The Retaker Strategy

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pokhim

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I failed band 5 which sucks! It sucks even more considering 2 of my colleagues both passed L3!! I take the excuse of new job, new wife, 2 week business trip to Oz and house hunting / decorating etc..
I’ve just signed up again so I’m a L3 candidate and I’m currently contemplating my L3 strategy.
I will start v.soon, most likely 8th September and go through the 2014 shweser material until the 2015 comes out. Will try and get first read completed before xmas which includes making notes and doing all the EoC and Grey Box from CFAI material. I’ll start 2nd read in January and hopefully start doing mock exams by beginning of April.
Thoughts?
 
Did you take good notes on the first go-around? Or just read Schweser? That affects your study plan in 2015.
If you understand the core concepts, I think re-reading the material would be a waste of time. Besides, there are very few changes between 2014 and 2015.
A more efficient use of your time, methinks, would be to do as many practice problems as you can. Both AM exams and EOC questions, along with *all* blue boxes.
Take this advice from someone who re-took the exam and felt *much* better prepared in 2014.
 
I’m convinced starting early is only worthwhile if you do some sort of daily review.
I started my first time through the material in early November and finished end of January or so. Unless you have a ridiculous memory (not me) I suggest at least a daily 15 minute review of equations, key points, etc. When May rolled around there was soo much material that I recognized but didn’t know because I never briefly reviewed. I think that would have made quite the difference.
 
i thought i took good notes the first time around…I may try and takes notes again..or at least add and refresh the ones I already have. I like the idea of doing as many questions as possible over and over again.
But I’m not confident enough to jump right into BB and EoC. I think i’ll do a quick read of all the material from Schweser, do the EoCs from the CFAI and add to notes. That should only take until Jan. Then from Jan onwards I will do EoC, BB, Qbank and pass papers until E-day.
 
there are plenty of common themes that repeat often in the CFAI book - with specific language that is very pertinent to the exam. Instead of a refresher from either your old notes, or from Schweser - since you do have the time now - why not read the books - at least for the main chapters - (Indiv, Inst first) and get that done now?
and I really do not know why you would want to fork out good money for new schweser notes again. there is no change in the curriculum - a chapter has moved from risk management to equity (the currency mgmt reading), one reading in equity (the one on float vs. band etc. has been removed) and the other equity reading (corp gov one) has also been dropped. so your 2014 schweser should be really good to go.
 
I’ve got the same issue as you do, but instead this time I’m gonna read the CFAI material, as it results a mistake I did the first time reading schwesser only. I really think Level III includes a whole portion of luck to be passed.
 
Mol wrote:
I’ve got the same issue as you do, but instead this time I’m gonna read the CFAI material, as it results a mistake I did the first time reading schwesser only. I really think Level III includes a whole portion of luck to be passed.
Click to expand...
Totally agree…..
 
^^Completely disagree. Some of those who aim to study ‘just enough’ to pass the exam may get lucky if they scored well in Ethics, for instance, and just bumped up to Band 10.5.
But if you come well-prepared having done lots of EOCs, blue boxes and practice exams – then passing LIII has very little to do with luck.
 
tozerrt wrote:
^^Completely disagree. Some of those who aim to study ‘just enough’ to pass the exam may get lucky if they scored well in Ethics, for instance, and just bumped up to Band 10.5.
But if you come well-prepared having done lots of EOCs, blue boxes and practice exams – then passing LIII has very little to do with luck.
Click to expand...
How about if somebody had done all that you mentioned and had over 70% average on the mock exams….and still failed…..
 
Hi everyone,
Does ‘blue boxes’ refer to those in CFA material or in schweser material?
Thank you
 
I was very confident going to the exam as I really scored above average at all preparatory tests, but instead I have to retake the goddamn Level III. Anyway, it’s a cliche if it is luck or skill, but it is a fact that you can not properly test yourself for the morning session during preparation. Another year of prison and hopefully the last, if I survive till August 15. I’m sick of this program.
 
I knew I would be borderline pass/fail and ended up Band 10. In the past, I have read Schweser then completed CFAI EOC and blue box before moving onto the next chapter.
This time, I’m going to go through and read all the readings in Schweser. Then I’ll go back and revisit each chapter individually, making note cards for topics that I struggle with on CFAI EOC questions. I’m really hoping I remember a lot of the material from last year’s study attempt. I bombed fixed income and it cost me the pass, so I’ll be spending a lot more time on it this time around.
 
I failed Level 2 Band 4 the first time I took it. Passed the next go round. You need to do an honest assessment of why you failed/what you didn’t know. For me, I didn’t spend enough time memorizing formulas on Level 2 (I knew high level theory and concepts well) – so instead of re-reading I made flash cards of all pertinent formulas and reveiwed daily. I also signed up for a Schweser online class (self studied on CFAI material and Schweser notes the first time) which I felt helped. Obviously this isn’t as applicable to Level 3 but the idea is the same – everyone’s retake strategy will be different based on how or why you failed. Regardless, you need to come at the material a little different than you did the first time because you obviously missed something (unless you just panicked and chocked on test day, which is a whole other issue).
One advantage you have being a Level 3 retaker is that the morning exam will be released. Read the suggested answers and try to recall how you answered the question.
 
There is no one set particular strategy or solution that can guarantee a pass. It’s not about which material you use. Your test-taking ability + level of understanding of the fundamental concepts are far more important than the amount of time you put in or which study manual you read. Do not overly stick to one particular study prep provider. Read all the relevant materials (including those outside of the curriculum books e.g., Google or FI Handbook) if they help you understand the concepts. Try to think of variations/extension of concepts covered in the curriculum. A classroom setting would probably be helpful to discuss them. Lastly, I would advise that you do NOT buy into an argument of “use CFAI books and abandon schweser to pass level 3” or something along that line. I read < 20% of curriculum books and < 80% of Schweser. I didn’t like Schweser, but curriculum books weren’t that much better. Not sure if I would do a better job than Schweser if I were to summarize the curriculum.
 
@donkishot- sorry to hear you didn’t pass in 2014. I, too, felt very well-prepared in 2013 and was scoring around 70 on my mock exams, but didn’t pass that year. I felt *much* better prepared in 2014, and was able to pass by a fair margin. Even though I was semi-close in 2013, my knowledge and understanding of the LIII material was much better. So you can’t just measure how well prepared you are based upon practice test scores – particularly since the first half of the exam is much more subjective (i.e., essay). Test day effect also comes into play.
How close were you?
 
I failed L3 twice. I would have failed again had I not taken a kaplan class. not even kidding. I wasnt taking the am section properly. I was definitely the best prepred this time around, but I needed some technical tips to get me over the hump. time management is so critical. this time when I got my bread and butter questions that required several steps, I wasnt so rushed and banged em out. that was the difference.
 
Does hand writing/ spellings make an impact in the scoring? Cause all that goes out of the window in the last few questions.
 
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