Toughest CFA Level?

mp2438 Wrote:
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> guys, this has been discussed endlessly. Level 2
> is the toughest curriculum, Level 3 is the
> toughest exam. Move on.
+1
 
Ill tell you what I think in August about level 3 but they each appear to be hard in their own way:
Level 1:
Was the hardest for me because I was a liberal arts grad with no experience with this type of testing, studying, and subject matter. I greatly underestimated that amount of time and work it would take me just to pass level 1. I can read 900 page Russian novels and write 100 page papers about them pretty easily. But learning stuff like hypothesis testing and basic accounting seemed like climbing everest at the time. Needless to say I walked out of the exam the first time I took it. The second time I was much better prepared.
Level 2:
Was the hardest for me because the exam is an enormous leap from Level 1. I would never have expected that I would have to be so well prepared and that it would take me so many readings and so many practice problems to become proficient with the material. Some topics I read perhaps 10 times. While not that much in Level 2 is completely new to you as it may be in level 1, the depth is much greater. Some topics remained a bit above my head. Still, unlike level 1 I did not underestimate that it would be hard and started very early. I knew it would be hard so I wasn’t blind sided by it, unlike with level 1. I put in 400 hours of quality studying time. This was a first for a B student like me.
Level 3:
Was the hardest because it required me to connect all the dots. It makes you memorize things like GIPS just to not have you be tested on it. Formula’s that were level 2 stuff that you nearly forgot about about come up out of nowhere.
 
mp2438 Wrote:
——————————————————-
> guys, this has been discussed endlessly. Level 2
> is the toughest curriculum, Level 3 is the
> toughest exam. Move on.
yup, couldn’t agree more.
 
chad17 Wrote:
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> In all seriousness though, if there was a Level 4,
> what could the CFA Institute possibly add to the
> curriculum? I hope it doesn’t happen, but just
> hypothetically speaking …
Could be something along the lines of a watered down CQF. Quant is lacking on the CFA. But I would quit if they added a L4. I’m so done with this program.
 
mp2438 Wrote:
——————————————————-
> guys, this has been discussed endlessly. Level 2
> is the toughest curriculum, Level 3 is the
> toughest exam. Move on.
+one more.
L3 essay was a beast - I’ve never been pressed (hour+ at least every other session) for time and was writing until the last minute. The L3 morning session is no joke.
 
jcole21 Wrote:
——————————————————-
> mp2438 Wrote:
> ————————————————–
> —–
> > guys, this has been discussed endlessly. Level
> 2
> > is the toughest curriculum, Level 3 is the
> > toughest exam. Move on.
>
>
> +one more.
>
> L3 essay was a beast - I’ve never been pressed
> (hour+ at least every other session) for time and
> was writing until the last minute. The L3 morning
> session is no joke.
I had exactly the same experience. With AM & PM for both levels 1 and 2, and PM for level 3 I was able to finish in enough time to retake the test again and double-check every answer. For L3 AM I was scribbling to the exact second they told us pencils down.
Further, for those that say L2 has the hardest material while L3 has the hardest test, I suppose my question is: who cares? You have to take the test to get to the next level, so who cares how easy or difficult the material is? Easy material, difficult material, somewhere in the middle – it doesn’t matter; really, all that matters is whether you’ll be successful on test day. And given that standard, L3 is by far the hardest level to pass.
 
Me thinks a good testable subject for ‘Level 4’ is an open-ended essay type of questions on financial statement analysis. In real life, FSA is an ‘open-ended’ problem. But in L3, the open-ended questions on FSA does not exist. No real-life FSA problems will be presented as multiple-choice questions like L1 and L2.
chad17 Wrote:
——————————————————-
> In all seriousness though, if there was a Level 4,
> what could the CFA Institute possibly add to the
> curriculum? I hope it doesn’t happen, but just
> hypothetically speaking …
 
I think the toughest one that might hold you back a while is Level III.
Otherwise, if you are serious about passing exams and concentrate on what you are doing, and stick to your study plan, passing all 3 levels is not a tough task.
 
Generically speaking all are tough and depending on your background and strengths will determine which is hardest. The old saying holds fairly true:
Level I they qualify you to death
Level II they quantify you to death
Level III they bore you to death
 
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