FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO PASSED!!!!

Riptrix wrote:
do morning exams from 2007 onwards starting in late april. Good to brush up and keep taking exams throughout May. Don’t ever underestimate the morning exam. Know your keywords and answer with keywords and to the keyword being asked with BULLETs. Don’t get bogged down by GIPS.
Then you’re gonna pass.
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also do 2006 if you need a confidence boost
us 2014 candidates will tell you not to get bogged down in GIPS
 
Find a study partner who is close to your band or commitment. Meet at least once a week and review a section or test. Make sure each of you can literally explain the answer or concept to someone who holds a series 7 ie doesnt need you to define words. I found that when I could explain the topic to my partner, I knew it well. Study groups are good but can be overkill based on your level of commitment or they can go off on tangents. Write notes at least one paragraph for every LOS. Make lists when approriate and define terms in answer length. I read mostly notes the last few weeks about 160 pages.
 
Schwesser notes.
I used the CFAI texts for level 1 and realized how much a waste of time it is. Immediately switched to Schwesser for L2/L3, saved a lot of time. You can even start studying in February too.
The notes go straight to the point and test maybe 95% of the material you will see on the exam. Key point is understanding every point in those notes!

I read each book once and fully understood concepts and finished by end of March, 2nd read much faster in April, May practice exams and you should be good.
Make sure you understand what you did wrong on the practice exams and even if you get them “right”, read the solution to see how the answer is written. Mark tough on yourself.
After an practice exam, adjust your schedule accordingly.

Looking back at it, I still think I studied too much, probably total 200 hours or less.

Level 3 is not hard, its just different. Then again CFA material is not hard at all. The main issue is recall on the writing portion, even then, some questions if you see the practice exams, its not fully 100% recall, you can pick stuff.

-passed all the exams in 18 months
 
Different things will work for different people, but here is what worked for me:
  1. People will tell you Level 3 is easier. Ignore them. Assume it is as hard as all the others, and allow just as much time for reading as Level 2 even though the books are a bit shorter. It also depends what interests you - for me I hate accounting and like asset management, so Level 3 was more interesting, but that’s obviously a personal thing.
  2. I used Schweser except for Ethics (since the books hadn’t arrived yet). I can’t stand e-books and never even looked at the rest of the CFAI books except for a few searches the last week. The Schweser mocks are also good for material coverage BUT they drove me absolutely nuts with their scoring model making me feel hopeless. When it comes to learning how to do the AM, focus on past tests. By definition nothing can be more realistic than that.
  3. People also say that Level 3 is more conceptual and less formulas and memorizing. Not really true. There are still lots of little details and don’t think they won’t ask something on those because they are interested in the big picture - the details matter.
  4. Flashcards - I never made a single flashcard in my life until Level 2. But they work. Don’t buy them or take someone else’s. Every time I got something wrong or wasn’t sure on a mock, I made a card. I have about 100 by the end and drilled constantly. It was like a free portal - I could write anything on a card and memorize it, and then I knew it for the test. There were numerous questions that were as straightforward as having to recite one of my cards. And because of the potential open-ended nature, I made them very open as well. For example, I had one card that said “Cognitive Errors” on one side. On the other side, I wrote out every cognitive error and its definition (because I couldn’t rely on getting a list of them in a multiple-choice). By the day of the test, I could recite every behavioral bias, in order categorical.
  5. Practice tests - everyone will tell you to simulate exam conditions. Do it! I took every practice test in two full three-hour sessions on the same day, with no more than two hours between them. Practicing how to drink enough water but not too much is as important as studying. One thing I found on the real exam was that my hand hurt a lot more in the morning than on the practice tests - I probably wrote too much for some answers.
  6. I consider myself very blessed to have never failed a CFA exam, but I gather from those on this board that it isn’t fun. It is much better to risk over-studying than under-studying. Going into each exam, I felt that if I failed, there was nothing left I could do.
Good luck!
 
practice, practice, practice. Find as many past exams as you can and do them all.
 
cgy5478 wrote:
CONGRATUATION!!
Before we lose you for good on the forum, can you please share your study strategy for new level III candidates like me?
Detailed strategies will be very much appreciated.
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whassup mah brother. let me lay it down. follow the schweser study plan, adding to it where appropriate, such as re-reading summaries and also Qbank quizzes but dont go overrboard on the Bank it kinda is average at best but for early on it’s decent. then you want to finish said calendar very very early. Save 1.5 month about to do ALL CFAI EOC and pair these with the schweser video CDS., i did not do the class. finish all of the above 2 motnhs early and start up on the practice tests. do all of them. reveiw all of thenm. review them again. and again. only time urself on 1 essay section one time, no need to overdo it, i did not, u are fine on vignettes. i had by far my highest score on 3, 40/60/80 of about 76 keep it simple and u kill it son
 
CFA Text, Schweser (found it very useful to memorise concepts for the essay part), Past Exam AM Papers and Schweser Practice Exams. But you have to practice the essay part as you need to be very concise.
 
Hank Moody wrote:
Passed 2012. Stuck only with CFA books. No Schweser, except PM practice exams. Anytime I did pick up Schweser, I found the materials confusing and misleading.
Basically, my advice is to not take any shortcuts whatsoever. Also allow about 8-9 months to prepare. Treat the AM exam like the 13th Study Session and allow an extra month just to learn how to take it.
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well said
 
schweser for regular study(atleast 3 iterations)
practice from CFAI material only, EOCs mocks blue boxes everything you can find
 
To me, the schweser material is the way to go. I read through these once (only referencing CFA for problem areas or more detail) and then moved on to taking as many practice exams as possible. Having more of a summarized version using Schweser gives you enough time to do this. I think the practice exams are an enormous help, because you learn how CFA is attacking you (it is a bit different feel in my opinion in L3, and you get a sense of where they are going)
You need to practice the AM to get the feel and timing down. To me the AM was the easier part (finished with 10 minutes left), where I felt extremely confident after finishing (less confidence after the PM, which was definitely not the norm). I felt the balance on the AM and PM for my studies was important, and while I could’ve spent more time mastering some material, learning the exam is of prime importance in my opinion with the different format for L3
 
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