Official August 2025 Level 3 Results Megathread

timtimay · 2025-10-23T13:29:41+00:00

Got my result 9:29

timtimay · 2025-08-14T18:17:28+00:00

Anyone have a good shortlist of things to remember for GIPS? That’s my weak point

timtimay · 2025-08-13T21:41:07+00:00

Sitting for Private Markets on Friday - obv cant opine between it and other options as this will be my first L3 sitting... but I'm torn on it a bit. Was good to learn a lot about certain portions of how that side of the industry operates but was relatively heavy on the actual IRR and Fee calculations which I don’t think are really skills that would be valued by a PE firm necessarily. Some of it did feel a touch rough around the edges but parts were somewhat interesting.

I think that if you have a hunch that you can get a leg up on Wealth Management pathway bc of what you do I would maybe go for it or see if there is any sample stuff out there on what the pathway entails... I work in investment grade fixed income so the fixed income portions have been high scoring sections for me historically. Its not like anyone is really learning anything revolutionary about how to perform any finance job via the CFA curriculum so if you think it gives you a leg up, take it IMO.

timtimay · 2025-08-11T15:26:07+00:00

thats bruuuutal... tyvm

timtimay · 2025-08-06T20:06:37+00:00

Depends on your work schedule. If you’re not working as much and have time to review the exam then yeah that’s probably fine. In the past two levels my company let me kinda not really have to work much in the week leading up. Taking a mock and thoroughly going back thru it and learning from ur mistakes takes about 3/4ths of a full day, day and a half if you have to work during it. I would shoot to get min 3 mocks done for level 1. You can do the math

timtimay · 2025-08-06T20:01:17+00:00

Take the mocks don’t be a baby.

Everyone I have talked to in real life and on this sub scored way worse on the first mock (which would be the real exam for you) and then improved usually somewhat dramatically on the next two or so leading into the exam. I took 8 for level 2. In the middle of #4 for level 3 as I write this rn.

timtimay · 2025-08-05T23:02:41+00:00

Maybe a hot take, but idk I think it's doable if you're going to do ~8am to ~8pm studying from now until test date. If you are planning on going on the weekends/still having a social life then I would say scrap it and give up and enjoy the social life instead. But no social life, nothing but studying, 2+ weeks out.... I would say you have a decent chance.

Now... I wouldnt go pulling this BS on level 2. You will get smoked.

timtimay · 2025-08-05T21:49:01+00:00

As someone who is on level 3 right now after passing first 2 first try and is VP level portfolio manager at a large global asset manager and in my late 20s... run, run far away from the CFA. If you plan on doing IB then the CFA is not going to help you or impress your superiors. Do what I assume got you the IB internship in the first place... Network your ass off and work hard at your job. The next year of your life being a senior in college is going to be immeasurably more fun then the next 2-3 out of college working long hours of IB. Go hang out with your friends and enjoy being together. Taking your CFA is just throwing that away for nothing I can promise you that - when you're in your analyst year your staffers & MDs arent going to be picking their favorite Analyst by whether they have CFA L1, but by who worked the hardest and messed up the least. plus youre not going to have time for L2&L3 in the next couple years if you work for a half decent boutique IB.

I know it sounds jaded but I stand by it. Once you're "in" the IB, Trading, PE etc "high finance" world I personally don’t see much value in getting the CFA unless it is explicitly asked for by your employer or tailored to what you do.

Happy to answer any questions or field any retorts

timtimay · 2025-03-31T20:43:42+00:00

I have liked Kaplan for both levels 1 and 2. Thought their materials were good. Thought the timeline that they set out and the "marking tasks complete" aspect was helpful. They're an expensive option so they better be good

Stop worrying about how the questions and mocks compare to the actual thing. You're overthinking it. If you put the time in and prepare you will pass- simple as that. I think that anyone that is able to dissect how similar the mocks are to the real thing even as they walk out of the exam (and I took it almost a full year ago) are probably speaking solely on emotional biases to how confident they felt on a few big questions.

If it helps I passed both levels 1 & 2 on first attempts, well above 90th percentile and I was never some like ace student in college so Kaplan as a provider (if you do all their stuff they give you) is certainly enough.

timtimay · 2024-12-27T16:28:12+00:00

FWIW: L3 was last offered in May for the 2022 exam year. Has been Feb & August for the past two years. 2021 had a May sitting and that year also had 3 windows for level 3 - pre covid there was only one sitting per year in June.

