L3 retakers..

[JuniorCk8]

Any other L3 retakers still stinging from the Fail notice? I sure as hell am. Finally got over it emotionally, but now that I know I need to get this ball rolling again (I started this time last yr), I’m getting very down about having to tackle this beast.
My study plan is fairly simple: do what I did last yr, anf focus a tad more on Fixed Income. I failed BAND 9. I feel okay that another deep pass through the info and intense studying again over 7 months, while focusing more on AM practice and Fixed Income (my weakest section), I’ll tackle it..but totally lacking motivation to get moving right now.
anyone else feeling the same? advice for those who aren’t?

 

[GoBigRed]

You sound a lot like me. I bombed Fixed Income but did pretty well everywhere else and ended up Band 10. Really struggling to stay motivated, but I’m suprised how much of the material I remember.
Pretty much doing exactly what I did last year, but moving a lot faster and I started earlier because my wife is expecting twins the end of April (double sting on the fail this year). I hope to be finished with my first pass on Schweser notes and CFAI EOC questions by the end of the year. I’ll then go back and do every blue box question and EOC question again, making flashcards on topics I struggle with. I hope to done studying by the beginning of April. From then on, I’m just going to take practice tests and review them when I have time.

 

[tozerrt]

Passed in 2014 on my third attempt. Trust me when I say that preparing for the re-sit will be easier…but it won’t be easy. You’ll still have to go over the material again to (temporarily) memorize the information and formulas, but you *will* do it much faster.
My best advice is to dedicate the most time/effort to those parts of the exam that hurt you the most. Simple in theory, but not so much when it comes down to study time. Overall the AM Session was my weak spot in both 2012 and 2013. Had I better practiced AM questions in 2013, I could’ve passed – but didn’t because I thought I knew the material well enough (on top of the fact that practicing PM questions didn’t require as much energy as answering AM material). Shame on me.
Preparing for LIII – AGAIN – I reviewed my notes better than ever in 2014. But in May, ~80% of the questions I was practicing were the AM/essay questions. Was it fun in any way? Hell no. Am I glad that I put forth the effort and did very well in the AM when they provided my scoring matrix. Fu@# yeah! My point is that although the finish line is right there, even the re-takers will have to work pretty hard to succeed. Just remember: you have an obvious advantage against 1st timers. Focus and practice on your weaker areas (whether you like it or not), and your chances of PASSING will be a lot better than 50/50.

 

[JuniorCk8]

awesome. thanks!
GBR - best of luck on the upcoming births! with 2 children under 3, I know first hand it aint easy tackling this thing with littles ones, but twins right before the exam is unimaginable. Best of luck in your prep!
tozerrt - thank you for the insight and guidance/recommendations. I started my studies yesterday..it’ll be a rough few weeks getting into it, but helpful to see your words of encouragement.

 

[cpk123]

GBR and Junior
I have a slight tweak that I might suggest to your plans. While you are going thro’ Schweser as your primary material - and planning to do only the Blue box - be aware that the CFAI institute (exam preparers) are aware of this as well.
There is plenty of material in the “white stuff” (non blue box / grey box) - where problems are solved, text is written - and that text repeats itself, ad nauseum - section over section.
also pay lots of attention to the last few pages in each chapter. I have seen material - albeit very trivial - that shows up on the exams.
so do read the text book - as well - scan the pages of the material - when you have time - (full text) - to ensure you are not missing anything that could help. (and add that material to your flash cards / notes) - so you would revise those in detail.