I used Wiley study guides for Levels 1 and two rather than the CFAI text. Will this work for Level 3 as well or is it best to read the actual text? Thanks!
I went through a third party provider and not much of the actual books the first time and failed.
I used the hard copy of the books plus another third party provider this time around and passed. So to me I would make the effort to go through the actual CFAI curriculum and make sure you know how to work any problems they provide you in those books.
That said, I was getting a bit worried a couple months before the exam because it was hard for me to go through all of my handwritten notes from the curriculum because there was so much info and relied on my new third party provider to kind of put it all together for me and used the extra materials to practice answers for exam day.
To each their own, but I would recommend going through the curriculum first and then supplementing that with the provider of your choice.