And exactly this points out that you have little room for error in PM session. See band 10’s and 9’s, majority of them has pretty decent PM but still fail.
Level 2 was the toughest considering the Curriculum, the exam and the psychological dilemma of either giving up or continuing especially when the exam bombs you.
Then Level 1. Level 3 is the easiest.
Level 3 was the hardest of 3. Level 2 was the easiest because it was required to know what I have been doing for whole my career (FRA, Corporate Finance). The only exceptions were SWAPS on level 2 which were pretty tough.
Level 1 - High School Ball
Level 2 - College Ball
Level 3 - Pro Ball
Level 4 could and one day will be periodic recertification. To make sure that charterholders’ knowledge and skills are on par with current successful candidates.
I voluntarily meet member’s CE requirement (partly for ACCA CPD) for several years and have to say, that this is a joke. No tests after completion, just read/watch/listen to and push the button. You don’t have to explain why and how it is relevant to your current position or aspirations… And even all this is not yet mandatory!
Level 4. Oral defense ahead the CFAI commission. Lol!
Level 3 was slightly harder. I have a different take on the materials at this level. While the CFA materials are longer, at Level 3 they are better written than at the other levels. If I was to advise other candidates, it would be Schweser at levels 1 and 2, either at level 3. I would only do Institute’s AM exams, not Schweser.
Level 3 is the hardest exam, no question about it. The material feels easier but the actual test was easily the most difficult in both content and structure. So many unknowns, and you never see the same question twice.
Level 2 was tough because of the memorization and sheer volume of material, but being disciplined and just staying on track makes it a pretty easy pass.
If measured by how arduous … how much it hurt in the final 2 months or so, L2 for sure. L2 was just pure pain in the final 4 weeks.
L3 was very hard, but I applied a lot of lessons learned, so felt by the time I got to L3, L3 was easier than L2.
L1 seemed challenging till the final few month or so, and then it was clear you can improve just by memorizing answers.
My matrices were shockingly consistent across all three levels, but III was still the worst, and I spent the most time preparing for it. The AM exam is just a beast, no way around it. Survive the morning, crush the afternoon. Survival is not easy though.
Absolutely +1
+1!!
I never understand it when people say this- it’s a small component, sure- but far from the driver.
The exam is more difficult than L1 or L2 simply because it’s more difficult. If you get 70+ on enough sections, you pass. it has nothing to do with how the other candidates score as long as you get 70+ in aggregate.
The MPS does help those who were close, so I suppose you could argue that a higher caliber of candidates might make the MPS a touch higher than at other levels, but IMHO it’s just the nature of the exam being intentionally more difficult at L3 than at L1/2.
If it were actually graded on a curve (the way some university classes are)- you would have the same % of candidates that pass every time. In that scenario- graded on a curve- you ARE fighting the other test takers. I had engineering classes where the passing grade was in the low 80’s simply because X number had to fail. that is not the case with the CFA exams.
I was ‘lucky’ enough to pass all three exams first time 
I put the most hours into Level III and got the worst marks. I don’t think there is anything hard in Level III, just the depth you need to cover with the morning exam with more time spend to practice the way to address the format and still you will not be comfortable.
this is the shit that I live for
I think this question depends on your work experience. For someone in an asset allocator role, level 2 is probably the hardest. For an equity analyst, level 3 is probably harder. For me (allocator background), level 2 was way harder. Level 3 has a lot of common-sense based knowledge, which was easier than the pure brute force technical knowledge involved in level 2. However, I liked Level 2 the most because it gave me confidence to actually start analyzing stock fundamentals.
he hit the nail on the head.
i found L3 the easiest amongst the 3 levels.
I studied the least for Level 3 but also had the worst matrix on level 3 … I still found Level 3 the hardest due to the unpredictability of the AM part.
Overall: 3 > 2 > 1
Level 3 is the only exam I passed the first time.
took level 1, failed band 9 the first time and passed the second time.
took level 2, failed band 7 the first time and passed the second time.
all Schweser only
L1 - Just a little adjustment period getting used to studying so much material… not tough
L2 - Much more complicated and in depth material… very tough
L3 - Material doesn’t seem bad but you will get destroyed when you start doing questions. You need to have a MUCH deeper understanding of the concepts and how they interrelate… I found it to be quite tougher than L2
Passed each on the first attempt but my L3 matrix wasn’t pretty