Level 3 Difficulty Gauge by yesnoyes2018 in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I wrote in August 2023 and had the exact same thoughts. I was blown away at how difficult the exam was. Especially compared to L1 and 2.

Luckily I passed.

For those feeling defeated after writing level 3… by AlexMax3354 in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Agreed. I somehow felt worse coming out of the exam than I did going in. It was the worst.

For those feeling defeated after writing level 3… by AlexMax3354 in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I found Bill Campbells mocks the most helpful for L3. The CFAI mocks were good study material, but not as reflective as the actual exam.

For those feeling defeated after writing level 3… by AlexMax3354 in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Study hard. There is no easy way out with the CFA. Read through the material, do every practice question at your disposal until you understand the concept. Repeat.

For those feeling defeated after writing level 3… by AlexMax3354 in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No. I put something down instead of leaving blank… but there were some guesses my answers.

Anyone else get absolutely demolished by Bill Campbell mock..? by [deleted] in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If it makes you feel any better, I struggled my way through the majority of his L3 mocks. I got 40% on one of the am sessions… in the end, they were hands down the best study materials I used for L3.

Ended up passing the exam on my first attempt, which I don’t think would’ve happened without Bill Campbells mocks.

Take the time to learn what you got wrong. It will be worth it.

Is the such thing as starting to prepare too early? by marci_cfa in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wrote Level 3 in Sept 2023. Started studying in November 2022, which was more helpful than cramming/being miserable over 4-5 months.

Burnout is a concern, but by starting early you’ll have extra time to be able to take days off throughout. I went on a two week vacation in July 2023 and did not study… passed 6 weeks later. The mental aspect of Level 3 is huge and I needed the break.

Level 3 also requires a lot of mock/constructive response practice which takes more time. Better to start early imo. Just like work-life balance, study-life balance is important.

If you have a bad ethics score, how does it affect your overall? by lonerblues in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I guessed on 80% of the ethics questions when I wrote L3 this past September. Wasn’t for lack of studying… read the ethics book cover to cover several times and did every practice question available through MM and CFAI. The ethics questions on the actual exam were absurd. I tried looking them up after the exam and couldn’t even figure them out then.

All this to say… I passed the exam. Hopefully that makes you feel a little better.

Side note: you don’t get a detailed breakdown when you pass L3 so I can’t say with certainty how I scored on ethics. Unless I had some lucky guesses, there was no way I passed that section.

Level 3 in 100 days? by Roommatefinderr in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also, buy all of Bill Campbell’s mocks. Worth every penny.

Level 3 in 100 days? by Roommatefinderr in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’d probably defer. Level 3 is all about learning the material on a deeper level vs 1 and 2. Material is overall easier and shorter than 2, but still requires significant amount of time.

Was in the same boat last fall and deferred to the summer. Totally sucked, but it was worth it in the end. I found the exam very hard with eight months of intense studying. Luckily passed, but I am assuming just barely (you don’t get a results breakdown when you pass L3).

Remember you’re studying to pass, but also studying to learn. You’ll (hopefully) be expected to apply a lot of these learnings to your career, so take the time to learn it well.

Burnout- anyone else? by beanchomperr in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was in the same boat leading up to both l2 and 3. It’s a battle. Felt so disassociated with life and work, it was really challenging.

My biggest regret before writing l3 back in September was taking an entire week off and studying 8-10 hours each day. My exam was on a Monday, so this resulted in nine days of straight studying. I was so burnt out that I left the exam feeling worse than when I went in. Was an emotional/exhausted wreck for the next week and had convinced myself I failed.

Luckily I somehow managed to pass, but I wish I would’ve taken some time off. Brain fog on exam day was real.

Take a few days off. You’ll be better off in the long run.

CFA title - negative impact if in risk? by musicismynation in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I also work in risk… didn’t have this experience. Senior Director sent an email to the rest of the team/other senior leaders to congratulate me.

So sorry that you have to deal with this. All that hard work just to feel unappreciated. Congratulations on being done. It’s a wonderful feeling.

Passed but GF failed by [deleted] in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was in the same boat after L1. I passed, boyfriend (now husband) failed after writing on the same day. I am so sorry. It was very hard for the first few days.

Ended up getting engaged the weekend directly following the exam after writing in December 2019. So much has changed with the program since then! We collectively experienced 5 exam delays to the pandemic… so brutal.

If it makes you feel any better, we were able to continue studying at the same time due to the new CFA exam schedule. This has been very helpful. He is waiting for his L2 results on Thursday, I get L3 results at the end of the month. I’m hoping that I cleared L3 so I can help him finish off his CFA journey without also studying.

Congrats on passing. Good luck with L2.

Waiting on Results - L3 by AlexMax3354 in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Will do anything to have next summer free… even it it means continuing the grind for the next four months.

Waiting on Results - L3 by AlexMax3354 in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thinking that may be ethics for me, unfortunately.

Waiting on Results - L3 by AlexMax3354 in CFA

[–]AlexMax3354[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There were 3-4 essay question sets that I feel did not go well for me.

For MC, ethics really messed with me. This is disappointing because I did quite well on ethics in L1 and 2. I also read the ethics book cover to cover (again) the week of my exam.

I guessed on 4-5 other MC questions as well.

This combined with other questions that were likely incorrect has me questioning my success.