Hey Richard hopefully you’ll see this, I looked up and you’d gone no doubt glad to get out of there. Let me know your results.
A
Retaker…I studied REALLY hard…I did every mock 2007-2018, then did 2014-2018 again. Did the CFAI topic tests 4x. I still probably missed 20 pts on AM part with two 7 pts questions I know I missed. PM felt better but who is to say? I thought it was a well put together exam from the CFA institute standpoint. No matter how much you studied you just can’t remember everything…unless you studied and didn’t have a job. Last year I believe top 10% on the AM section was around 67 and PM section 70+. I hoping for a 60 on the AM and 70 on the PM. May the test gods be with me!
Retaker here. I failed band 10 last year with probably a 45-50% AM and 68-70% PM, and definitely think I suffered from some overconfidence as I passed L1 and L2 on the first try.
This year, I felt a lot more prepared and I do think/hope I did better, even though I felt that both the AM and PM were more challenging than last year. I disagree with those who said the questions were unclear; they were, once you catch the point they are trying to make and know the material cold. I do however think that the CFAI is evil in the way they play with our emotions, especially when you spent hours and hours studying, to end struggling with a question because of the way it’s asked and not your lack of preparation as you got it right 10 times in a row while studying for this freacking exam.
Don’t worry, you may still be fine. I recall that a L1 candidate (December 2018) did the same for the AM (black pen). Later he edited his post to announce to the naysayers that he passed 
https://www.reddit.com/user/davidbroughton96
For the record I myself used a 2B pencil instead of HB #2 pencil Darker & softer lead… Very pleasant to write with, especially for the AM session
I guess more correct formulation what you wrote would be - from what they tested I was aware of 60%, rather than “… seems like only 60% of the entire curriculum is wholly unfair.”
May the CFA Gods be with you all in these times of dispair…
Passing the level 1 and 2 on first attempts. I have been always a borderline pass. This 1st attempt for me was a realization that level 3 is a different ball game. Left 13 points in AM and around 15-20 guessing in PM. I m mentally prepared for another go next year.
I strongly disagree, I went in very well prepared but there were gaping holes in the material that was tested, obviously I can’t go into detail, compared to prior exams this was much less balanced.
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I strongly disagree, I went in very well prepared but there were gaping holes in the material that was tested, obviously I can’t go into detail, compared to prior exams this was much less balanced.
Relax, the 13 points left in AM should not be an issue. I recall a Reddit post mentioning a girl that passed last year with over 50 points left BLANK in the AM. Apparently she “did not get up to 50% on AM and her PM was slightly above 70.” I can PM you the link if you’d like.
I do not think there were any gaping holes in the material. Formulas may be used/interpreted in several ways, which certainly confused some for the very first AM questions.
Best solution is to know & fully understanding the material. Many walk into the exam feeling prepared after making 10s of mocks. Apparently they were expecting some pattern and were thrown off by this latest exam.
I don’t know about any pattern. Each time since L1, I am so busy understanding each concept that I never could do any full mock, nor topic test. By simply relying on the concepts, I comfortably passed L1 & L2.
For L3, the AM format certainly requires training (reduces stress & improves time management), which I did not make of course! But in this case, one can still rely on the PM. And besides the tricky Ethics portion, I honestly did not find such gaps.
one thing i will say, is that the “INSANE TIME PRESSURE AHHHH” component of the AM exam, get progressively easier, and easier, and easier to deal with…the more timed AM mocks (closed book, of course) you take.
i took all 4 schwesers and every single mock from 2010-2018 and i think it helped me perform. on saturday, the AM was certainly challenging, but i can say with confidence that there was never a point where i felt outta control.
i still couldda failed. for sure. but idk. i think the AM gets an overstated reputation.
(keep in mind, im saying this from the “privileged” position of a retaker, who left 35+ points BLANK last year, i knew what i was getting into this time. I would be curious to see what the pass rate is for retakers)
I don’t think the exam was “unfair” per se, but it was definitely not a comprehensive test of the material. There were quite a few large subjects in the material that just didn’t show up on the exam at all. And there were quite a few very small niche subjects that showed up multiple times on the exam.
For someone who was extremely well prepared, then it was probably no issue. But for the bulk of candidates who try to prioritize their limited time and memory on the seemingly important subjects just to find that on June 15th that they weren’t even tested on the exam - I can understand the frustration.
I had same feeling when I came out of exam hall, still I cleared it. It is relative performance than absolute, so keep your fingers crossed
yea, the whole “relative perf is what matters, not absolute” thing…thats what scares me so much. like a 45/60 seeeeems like a good score on the PM, but if EVERYONE is getting that, where does that actually put you?
Do y’all really want the passing rate to be +50%? Do you want the ‘average’ candidate who focused their studying predominantly on the “major” items to pass? How about candidates who simply rehash previous exams and are unable to think outside the box / fold under pressure; should they pass? I, for one, definitely think not.
In hindsight (I’m obviously biased), I’d prefer it if the CFAI dropped the L3 pass rate to sub 35%. Would make the value of the charter for both existing and future charterholders much more valuable.
I think the funniest thing about this is the “Pray in the AM, Slay in the PM” line in your signature. It’s like, you couldn’t have contradicted yourself any HARDER if you tried.
Now ditch the self righteous attitude and just chill dude.
That’s exactly what I’m trying to convey here, and in my case it could be that the Schweser material didn’t do the best job of preparing me for the exam…those niche topics weren’t covered in great detail by Schweser.
I thought it was a decent representation of the material. They can’t ask everything, there’s too much info and not enough questions. I was a little upset that a few of the questions didn’t match up with the LOS, but I guess the word “evaluate” can have multiple meanings. Looking back on it now it really wasn’t that bad. A few curve balls I suppose but if you knew what to look for they shouldn’t have been much of a problem. I mostly used the text and mixed in some MM videos on weaker topics.