Congatulations to all Level 3 candidates who passed! Best study materials and what worked for you

First of all, I think candidates are too quickly dismissive of the actual CFAI material. The prep providers are usually not teaching shortcuts or proprietary tricks; they are simply restating the material in their own terms, and it’s not always put more simply. Why fork out big bucks for more of the same? Occasionally you might get a tip from an instructor on what he/she thinks is more or less relevant for the actual exam, but that’s probably the extent of the value add.
That said, for me, staying focused and getting through the material quickly and efficiently is important, and can be difficult considering how exciting much of the material tends to be. So I used Arif Irfanullah’s videos, which stick to the actual curriculum very closely, alongside the actual CFAI books. His videos are not without criticism; they are cheaply produced and poorly edited in parts, and he speaks so slowly (and mispronounces some words) that I had to watch everything at 1.5x normal speed. But if I read the books on my own, I would likely struggle to pay attention; the videos guide you through and keep you focused.
I also used both a Schweser Secret Sauce (actually bought a used 2015 version on amazon for $5) and GoStudy’s Notes, which I though were excellent for my revision.
Finally, used 7 years of past CFAI morning exams and the current PM sessions that they provide with registration, along with CFAI’s online item sets.
 
Passed L3 in first try.
Started working in January
1) Studied scheweser material
2) Solved Schewer Practice Questions
4) Solved end of chapter questions in CFA Official books
5) Attended Marc LevelUp Bootcamp in SF
6) Solved every bluebox question in CFA official books
7) Solved Scheweser and Finquiz mock exams
8) Solved last 5 year CFA AM section exams
9) Took last week off and just solved practice exams.
 
CFAI books, CFAI problems/mocks/past exams, FinQuiz Smart Summary & Formula Sheet. That’s it! 3/318 month~
 
Started with CFAI curriculum books for 1st 3 months from Sept to November 2015. This was followed by demand videos from Schweser and then the online live lectures by Schweser. I went through EOC questions, and the practice questions available from the Live classes. I found the Live classes in particular very useful as it was more practice oriented.
I used Qbank for Asset Allocation, Fixed Income, Equity, Perofmrance Evauation and Monitoring. Simultaneoulsy started with Essay type questions.
By end of April I had completed one read of CFAI Curriculum, Schwser demand video series and LIve lectures of Schweser. After that I took a 5 day revision course which was very very solid. Lots of practice tests. 9 mocks including CFAI mocks.
The month of May was all about practice practice practice.
Schweser was the best thing to have happened for me. Very thorough. Btw contrary to popular opinion to focus on AM, I actually focussed more on PM and was scoring close to 85%. I think my PM score in exam was also close to 85% plus. As expected AM was not great but PM more than compendated.
 
I only read the CFAI books. Make sure you do all the blue boxes and know them well. I remember this year there was a very minor question in the BB. It showed up on the exam and I was bummed out I didn’t review it more. I was 70% sure of how to do it but if I had even spent 5 more minutes on the BB, it would have been 100% sure on that question.
 
Hands down I used Gostudy. Read the CFAI books once through, did end of chapter questions, GoStudy notes and I was ready to roll.
 
BandTen wrote:
I would like to congratulate all Level 3 candidates who passed the exam, and to those who didn’t pass worry not as what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, and you will be much stronger next year and will kill that beast!
I would appreciate advice on what worked well for you, in terms of relying only on the Official CFAI Curriculum or only studying from other providers like Schweser, or a combination of both, etc. I have started with Behavioral Finance and find it very theoretical - seems like the AM portion will test our ability to recall all the theory.
Thanks!
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Read CFAI materials
Reviewed al blue boxes
Did all EOCs
Then purchased Wiley’s Study Pack, reviewed it, watched all videos, and took all their tests.
Bought Kaplan’s QBank (I don’t recommend this).
Did every Wiley mock and CFA test I could; reviewed Wiley’s formula sheet.
No studying on day of exam. Not before or at lunch.
 
I most probably have the best matrix/study time ratio here.
Do Schweser, CFAI EOCs, topic tests, AM past papers. Worked for me.
 
I will not advice anyone to rely on any other material but the curriculum. Do all the examples (blue boxes) and practice questions in the curriculum. I did them again and again. Apart from the first question in AM, I did not feel there was any question outside of the curriculum. They were all doable.
Passed Level 3 in the first attempt and struggled with Level 2 in 2013 but did it in 2015.
 
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