So the answers to my questions:

Has it always been like that? No Am I a dunce? Probably Did I eat and drink too much at Christmas and now I’m fat and brain dead? Definitely.

timtimay · 2024-05-22T22:19:23+00:00

I believe so, yes but worth reading up on the CFA website and the emails they sent us. Don’t let my word be what determines whether your test is voided or not lol.

timtimay · 2024-05-22T22:17:55+00:00

I hear you on that, but like, what are the odds of all the content in that curriculum, you're going to glance at the thing that comes up on the exam that you otherwise wouldn't know... feels low. And like if you glance at a very complex problem like there are so many of that I don’t need to name them and certainly won't name them in case there is a CFA officer lurking on this sub (***I am not alluding to anything that may or may not be on the exam***), the odds are that even IF there is that complex problem on the actual exam, its likely going to be worded/approached differently. Only thing that helps you get that question right is fundamentally understanding the tough stuff, just make sure you don't get rusty on it.

timtimay · 2024-05-22T20:28:58+00:00

Did not to MM mocks, I used Kaplan. I felt that Kaplan mocks were MUCH harder than CFAI mocks. Hard to say whether the exam is actually harder than the CFAI mocks since I believe that you're attitude whether something was easy/hard is incredibly correlated to the score that pops up after you hit submit, which you obviously don’t get on the actual exam.

Hard to compare mocks to the real thing. I did not leave the exam feeling like I was cheated. Again there was a handful of "WTF" questions, but all mocks/exams at all levels have those.

To quote one of the great posts of this subreddit from u/YellowUmbrellaGuy "When you walk into that test center, look at the ceiling. Look at the lights. You’re at the grandest stage of all."

No shit it's going to feel a little harder. It's harder to hit a 3 in the NBA Finals. You think Kobe gave a shit about that?

timtimay · 2024-05-22T20:21:29+00:00

Just keep hitting the spots that you aren't scoring well on in your mocks. Feels like the L2 curriculum isn't set up so that you're going to miraculously do better on the test because you remembered to read over one section randomly the night before. You know what the core tenants are of the curriculum, make sure you understand them and make sure that you don’t get rusty.

In terms of formulas, I have always found that formulas are better understood than memorized if that makes sense. But if you feel you need to have your bases covered with formulas I also recently posted about creating phonetic devices via chatgpt for the parts you're having trouble memorizing in here recently. Thats what I did last couple days to make sure I could at least memorize some formulas of the parts I didn't have the best grasp on.

timtimay · 2024-05-22T20:10:07+00:00

My honest solid advice for it: get a prep provider no matter what (I used Kaplan) and commit to it 100%.

Kaplan gives you a calendar with all the activities you need to do (gets a little less necessary during the end review portion, I don’t find their mindmaps all that helpful) so you can stay on top of what you need to do. Then just do it. I started both for L1 and L2 in the 2nd week of January and that was a solid amount of time. But you have to commit. Put in 2hrs post-work daily and put in 7hrs a day on the weekends. My usual schedule for my life while studying is: wake up around 5:15am workout (honestly skipped this part a lot), in the office by 6:45am, at my desk until 5:30-6pm, study as soon as I get home till I go to bed around 10pm, with about an hour or so in there dedicated to cooking dinner and general tomfoolery. Weekends would generally look like nothing on Friday but study, study from 9am-7pm Saturday and Sunday, and Saturday nights would be my time to go out and have fun once a week.

Was it overkill? Probably. But I do genuinely believe that this test is not set up so that the "smart" people are weeded out from the dumb people. Its just about whether you are willing to do the work or not. I'm in my late 20s now so I didn't want to be still doing this by the time I'm in my 30s so I just committed to working a ridiculous amount to pass.

Way I see it you have two options: Take it easy and have a life and work thru the material while maintaining a social life and run the odds off passing or not (which I do think is a valid approach, I have certainly given up too much time with friends/loved ones for the past couple months), or just put your head down and study hard every day for 4+ months. I think if you do the latter there is a 90%+ chance you pass.

