For those who passed, how does my strategy sound?

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In short, here’s my plan for cracking level 3. Would love to hear your thoughts…!
Study materials: IFT level 3 Basic Plus Package (offers lecture vidoes and quizes) and CFAI ebook
Study plan: Go over lecture videos, quizes, all EOCs and all other available mock exams.
Rationale: I didn’t find Kaplan’s Q-bank particularly helpful for L2 because they’re not offered in the exam format, and since there are plenty of mock exams available for L3, I feel doing something like 8 mock tests, all EOC and all Blue Box(?) questions would be suffice in terms of number of questions I need to practice.
As for the reason why choosing IFT materials over Kaplan (which is what I used for L1 and L2), I watched some of IFT free videos for L2, and those were legit. Since I can get those videos as well as some quizes at a lower price compared to Kaplan ($500 vs. $1000), I’m willing to try out something other than Kaplan Schweser. I think Kaplan’s vidoes are good, but I don’t think the additional $500 is warranted considering I have significantly less need for its Qbank, or so I think.
My employer does cover all the costs, so what I’m really trying to do is figuring out the optimal way to spend my time (and my employer’s $). Knowledge retention is something I’ll be focusing on after doing those questions I mentioned above, so my thinking is that IFT quizes, mock exams, EOC and blue box questions will give me enough of knowledge to pass the exam, if you will.
I passed L1 in December (after failing band 9 in 6/14) and passed L2 in June. I’m a buy-side analyst working for both fixed income and equity PMs, and lots of what I do is especially relevent to the biggest chunk of the exam, so hopefully it adds some value to the exam preparation.
Any feedback on my strategy and any other general suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thank you!
 
sounds like a good plan
IFT’s videos are very good. used them for L1 and L2 but for some reason I switched to another prep provider which i regret.
Do the all EOCs and BB’s at least 3x.
concentrate on the AM section. do all the previous years AM exam that you can find as this is the area where a lot of candidates fail. and I tell you, AM really is very hard. answer in bullet points. straight to the point answers. and you must relate it to the questions/story.
good luck!
 
Thank you both for the advice!
 
Study plan sounds good and you know yourself the best so it is likely the best plan for you.
If you are willing to consider alternative, here it is:
1) study CFAI materials carefully (includes BB, but as part of the whole chapter not standalone) and do all EOC problems.
2) Do past year exams
3) ignore all other study materials, because if you have time after doing 1 and 2 then you are better off deepening your understanding of CFAI material.
When employer covers all costs it is just hard to say no to all the “premium” stuff, but based on my experience CFAI materials is all you need and everything else is distraction. Also look at the thread where one of the candidates got high passes in all the topics in AM and PM - I believe he actually used CFAI materials for this and if memory serves right it was his only source.
 
understand the material fully and take practice exams as actual exams, make sure you pay attention to the answers and not just think to yourself “my answer is close enough, full marks!”
i also write full sentences in my exam because i don’t want them to think i left an answer open-ended.
 
Thanks everyone, it seems like L3 is the only level where people don’t argue CFAI materials are the best go-to resource. I’ll make sure I fully understand the materials, appreciate the insight!
 
NANA Hachiko wrote:
understand the material fully and take practice exams as actual exams, make sure you pay attention to the answers and not just think to yourself “my answer is close enough, full marks!”
Click to expand...
This can’t be understated. Even if you are very familiar with the material the question is asking about, it’s surprisingly difficult to formulate the answer correctly. “I sort of know, it’s pretty much like this” will not get you any points. You seriously need to practice AM session questions over and over again. Do the old exams. Do any other mock exams you can get your hands on. Make sure you can write down the exact reasonings they want, nothing more and nothing less.
I thought I did well in the first questions of the AM this year, but my first four were <50% regardless, even though I knew the material well. Thankfully, I killed the PM, which saved me.
 
I never read CFAI material and I passed Level 3 only working on Schweser.
The only things I did in CFAI material are the questions.
 
I studied with IFT videos, and they bwere extremely helpful. I watched each video thrice and at the samer time use to do the Blue Box example.
Past Ppaer practice is the game changer, I did the last 9 years morning paper four times (some questions were not in the syllabus anymore)
Lastly please, give due time to the after noon paper preperation, its a life saver. Even if you are unable to score 70% in the morning paper but arre able to pull a near perfect score at the afternoon paper (which is easier than the morning one) you will be able to clear the exam.
 
Traveller wrote:
NANA Hachiko wrote:
understand the material fully and take practice exams as actual exams, make sure you pay attention to the answers and not just think to yourself “my answer is close enough, full marks!”
Click to expand...
This can’t be understated. Even if you are very familiar with the material the question is asking about, it’s surprisingly difficult to formulate the answer correctly. “I sort of know, it’s pretty much like this” will not get you any points. You seriously need to practice AM session questions over and over again. Do the old exams. Do any other mock exams you can get your hands on. Make sure you can write down the exact reasonings they want, nothing more and nothing less.
I thought I did well in the first questions of the AM this year, but my first four were <50% regardless, even though I knew the material well. Thankfully, I killed the PM, which saved me.
Click to expand...
I only wrote bullet points and passed L3. I think if you can get a feel for what the question is asking, you can put the right words from the material to get full marks.
 
BlueTrin wrote:
I only wrote bullet points and passed L3. I think if you can get a feel for what the question is asking, you can put the right words from the material to get full marks.
Click to expand...
You have earned the right to update your profile to “Passed Level III”, congrats!
 
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