than L2 (just look at this year’s pass rate as evidence). But L3 would probably be the easier than L2 to “fake” as in not study for. I enjoyed the L3 material the most which made it the easiest to study for though. They are all damn hard, but I’d rank them 3,2,1 from hardest to “easiest.” I still always like to point out that none of the material in the program is all that tough (I’m sure that if i had to take a test on a single study session, I could probably ace any of them), but the breadth of material is what makes it so tough…and worthwhile. Don’t worry though. If you can pass L1, you can finish the program. You just have to prepare.
I thought Level 2 was the hardest. Reason: material was so boring
rothwise Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I thought Level 2 was the hardest. Reason: > material was so boring Depends on the candidate. For quant-leaning folks with intermediate course in accounting, Level 2 may be the easiest. I would say Level 3 is the toughest.
Your right. I thought level 3 was the easiest which is why i’ll be taking it again next june.
L3 is the hardest.
I passed L1 in Dec 03 and L2 in Jun 04. I knew that L3 was going to be a bear and put in probably 400 hours…yet I failed. You make decisions and my decisions were based upon how I passed L1 and L2. I used Schweser. During the PM session of L3 in 2005, I looked up and felt like I had been hit by a 2x4. I have never felt so bad. How could I fail a test that I was 100% prepared for? I knew that it would be difficult and I was prepared. 20 minutes after receiving my results, I signed up for Jun 2006. I had to change everything. I didn’t know how I could study any harder. I just had to study differently. I had to fight complacency. I didn’t want to wait until April to get started. I needed structure 1. I signed up for a weekly analyst class in San Francisco starting in January. I knew that I probably wouldn’t learn too much from this class, yet it would provide structure. I vowed to read both the schweser guides and CFAI textbooks before each class. I was going to get as much out of this class as possible. 2. I repurchased schweser. Schweser is great for the LOS, yet sucks with questions. I would also read the CFAI texts and do all the problems in the CFAI texts. 3. I also took the schweser course. The course is a great way to tie things together. 4. Get done with schweser by May. Do the old AM tests over and over and over until you know the tricks. The key to the AM is getting through the first question quickly. Do tests and study one schweser guide per day. I passed in Jun 06. Then again. 76% passed, so what do I know.
Haven’t taken L3 yet but from the guys in my office that have completed it they all say L2 was the hardest. Obviously L3 isn’t a cakewalk, but as others have mentioned above, the L3 material seems more interesting and relevant so not as bad to study. None of the guys I’ve spoken to have taken it in the last four years though, so maybe it’s changed.
I thought LII was the hardest. I also thought LIII material was more relevant to my work experience and it just sunk in more. Wasn’t easy though… I also thought LI was pretty damn hard also, didn’t really know what to expect.
I have to say level 2 is the hardest because the material was so detailed, technical, and boring. I kind of felt it was luck of the draw with what they asked. At least with Level III, you knew some key questions they were going to ask like IPS.
I would rank them 3,2,1. Level II was difficult due to the sheer volume of information that was covered but it was plug and chug for the most part. I agree that LIII was more interesting but for some of the am questions there is no clear cut answer. The LIII material was the most interesting mostly because there was no FSA.