Level 3 - when to start

B

Batman1

New member
Joined
May 5, 2015
Messages
0
Reaction score
0
I started level 2 in January and managed to clear it somewhat reasonably.
Considering starting level 3 studying in December, so can reduce some of the intensity come April/May.
When’s everyone else planning to start?
[posting in L2 forum do to most contributors still browsing here]
 
Im planning to start reading and taking notes on CFAI in September….. Will take a break in december and start formal test prep with schweser lectures in January. I’m not dreading it the way i did L2…. Must be the light at the end of the tunnel.
 
I started level I in early October for December exam and late March for level II. I felt pressed for time and stressed and was sure I failed both. I’ve tempted the CFA gods enough, I’ll be starting in late November.
 
^^^ super impressive.
I started December 2014 Level 1 exam late September, passed comfortably.
I started June 2016 Level 2 exam beginning of November, crushed it. I will be starting Level III beginning of November as well. Take breaks for Holidays, football, etc.
 
I will start next month, but just skim through the material to get a sense of what level III is about. Do my best to finish the first round by the end of September. I want to prepare for the level III early while some of the material from the level II exam still be somewhere in my mind. To me, I would rather study my ass off for 9 months and pass the exam than spending only 3 months and then fail and have to take it again. That is my plan. How about you guys.
 
Honestly - much less material than L2. I started early/mid March and think it was enough with 1 month of practice papers in May. Wouldn’t recommend that late for all but certainly not Oct/Nov this year.
To paraphrase the L3 curriculum/exam - much less material to memorize, more based on general understanding of theory, get comfortable with structured answers/written responses (BULLET POINTS NOT ESSAYS)
 
Sitting for FRM level I in November, then hopping right into Level III come beginning of December. There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel.
 
I signed up for the early start online classes from schwezer. It starts in October and has classes twice a month instead of the normal four times a month classes that start in January. So i won’t touch the material until October :)
 
Beginning of December - try to have 1 schweser book read through. I started in December, but really didn’t knock out sections until January. I was kind of fake studying flipping through getting an idea for stufff finished like 2 readings in 1 book…
Going to hit it hard in December. The hardest part for me is the readings I think I read slow as F. By the time I finish for level 1 and 2 I leave myself only 1 month to do mocks, re-read, and do a lot of problems/EOCs. I would like to have 2 months time time around to do all of that instead of 1 month.
 
I did the Dec-June sequence, so I definitely need a break to avoid burnout. Planning to start in Dec and hopefully will have read curriculum and schweser once each by end of March. I am also going to give myself a day off every 2 or few weeks because I didn’t for level 2 and I felt like i was dragging myself to the finish line…
 
I started after New Year’s and slowly ramped up to very aggressive studying by March. April-May were all out. I didn’t track my hours but I put in the most of the three levels by far. There may be less material to read but the beast of the AM session makes up for it and then some IMO.
 
Have started reading prior year’s Secret Sauce. Just my thing maybe, but I can’t make sense of what L3 actually is all about from the Reading names. It all becomes clearer for me from these notes.
Found in L2, working from CFAI texts, I could take hours to crack something, only to find it was totally tangential and basically irrelevant. Planning to stick with past Secret Sauce and 11th Hour Reviews till Sept. No study plan, just reading like a magazine – dip in for a bit.
Then go time Oct 1.
 
I have some L3 material including past exams. This may give you some idea of the exams. PM your email address.
 
Planning to start light reading Oct 1, take a break for holidays, and then full steam from Jan. For L2 I barely got 10 days for mocks and topic tests Hoping to keep entire month of May for practice this time around.
 
I am starting on Sep 2nd. Due to some other duties during this fall, maybe will have a break during Nov and Dec.
 
I fail to see why anyone would want to start 9 months ahead of the exam. What for? Didn’t you notice how easily things are forgotten on the first review and only towards the end, after two further reviews, you start having some clarity in your mind? It is all about reducing time between reviews. Do the first reading over 4 months like you were reading a novel is pointless.
I think 6 months of serious studying is what is needed at most (10-12 hours a week). God, don’t you guys have a life? Why do you want to read the cfa books before the summer is over? Don’t you feel the need of reading a good book, watch good movies, spend time with your partner?
FYI, there are way more difficult exams than CFA (although CFA is very very tough).
 
ponch1080 wrote:
I think 6 months of serious studying is what is needed at most (10-12 hours a week). God, don’t you guys have a life? Why do you want to read the cfa books before the summer is over? Don’t you feel the need of reading a good book, watch good movies, spend time with your partner?
FYI, there are way more difficult exams than CFA (although CFA is very very tough).
Click to expand...
I agree with your premise but your delivery is suspect. There’s no need for the ad hominem attacks. Some people feel more comfortable studying that way, that doesn’t necessarily imply they “don’t have a life”. Jeez.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top