I’ve been on this journey too long. Over the years my life has become more complicated (marriage, child, house, career, etc…) and CFA studying is becoming more onerous. I’ve been on L3 for as long as most of you have been in the program (i.e. this is my 3rd attempt at L3).
Anyway, I’ve learned a few of things about level 3 that make it harder than L1 & L2:
1. All the test banks suck, there just aren’t enough questions that test the depth and interconnectedness of the actual exam questions.
2. The end of chapter questions aren’t sufficient either, because the question are too few and there are whole sections have no way to test yourself (no Qs at all).
3. Time is a major constraint in the morning –this is true for most canditates. I’ve never taken longer than 2hrs for any multiple choice sessions and finished some sessions (again on exam day) in just over an hour. On the essay AM sesion I estimate that I was 20 minutes short of time on my first attempt, and had only 20 min. to spare on my second attempt. I had plenty of time when drilling at home so just be aware that test day is different, moreso than you think. Trust me –no one– at my table/section has found the time easy in morning. I’m an incredibly fast test taker and time kills me in the essay sections.
Why am I sharing?
Rote memorization is important and absent a robust test bank flash cards are king. Let’s build our own robust test bank using online flash cards. Quizlet seems to be a good platform with public api and free apps for all smartphone platforms. I’ve already found some Level 3 cards sets that are decent, but we can do better. Here’s what I’ve found: http://quizlet.com/subject/cfa-l3/
Post if you’re willing to start contributing flash cards for whatever section you are currently studying. Pay attention to LOS topics and try to make your flash card helpful in forward and reverse.
Thanks,
thrlskr
L3 2010 10th band, L3 2011 7th Band
Anyway, I’ve learned a few of things about level 3 that make it harder than L1 & L2:
1. All the test banks suck, there just aren’t enough questions that test the depth and interconnectedness of the actual exam questions.
2. The end of chapter questions aren’t sufficient either, because the question are too few and there are whole sections have no way to test yourself (no Qs at all).
3. Time is a major constraint in the morning –this is true for most canditates. I’ve never taken longer than 2hrs for any multiple choice sessions and finished some sessions (again on exam day) in just over an hour. On the essay AM sesion I estimate that I was 20 minutes short of time on my first attempt, and had only 20 min. to spare on my second attempt. I had plenty of time when drilling at home so just be aware that test day is different, moreso than you think. Trust me –no one– at my table/section has found the time easy in morning. I’m an incredibly fast test taker and time kills me in the essay sections.
Why am I sharing?
Rote memorization is important and absent a robust test bank flash cards are king. Let’s build our own robust test bank using online flash cards. Quizlet seems to be a good platform with public api and free apps for all smartphone platforms. I’ve already found some Level 3 cards sets that are decent, but we can do better. Here’s what I’ve found: http://quizlet.com/subject/cfa-l3/
Post if you’re willing to start contributing flash cards for whatever section you are currently studying. Pay attention to LOS topics and try to make your flash card helpful in forward and reverse.
Thanks,
thrlskr
L3 2010 10th band, L3 2011 7th Band