How hard is it to pass L3 exam?

A

archived_user

New member
Joined
Jun 18, 2026
Messages
0
Reaction score
0
Hi all,
I have registered for the L3 exam in 2017, and intend to follow and practice only CFAI text. No intention to refer to any other material! I did the same for level 2. Would it suffice?
Can you please share your thoughts on “how hard is the exam?”
Thanks with kind regards,
Asim
 
I think the CFAI material alone is good for 85-90% of the material. I would suggest a supplement for the fixed income section, particularly immunization, which I found a bit confusing in the CFAI text, and with regards to options hedging strategies, which is voluminously overdone in the curriculum. I also think that there’s only about 15% of important material in the GIPS chapter.
I would suggest either picking up Schweser Secret Sauce as a supplement, or even better, the GoStudy Notes, which I think is the best value you’ll find.
“How hard is the exam?” Like catching a fly with chopsticks.
 
Gersonides wrote:
“How hard is the exam?” Like catching a fly with chopsticks.
Click to expand...
lol that’s pretty good.
I thought it was a good bit harder than L2 due to the essay format in the morning. You have to know the material extremely well to be able to even score a 60% on the morning paper. Oh and knowing it extremely well is a bare minimum since the caliber of candidate is much higher than L2 pool.
 
June 2017 exam will be my first attempt on CFA 3 and I do believe it will be the hardest exam of the three.
 
Level 3 is interesting, the material itself is less mathematically intense than level 2, and arguably “easier”
The exam itself is far more difficult. There’s a lot more judgement involved and less “if-then” way of thinking, at least that’s the way I found it to be.
I may not be the best source of info as it took me two attempts to pass it.
 
I crushed L1/L2 on the first try and put the same amount (if not more) work into L3 and barely passed the first time. In a word, do not take it lightly.
 
Think of it this way: only half the people who passed LII are able to do the same for LIII.
#PuttingThingsInPerspective
 
The breadth of material is narrower than L2, but the way you need to be able to link concepts together can be more difficult. Practically speaking the afternoon section is old news–similar to L2 but widely regarded as easier. The morning section is what trips Candidates up because it’s so different and because preparing is harder since it can be hard to understand how many points a sample answer might get you. Time management on the day of is also a common issue, even for very prepared Candidates.
Two things I think that can help:
 
Don’t underestimate the physical demand the AM portion puts on candidates. Most people are not accustomed to handwriting for 3 hours; my wrist ached over 24 hours after the exam. Writing succinctly will help.
A strong majority of candidates have trouble with time management during the AM portion and will leave at least one part of a question unanswered. Writing succinctly will help. I suppose reading fast would too. For the PM portion, the opposite is true; of the 6 exam sessions among the 3 levels, I finished the PM portion with much more time (over an hour) than the others.
Lastly, learn everything in the curriculum.
 
To be honest there is no secret standard recipe for passing Level III, but I did the following and passed with >70% in almost all of the sections:
1. Just go through CFAI, dont use any other provider because (a) they confuse you; and (b) the practice questions at the end are too easy imo and won’t prepare you for the exam.
2. Do ALL the blue box and MOST of the end of the chapter readings. I said MOST because you will find not ALL are relevant but try to do as many as you can,
3. Lastly and I think most importantly, do AS MANY practice exams as you possibly can. No shortcut on this. Get yourself CFA past exams, Schweser mock exams and what ever you can get your hands on and PRACTICE. This is the only way to manage time on the dreaded AM section.
Hope this helps.
 
if you are one of those human calculators who is good at memorizing formulas and going through a series of exercises, such as is required for levels 1 and 2, but who is not used to writing succinctly and eloquently or needs more time to see the patterns in things and identify the underlying logic/connections…then level 3 will be harder than the previous ones
if you hate the repetition and mechanization of going through wave after wave of calculations, but feel right at home with taking the initiative with ideas and expression, with venturing out to think critically without a frame of reference, maybe level 3 will be easier.
I know you can’t generalize things, not everyone falls at one extreme of the spectrum, but I am just trying to come up with some guidance here
In my case I was put off by the elbow grease lvl 2 required bc I thought in the end it did not prove anything, it was a stamina test. I liked level 3 more because I felt it gave me more freedom to connect different topics
I passed lvl 3 first time using only CFAi material, but I work in asset management so a lot of the topics discussed made a lot of sense.
 
I dumped the most hours into L3 and it was the worst of my three pass matrices. Others have already covered it in more detail, but put simply… I found it very difficult. AM paper is a monster.
 
Same here. I put in another 50-100 hours approximately and learnt in a much more efficient and focused way than for LII. Yet it was a close pass whereas I had passed LII with a decent margin.
Work hard and do the right things. That’s all :) good luck everyone!
 
Lot’s of good advice above. The most pertinent I believe is the posts that have stressed that it’s not about calculations and numbers in L3 (for the most part).
L1 and L2 are based largely on the singular goal of “Learning the Material”. L3 is based on the goal of “Navigating your way through a Very Difficult Exam”. On L3 if you simply “learn the material” and don’t mock like crazy, you’re very likely to fail even though you have complete comprehension of the subject matter.
 
