How is Level III different from Level II ? Advice from alumni

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Gram

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Hey Guys,
I just cleared my Level II this June and wanted some advice from all of the Level III takers this year. First of all congratulations to all of you who have cleared the level. In Addition, can you guys please give some guidance on how did you ace the paper. What were your strategies and waht can we follow to get through!
Thank you all…
 
The obvious difference is the morning session at Level III: constructed responses (essay questions), not multiple choice. You need to practice such questions to get good (and quick) at them.
Ethics at Level III is more about prevention of violations than about identifying whether (and which) violations have occurred. There’s also the Asset Manager’s Code of Conduct that is unique to Level III. Level III also covers GIPS, which is ignored at Level II.
Level III tends to be quite theoretical; expect even fewer calculations than you had at Level II.
In short, Level III’s a hoot. Enjoy it while you can.
 
Thank you so much for your help. Do you mind sharing how did you study for the same?
 
I took my Level III exam in 1999, so:
  • The nature of the exam was quite different from what you’ll be facing next June
  • I cannot recall more than a few broad details of my study techniques
The one thing I do recall is that I wrote flashcards, threw them away, rewrote them, threw them away, and wrote them a third time. The act of writing does wonders for searing the ideas into your memory.
 
Dear friend,
Congratulations on passing the difficult L2 exam. Now this question has been asked several times before. In fact, it is being asked every year, around the time the L2 results are out. Many have offered extremely thorough and valuable advice, which I have used. If you had read some these posts, you would not feel the need to ask the question again. So please use the search function, that’s what it is there for. The power of Analyst Forum is that it is like a massive CFA encyclopedia. 95% of the questions you’ll have were already asked and answered.
 
Dear defacto,
Don’t forget the world is dynamic and things change over time. I think the most valuable feature of Analyst Forum is its liquidity of opinions, posts and people that form part of this community. Same questions can be answered differently and by different people, it is highly subjective and, in my opinion, there is no correct answer. Let the people ask, let the people answer, let the people feed the encyclopedia.
 
Like S2k said, the biggest difference is the essay questions; it’s a tricky difference, because, now, you have to actually know the syllabus content to answer the questions, rather than getting cues from the multiple-choice answers.
You also need to practice time management, because it’s easy to provide more details is required. Long-winded answers are not expected; you have to be to the point, or else you risk not completing the paper.
 
Do as many timed prior AM papers as you can.
Grade yourself as harshly as possible so you know where you’re weak - the real graders don’t give a f*** if you’re telling people on AF that you’re getting above 80 on your prior AMs. It’s not like grading mocks where there is no doubt whether you put A/B/C.
Bring a watch to exam day. If you’re like me up until this point time hasn’t been an issue. I needed all 3 hours for the AM session to complete the paper and just barely finished with no time to go back to previous questions. You will see many stories about people leaving ENTIRE questions (not just sub questions) blank. Don’t be one of these people.
 
ltj wrote:
Do as many timed prior AM papers as you can.
Grade yourself as harshly as possible so you know where you’re weak - the real graders don’t give a f*** if you’re telling people on AF that you’re getting above 80 on your prior AMs. It’s not like grading mocks where there is no doubt whether you put A/B/C.
Bring a watch to exam day. If you’re like me up until this point time hasn’t been an issue. I needed all 3 hours for the AM session to complete the paper and just barely finished with no time to go back to previous questions. You will see many stories about people leaving ENTIRE questions (not just sub questions) blank. Don’t be one of these people.
Click to expand...
T
Quoting for emphasis. Don’t drop entire questions because of time management. That’s completely preventable. No excuses!
 
The main differences:
1) everybody wants to end the Program as soon as possible and willing to go that extra mile
2) new AM format which is very difficult to master
3) you just constantly keep wishing CFA was only 2 levels instead of 3
 
^ 4) So far I’ve found Level 3 material 3 x times more interesting, and more closer to real situation than L1 and L2 in common.
 
The biggest difference, as others have said, is the AM. You really need to know your stuff and manage the time. I read the entire CFAI books. I did not use third party material. I would focus on the blue boxes if I were you. Even the smallest topics can be on there. I also did all the online topic tests and all the mocks since 2005.
For reference, I finished level 1 PM with 45 minutes to spare and finished level 2 PM with 25 minutes to spare (but did not leave early because I wanted to check answers). I barely finished with level 3 AM with any time left. I remember fixed income being the fourth or fifth question on the test and I did not know how to do any of it. I quickly moved on without having to dwell on it and came back after. Still got <50 on it though. My point is, you won’t have time to “think” about the question. You either know it or you don’t.
 
hei.so wrote:
I remember fixed income being the fourth or fifth question on the test and I did not know how to do any of it. I quickly moved on without having to dwell on it and came back after. Still got <50 on it though. My point is, you won’t have time to “think” about the question. You either know it or you don’t.
Click to expand...
That’s also a good point. You can comfortably pass even while bombing a handful of AM questions. What you don’t want to do is leave any points on the table for stuff you do know by not getting to it in time. I read a lot of folks who got behind on the 1st question of the AM this year (it was indeed quite difficult, at least I thought so, I got <50) and were never able to catch up.
 
Exam is in about 10 months, let’s concentrate how to do the best while studying and absorbing material by first instance.
 
Why don’t you just stop trying to control what people talk about on a board you do not own nor moderate? As previously pointed out to you, you don’t have to read it if it doesn’t apply to you. The OP asked what the biggest differences are between L2 and L3. Guess what? It’s the AM session.
 
LOL. Right. How many topics have you whined in at this point because people weren’t talking about the things you wanted them to? I think I even saw you write that you were going to reach out to a moderator because people who passed wouldn’t “get off the board”. How did that go for you?
The OP asked for advice from people who have already passed, not candidates like yourself. If the advice doesn’t line up with what you want to read, go find a new topic to s***post in. Understanding the AM session as early as possible is a really effective way to prepare for L3. Sorry!
 
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