Do I have to learn writing tips to pass CFA level III?

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RosieVN

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I failed the 2nd time this year. The AM section killed me again. But a bit wonder because I’m pretty sure that I did well at least full 5 questions in the AM. So what’s wrong with me? Is there any chance the true reason came from my hand writing and the judges cannot understand my answer? A friend who’s just passed the exam this year told me that he did practice hand writing to mimic formal font. So his writing look like it’s printed from a book.
Essay
Q#
Topic
Max Pts
<=50%
51%-70%
>70%
1
Portfolio Management - Institutional
14
-
-
*
2
Portfolio Management - Institutional
17
-
*
-
3
Fixed Income Investments
19
*
-
-
4
Alternative Investments
20
*
-
-
5
Portfolio Management - Performance Eval.
15
*
-
-
6
Portfolio Management - Risk Management
14
*
-
-
7
Portfolio Management - Individual
18
-
-
*
8
Portfolio Management - Individual
16
*
-
-
9
Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation
15
*
-
-
10
Economics
14
*
-
-
11
Portfolio Management - Indiv/Behavioral
18
*
-
-
Item Set
Q#
Topic
Max Pts
<=50%
51%-70%
>70%
-
Economics
18
-
*
-
-
Equity Investments
18
*
-
-
-
Ethical & Professional Standards
36
-
-
*
-
Fixed Income Investments
18
-
-
*
-
Portfolio Management
18
*
-
-
-
Portfolio Management - Individual
18
-
-
*
-
Portfolio Management - Monitor&Rebalance
18
-
-
*
-
Portfolio Management - Risk Management
36
-
-
*
 
What band were you? Seems like you were close. Hand writing was not a factor for me. I do not have the best hand writing. What I did well, however, is write concise and clear answers in bullet point form whenever possible.
Specifically for you, it appears that if you practice portfolio management a bit more, you should pass. Good luck.
 
Do as many AM mocks as possible and take a hard look at how the answer keys are structured.
I passed my second attempt and my matrix was only slightly better than yours (I got band 3 my first try). I think you’ll get it in 2016. Best of luck.
 
Thank you for motivating me guys
I was in band 7.
Actually I did practice many AM tests and tried to mimic their way of answering. But that turned out too long and take much time. I run out of time in the AM after answering the 5th or 6th question. I will try bullet answers and a formal font writing the next time.
 
RosieVN wrote:
Thank you for motivating me guys
I was in band 7.
Actually I did practice many AM tests and tried to mimic their way of answering. But that turned out too long and take much time. I run out of time in the AM after answering the 5th or 6th question. I will try bullet answers and a formal font writing the next time.
Click to expand...
Out of 11, you ran out of time after finishing 5th or 6th? So basically you left 50% or more blank in AM? Isn’t that the obvious answer?
Why you’re thinking it is due to bad handwriting? Because in 2 AM questions you scored over 70%.
Your issue is clearly around leaving half of AM blank due to time. You need to practice timing more than anything else. And praice writing in short hand/bullet points, so not to waste time. Meaning, it is not necessary to complete a full sentence, just enough words/phare to get the point across.
 
also .. i was in band 7 in 2013 and passed this year. The difference between bands i read somewhere is around 2% … so overall, you just need to improve your points by around 6% or so. If you just answered 2 more essay questions, perhaps you make it.
You did well in the 2 set that included highest points - Ethics and PM. Most people didn’t do well in Ethics - but you got the highest grade .. which means to me, that you know the materials, just having issue with writing fast enough in AM.
 
prozario wrote:
also .. i was in band 7 in 2013 and passed this year. The difference between bands i read somewhere is around 2% … so overall, you just need to improve your points by around 6% or so. If you just answered 2 more essay questions, perhaps you make it.
You did well in the 2 set that included highest points - Ethics and PM. Most people didn’t do well in Ethics - but you got the highest grade .. which means to me, that you know the materials, just having issue with writing fast enough in AM.
Click to expand...
Got this with sincere thanks Prozario. Practice to write fast and focus on timing control!
I think many exam takers share the same issue with me, especially who are non-native English speakers and sit in front of the computer typing all day.
 
please stop typing when you learn the material. hurt yourself by writing out with a pen on paper as much as possible. your hands and your heart will thank you when you see the “congratulations email” come August next year.
practice writing out in short lesson summaries. do each AM exam provided from past years - write your answer out as you normally would - compare against guideline - and try to incorporate that guideline in a shortened para. remember the guideline is too big. you need to consider the time (points) on the question - and that answer on the AM solutions is intended to be learning material - to see why the answer is built up that way. So use that to learn. but that is definitely not the answer that you need to write.
also during your prep - never fool yourself that if you know to say what was in the guideline - you know the material. put yourself to the test by first writing - and then compare.
 
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