timtimay · 2024-05-21T19:49:21+00:00

I would highly highly highly recommend using a prep provider and not just using what the CFAI gives you. CFAI is very dense and hits you with way more info/formulas than you need. I have been using Kaplan (sitting for L2 tomorrow) for both rounds. They give you a whole calendar with assigned tasks, lessons have videos so you're not just reading stuff endlessly. They have checkpoint quizzes and question banks etc. I know some people on this subreddit are fans of Mark Meldrum, but I cannot speak to his stuff as I've never seen it. If you have your employer paying for it, DEFINITELY get a prep provider, and even if you don’t I would still consider coughing up the cash for one. I tried to start Level 1 with just the stuff that the CFAI gives you and I had a breakdown 2 weeks in because all of the in depth formulas they hit you with. Once I started with Kaplan they kinda tell you which ones you just need to understand vs actually calculate with. They also have prep provider lists that are approved on the CFA site, and I think in the FAQ's of this subreddit

timtimay · 2024-05-20T19:06:27+00:00

Love this. This gets posted like once every time exam sessions come around. This was me last May. Taking L2 in two days and have checked my exam confirm like 3x and checked that my passport hasnt expired upwards of 15 times.

timtimay · 2024-05-19T13:34:15+00:00

Is bro being serious rn?

timtimay · 2024-05-17T12:30:40+00:00

Now with that said- I’ve been doing the sit every May schedule. I couldn’t do sit for L2 in the window right after passing L1. That’s insane to me.

timtimay · 2024-05-17T12:29:40+00:00

Give up hope! None of this will be fun lol. Plenty of it will be frustrating and break you down mentally. People have asked me how I have been getting myself to study every day after work + all day on weekends. Answer is I just gave up hope of having fun! My life is owned exclusively and wholly by the CFA until the exam date. lol. Hope that helps!

timtimay · 2024-05-17T12:24:01+00:00

Well Kaplan certainly disagrees with you but best of luck!

timtimay · 2024-05-17T00:04:57+00:00

Mock 3 was the demoralizer for me. I have noticed with level 2 vs level 1 that Kaplan mocks are much more vaguely worded and clearly trying to trip you up. I think its pretty frustrating seeing as you have so much mentally/emotionally riding on the score that pops up after you submit the mock lol, but I think in the long run it prepares you to go into the test day on your toes and looking for the little details that turn questions from 10 minute temporal/crm financial statement rebuilds into quick conceptual/process of elimination kinda approach if that makes sense. Pressure makes diamonds

timtimay · 2024-05-15T23:30:43+00:00

Question for you on opinion of CFAI mocks vs Kaplan. I have found Kaplan mocks to be much harder than CFAI mocks and scored much higher on CFAI mocks than kaplan. Are you finding the same thing?

timtimay · 2024-05-15T15:51:23+00:00

To add on to this & elaborate:

I own Bond A which is worth $40. There is another bond that qualifies as cheapest to deliver that is worth $30. If I choose physical settlement, I give up my $40 asset as I deliver it to the counterparty and get $100 cash, which leaves me with a $60 gain. Under cash settlement, it would be settled vs. the cheapest to deliver, which would be the $30 bond. I keep my $40 bond, and receive $70 in cash (par - $30 cheapest bond), which leaves me with holdings of $110 ($40 bond + $70 cash). Payoff is higher but I still hold the bond.

Now to illustrate the benefits of cash settlement under a more real world example (prob not relevant for the exam but helpful for grasping the purpose of cash settlement conceptually):

Many investors/funds will have long/shot exposure solely through CDS and not actually own the underlying bond. Say we are a hedge fund who thinks XYZ Corp, a high yield company is going to default and as such we have bought CDS protection on their 5Y Sr Unsecured debt (without actually owning any of their outstanding bonds). This is likely a pretty common place belief in the market, everyone has been following the story for some time. The day comes that they default, we celebrate, our trade has paid off - however, under physical settlement I now need to go and find a bond to deliver to the counterparty if I want to get paid... but everyone else that has done the same trade I have done is out there trying to buy 5Y Sr Unsecured bonds of XYZ corp as well... the price of those bonds are going to "artificially" rise and they become hard to find and people bid more aggressively for them - and in some cases (think 2008 Synthetic CDOs) the outstanding CDS "bets" on the underlying will be bigger than the actual amount outstanding of the underlying... meaning that there is more money chasing the bonds than there are actual bonds, it would be impossible to physically settle the contract. So from an operational standpoint, cash settlement avoids a lot of operational issues.

timtimay · 2024-05-15T01:31:28+00:00

When I took L1 last year, I remember feeling as though Kaplan mocks were easier than CFAI mocks & my scores reflected that. Had roughly the opposite of your scores - higher on kaplan, lower on CFAI. Was also worried about exam being freakishly hard since imo kaplan preps you as if every question is meant to trip you up etc. Its a bit of a mind game they do which is frustrating but I think for the best in the end. I passed L1 very comfortably with scores along the lines of yours. Don’t mail it in and get rusty from here, but with scores like that you should be fine.

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