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sox

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Age 31 and passed 3 in 3.
My study strategy for the three levels was the same as the one below (which I picked up in a previous post). How uncommon was this approach? I didn’t even manage time for the practice test incl. with the registration fee.
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Posted by: Level3Syd (IP Logged)
Date: August 21, 2008 01:41AM
to be honest, i did dec 05, june 06, june 07 and passed all 3 levels on first attempt.
My study technique would vary from everyones here i guess.
if u can do it, just take 2 weeks off before each exam, lock yourself away and study like mad for 8-10 hours a day.
this is what i did. i didnt pick up a book prior to the two weeks i was taking off.
all i used was schwesser. it can be done. just need to focus.
in the last 3 days, just concentrate on practice exams. i found that, despite thinking i knew the material, when i saw it in exam format i became confused. if u just do practice exams, you will learn as you go too.
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only dif in approach with level3 syd was that i used Cfai material in L3 (scheweser for the earlier two) and did not get confused when i saw the exam paper !
yes i suppose its a crazy strategy - but the only one open to me.
 
only use this approach if 2 weeks prior to the exam you remembered that you had to write one.
 
i can’t even believe it is possible to pass with 2 weeks of study only ….
 
Perhaps there are some people who are capable of doing this…but unless you have a photographic memory, 200+IQ, your dad is the head grader, or you have an unscrupulous friend living in Hong Kong who is willing to cheat, your almost guaranteed to fail.
Forget 95%, I would bet that 99% of those who used this approach would fail.
 
maybe level 1. i’m calling bulsht on 2 and 3. but that’s just my opinion, which means very little.
 
heeralm Wrote:
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> i can’t even believe it is possible to pass with 2
> weeks of study only ….
I did L2 with 12 days study time. It was a sold pass too. I spent far more time on L3 and it was only a marginal pass.
 
no sht… that is impressive.. didn’t think it was possible if bleron couldn’t do it..
 
Are you related to Bleron???
I wonder how much the stuff you actually learnt though????
Bet you anything you would fail any of the 3 levels miserably right now…..memorizing and learning are two different thing and sure you can cram and pass the exams if you have great short term memory but learning this stuff takes more time than 2 weeks…if you say otherwise and actually learnt all the material in the two weeks and tucked in your long term memory then you are genius and kudos to you.
 
This is a reasonable approach if what you are interested in is passing the exam instead of gaining the knowledge. Kind of makes me sick. I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.
 
PeteyPete Wrote:
——————————————————-
> Perhaps there are some people who are capable of
> doing this…but unless you have a photographic
> memory, 200+IQ, your dad is the head grader, or
> you have an unscrupulous friend living in Hong
> Kong who is willing to cheat, your almost
> guaranteed to fail.
>
> Forget 95%, I would bet that 99% of those who used
> this approach would fail.
I am in agreement with Sox, although I was more sensible. However, I would change “8-10hrs” to, say “14-16hrs”. I think probably 25% of people could get away with it.
 
Not buying it. But that’s just me. No offense to anyone. I just don’t see this being possible without some sort of external factor (i.e. a masters degree in finance, pure luck on the questions asked, etc).
I do think the last 2 weeks are CRITICAL. But I know I spent on average probably 6-8 hours a day in the last 2 weeks and that was in addition to the 250 hours spent over the previous 4 months.
 
I’m not buying it either. it doesnt matter how much time you put in over the last two weeks if thats all you are doing. Most people are not capable of retaining that much information over that short a period of time. Studying 15 hours per day for 10 days is not the same as studying 5 hours per day for 30.
 
You barely have time to read through the material in 2 weeks. But I guess you dont have to, focus on FSA in Level I and Equity on Level II, add some other sections and study those as well. Then yes, I guess it’s doable to score the required 66% (or whatever it is) on the exam.
I studied for 3 months for level I and 4 months for level II though… But then I was pretty comfortable going to test center on exam day as well
 
6 weeks maybe, but 2 weeks is really imposible for me, no way.
 
Well I’ll vouch for sox and say that it can be done, since his strategy was not very different from what I did. Last year (‘07) I passed LII without having completed a first read of the five Schweser books until a week before the exam, but I studied a solid 10+ hours a day for that final week. I did the same thing this year with LIII and passed (although not with as convincing a margin, I’ll admit), and I’d suggest that this strategy is harder to do on LIII than on LII. I had much more free time in ‘06 when I studied for LI over a longer period and passed without much difficulty (but LI’s a far easier exam IMO). For some people, it’s more effective to study intensely (>10 hours per day) over a short period than to study a couple of hours a day over a series of weeks or even months.
 
this stuff about learning vs. memorizing - sounds like a bad case of “frame dependence” to me.
if you have been paying attention to the questions on the exam you’d have figured that you dont get through without cutting to the bone on the stuff that is in the curriculum. Once may be a fluke - but that’s not what you call it if it works on all three levels consecutively on the trot!
Biotechguy got it right - its a question of mental makeup (and definitely not of genius - my pass score estimates have been middle of the range for passing candidates all through).
some of us (appears to be an awfully thin minority) seem to work better in short but intense bursts rather than adopt a prolonged and steady approach.
that said - and as noted before - this is definitely crazy - too high risk to be a recommended approach.
ciao. I’m outta here. good luck
 
I am sure that this can be done. I don’t know about you guys, yet when I would read through the schweser guides the first time and then went back for a second review, I found that many times, I didn’t remember any of the stuff I just read!
I passed L1 and L2 in six months and then failed L3 in 05. I didn’t crack a book until January 2006 for my second go around. I was thinking that it would just come back to me very quickly. Heck no. It was like relearning all over again. My brain had purged most of it! I would then read a schweser guide. It would take me a week to really go through it. Then I would look at it a month later and it would be like I had never looked at it.
Well, I worked my ass off and got the letters that year. I found that time flew towards the end and I was putting in 10 hours a day. I wish I had the photographic memories that many of you guys have.
 
The bottom line is this is a stupid debate, and a stupid post. Yes, I believe it is possible. No, I do not believe you really learned or retained the concepts. You will not be able to properly find a way to apply these materials in real life as a result of skin deep knowledge of the concepts. I’m not here to pass a test, I’m here to learn the material.
 
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