Whoever said L3 is easier than L2 is full of it

CFA Level III
#41

Thanks for clarifying.

#42

It seemed simple to read the first time.

#43

not to me.

#44

simple to read maybe. that’s about it though…

#45

I agree level 3 is a beast . I was surprised I passed it. Married life is even harder than level 3 haha

#46

^ I hope someone told you about the three rings of marraige before you went ahead and tied the knot. The engagement ring, the wedding ring and the suffering. ba-dump-chish.

Seriously though if you marry the right girl, married life is the best. I could not have passed L2 without my wife locking it down at home with the baby like a single parent.

#47

Level 3 was the first exam I failed (Band 10). I actually scored pretty well on the AM, but bombed the PM. I don’t think the written section is that intimidating IF you prepare for it. I over prepared for the AM and under prepared and rushed the PM.

Even considering it was my first CFA fail, I didn’t think it was any more difficult than Level 2. Part of me really feels that I passed Level 2 due to luck just because of the scope of the material on Level 2 felt so much greater than Level 3. There were a few sections (Derivatives, Econ) that I gave up on towards the end of my studying for Level 2 and it didn’t end up breaking me.

#48

That’s surprising.

#49

I did better on AM also. PM was no joke this year…

#50

^I did slightly better in this year’s AM (vs. PM), too.

#51

Ironically, the fear of the AM paper may be the problem rather than the actual difficulty of the AM paper.

Some candidates tend to overprepare for the AM and give in to the temptation of re-writting “War and Peace” for their first question (usually Private Portfolio) and find themselves short of time for subsequent questions. I mean, some of my friends still call it the “essay section” and write actual essays (at least for the first few questions).

I did better in my PM paper than my AM paper but the difference in calculated marks is about 2 points difference and the PM session for the 2014 exam was quite… different. I, for one, found the AM session for this year to be at least easier than expected (assuming that you studied the PYQ and the EoCs religiously).

#52

^ I was really over prepared for this year exam, and I did very well on my PM session. I spent a lot of time on those mock exams since I knew I couldn’t take this exam for the near future.

AM exam is not about how confidence you are in terms of the contents. I think it is about how good you can interpret these questions and answer them in the way that the institution wants you to write …

#53

No I would have to disagree there. candidates who really are “overprepared” should know full well to keep it short and to the point. I felt super well prepared having reviewed AM’s going back 7 years, and the AM was just as i expected it to be, and I crushed it.

#54

I passed L3 this year and I found it to be the easiest of the three levels. My short term memory isn’t very good, so I actually had to understand the syllabus to pass throughout the CFA process. For those who got through 1 and 2 by just memory dumping I can imagine L3 is harder, but for those who really understood the material I think it was far easier. Couple of tips for L3:

  1. There will always be a few questions on portfolio construction in the morning section, with a bit of practice these are a lot of super easy points. Remember also to show and explain all your numbers as you can get the answer completely wrong and still get 9 out of 10 simply by showing all your working. With so many moving parts it’s really easy to miss something and without working or explanation you will get zero if the answer is wrong. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT!!

  2. Bullet point answers, don’t write long answers! I had loads of room left in the boxes in my morning exam and was +70% in most sections

  3. The multiple choice is the same as always, you now by L3 how to nail it- lots of practice q’s! Good luck to all!

#55

Thanks, finally a good input on this thread.

#56

The mclovin name suits you well, I feel like hes the one writing these blogs :wink:

#57

I also felt like I was one of the few people at my location that actually finished every question in the morning. All of my answers were very short and to the point. It looked like some people were still writing their AM novel as time expired.

My advice for people taking the exam in 2015 is to only hit key points when answering questions on the AM section. Then again, what do I know. I failed this year and will be taking this b**** of a test with you in 2015.

#58

Fair enough. “Overprepared” was a poor choice of word. “Over-excited” would probably be a better choice of words. Most of the comments on the relative difficulty of Level III boils down to “because essay”. The perception matters because I have seen friends actually doing the following: -

  1. Writing actual essays because it is an “essay section”
  2. Writing actual essays because “that is how the examiner comments look like”
  3. Getting demoralised when they do badly in the AM section and letting it affect their PM

On an unrelated note, I can’t speak for others but having gone back several years for the AM section, I concur that the PYQ totally helps. There were a few instances in the exam that were practically similar to the PYQs (unsurprising because there are only so many cliched scenarios that the exam can ask and reviewing the PYQs do give you a general idea of these cliches).

#59

PYQ? Personal Yield Quotient? Passive Youth Question?

#60

I’ll hazard a guess that PYQ abbreviates _ P rior Y ear Q uestions_.