I don’t know how exactly hard is exam. Given the difficulty of the material and the official EOC questions, I would say it might be brutal. And I haven’t yet practiced any Mock nor portal tests (expecting massacre there). The good thing is I have been starting really early this time.
 
Let me add word of advice for Level 3 candidates here…practice as many questions as possible for AM questions and also learn the art of writing short answers else you’ll have much lesser chance to pass. I saw many candidates failing the exam this year since they were not able to complete their AM paper (despite knowing the fact that they need to write short bullet point answers). Trust me no matter how many questions you practice, i can assure you at least 80-90 percent of the questions on CFA L3 paper will be questions you haven’t seen before, so practicing helps you counter the surprises (which will be plenty for AM).
Follow the following rules if you want to pass at 1st try:
Rule # 1: Answer only what is being asked. Graders don’t care how much you know so please don’t try to impress the grader.
Rule# 2: Write as short as possible. I don’t remember writing more than 5-20 words at max for any answer
Rule#3: Aim to score above 80 in afternoon session. Trust me it will compensate for your bad performance (in case) on AM.
Rule # 4: Focus on Rule 1, 2, and 3.
Cheers!
 
  • As hashtag aptly put it, only half the people who passed LII are able to do the same for LIII.And this includes those who tried LIII and failed by a close margin.And no,the passing will be as difficult EVEN IF QUESTIONS WERE EASY.Half the test takers will fail anyway.
  • Are the AM questions DIFFICULT?Anyone who has passed LII ,read the curriculum ,solved all the constructive response questions in the curriculum and practiced the minimum number of ACTUAL EXAM PAPERS available on CFA website(3),should not find 60-70% of the questions to be difficult(I believe we are ot required to get 100% to pass!)
It’s about time management,therefore,and scoring in a descriptive exam ,can be difficult.
  • Is grading harsh?Yes and No.A real problem is-You can’t grade yourself objectively.However:
-Questions involving calculations,if asked,should be easier to score-show your work/formula used
-Template based questions should be easier to score,and should save time.
-Other qualitative questions may take relatively longer ,and may not be as easy to score as the above two-assuming same level of command over material
  • Time management-There is just appropriate time,if we only write what is required for getting full credit, even if we agree that reading the cases, and figuring what to write,does,and should, take a lot of time.Time expectation is given question wise.
If a 3 minute question is there-assuming you have to devote approximately 1 minutes to read,and 1/2-1 minutes to formulate your answer - you CANNOT probably write 3 sentences in the remaining 1-1.5 minutes.So one sentence per minute is not a benchmark.Nor I believe that to be the expectation.Using broken sentences/bullets/standard abbreviations/even symbols facilitate using fewer words.Making sure key words find their way in your final answer helps.Your English grammar is not being tested.Some people use smaller font to write fast.(Some use erasable pen.Some use pencil.And yet others,just ball point pens-To each his own!) DO not overshoot time per question,even if you are subject expert.You tube videos can help.
  • Be wise in adhering to time per question(Not other-wise!).And ensure you ATTEMPT ALL QUESTIONS.Prefer two well written answers to one very well written and one partiall/badly written answer.There is no “perfect answer” to the questions,especially to the qualitative ones.The next best answer is,one that responds to a question directly,matches the expected key words,and gets calculations right,(If so required).
{CFAI i) lays down guidelines —- for writing answers,ii)shares guideline answers,and admits iii) that answers that received full credit may be smaller,bullet point answers,but a direct response to command words is valued.Fair ,No?}
(Just took advantage of absence of time limit!)
 
AM and PM :
1.BOTH are 50 % of the total test.Can’t ignore either.Covering AM does cover a good part of PM though.
But the way questions are tested are very different.
2.As AM is low scoring,not inherently,but as evident from the general matrices shared on the forum,
the expectation from PM goes up .A 65-70% may be acceptable at L2,not for PM at L3.
A score of 75-87.5%(87.5—5/6 qn on avg)) is more like it.Above 87.5% It will be a bit difficult,for an average L3 candidate.
3.At a minimum,secure >50% in more than half the AM questions, and get >70% in more than half of these (of course you shall aim to get 100% in all AM questions- we are talking about actual likely scores) The trouble with AM is:On a 20 marks question you could be anywhere between 0-10.Scores<50 badly drag you down-Reason behind the mantra-attempt all the questions.And do not think about partial credits-They are graders privilege!There’s no score distribution available for <50 scores-<25% may not be a rarity!!.
4.CFAI topic based tests and the CFA mock exams are the best resource for PM.Past CFA exam questions are the best for AM.That is a de minimis.Only for additional practice in PM some candidates recommend other prep providers.For AM,i do not see any recommendations that claim prep providers to be matching upto CFA exam standard.
5.Two reasons why L3 must be see your best effort-a)It would be your last exam in the program-you would get your life back,and
b)You are competing with the very best in the business- L2 passed candidates-first timers/retakers should not be the concern-either could be prepared enough to push you over.And half the test takers will fail regardless.Be the other half.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top