My CFA journey is over

DO NOT GIVE UP!
Your score was very close, at least a band 9. If you cleared level 2 in your first try, there’s no way that you can not finish it strong. Do everything you did the same way, add 50 hours on perfecting your AM exam taking skills and YOU WILL PASS!!!
Give yourself a 3 months break, come back in Nov’15 and give all you got.
 
rluk wrote:
I remember the first time I register this program is 2007, I forgot how many times I just failed level 1, may be four or even five. Everytime I told myself it must be I didn’t put in enough study hours and that’s no execuse, so I still have motivation & desire to pass the exam. Finally I passed level 1 in June 2013 after several attempts. Then I sat for level 2 in 2014 and I knew it will be horrible for a guy who failed level 1 so many times, but I believed the worst is just fail one more time and that’s no big deal. I started in November and I gave up all the weekends & holidays, the result is amazing which I passed level 2 on first try with >70 in all subjects except AI. So I register level 3 in 2015 and do exactly the same as level 2 but the end result is band 9. This time I don’t feel sorry or bad, I already used up all my energy and time and I also realized that I may not suitable for this program. Will I pass level 3 on my 10 CFA anniversary? No idea, but I really exhausted and don’t have any motivation to do one more time. It’s time to say goodbye to the title I pursued in last eight years.
Essay
Q#
Topic
Max Pts
<=50%
51%-70%
>70%
1
Portfolio Management - Institutional
14
-
-
*
2
Portfolio Management - Institutional
17
-
*
-
3
Fixed Income Investments
19
*
-
-
4
Alternative Investments
20
*
-
-
5
Portfolio Management - Performance Eval.
15
-
*
-
6
Portfolio Management - Risk Management
14
-
-
*
7
Portfolio Management - Individual
18
-
-
*
8
Portfolio Management - Individual
16
-
*
-
9
Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation
15
*
-
-
10
Economics
14
-
*
-
11
Portfolio Management - Indiv/Behavioral
18
*
-
-
Item Set
Q#
Topic
Max Pts
<=50%
51%-70%
>70%
-
Economics
18
-
-
*
-
Equity Investments
18
*
-
-
-
Ethical & Professional Standards
36
*
-
-
-
Fixed Income Investments
18
-
-
*
-
Portfolio Management
18
*
-
-
-
Portfolio Management - Individual
18
-
*
-
-
Portfolio Management - Monitor&Rebalance
18
-
-
*
-
Portfolio Management - Risk Management
36
-
*
-
Click to expand...
you did well enough in AM to pass - which is where most people have trouble. I passed with 4 below 50% in AM. Saw some people passed with more than that. You just need bit more push in PM - which is easier to learn/fix imho. I would take a year off, and then rethink - level 3 materials are easier to retain.
 
cgy5478 wrote:
DO NOT GIVE UP!
Your score was very close, at least a band 9. If you cleared level 2 in your first try, there’s no way that you can not finish it strong. Do everything you did the same way, add 50 hours on perfecting your AM exam taking skills and YOU WILL PASS!!!
Give yourself a 3 months break, come back in Nov’15 and give all you got.
Click to expand...
yeah - espeically seems he did fairly well in AM - which is where most people have issues. That AM score was good enough to pass - just needed bit more in PM. Possibly 4 to 6 more questions answered correctly in PM would’ve be all he/she needed.
 
I hope you reconsider. Was time management an issue in the AM? I really think if you can tame the AM and crush the PM like you did in level 2 you will conquer this exam. Best wishes
 
CFAilure, you’re bitter because you have with a huge sunk cost with the CFA. The average number of hours of studying is the result of surveys conducted by CFAI. It is plainly just the average studying candidates did for that level for that year. So if you are a retaker and you reported 300 in year 1 and 300 in year 2, you still show up as 300 as the premise of the survey question is how many hours you studied in this year for this exam, not how many did you study across all of your attempts. Perhaps you want a survey question about cumulative hours, but that is also a faulty metric because the hours do not stack linearly. You get a lot of gain just reading the information the first time, and by mid-April you should be averaging 3-4 correct questions per vignette, and you spend May eeking out the 1 extra correct question per vignette. If you fail and retake the next year, you essentially have to restart due to memory lapses (I bet I cannot pass the CFA exams again in July even if I pass with flying colors in June.) But if you studied 300 in year 1 and 300 in year 2 and passed, it doesn’t mean you needed 600 hours to pass. The extra 300 was because you simply didn’t put in enough in the first year. If you were band 8-10, you might have just needed another 30 hours of studying plus a bit more luck and better rest to have passed the first time around, in which case you simply fell short a little in your first attempt. The study hours estimate are ex-post for that year and is intended as an ex-ante guide. There is no survey that would satisfy you because you have too much sunk cost to comfortably move on. Idk what your professional goals are, but you can start a hedge fund or become a C-level executive without a CFA – it’s not a necessary certification, but rather a nice-to-have.
 
Yes it’s true as most of the people say so. You shouldn’t give up. You’re good. Remember tha!
 
15percenthurdle wrote:
I hope you reconsider. Was time management an issue in the AM? I really think if you can tame the AM and crush the PM like you did in level 2 you will conquer this exam. Best wishes
Click to expand...
time management in AM is not an issue bcoz I can complete all the parts, but I’m surprised I failed equity & ethic in PM, which both should be my strong area and able to get >70
 
Don’t give up. People here, myself included will be here to help you pass next time.
 
after all the efforts, hardworks and time spent, you decided to give up CFA designation just because you failed L3 for the first time with band 9?
 
I was Band 9 last year. I started studying in late March and passed comfortably. You’ve got one foot across the finish line. Don’t quit now.
 
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