NakedPuts2011

i was a band 10 last year. i did nothing different this year. read only cfai. used secret sauce for quick review then spent 6 weeks doing all am tests, mock exams and schwesher exam books 1 and 2. i did all exams twice.

lcai

this was 3rd time taking L3 (having failed in bands 3-5 in the past) and this year I passed.

i used the cfa readings and last years schweser since they didn't change much (although this was a bit risky). i tried to use cfa readings as much as i could but for some sections where the cfa reading was more than double schweser readings i got lazy and went for schweser instead (again risky)

i did every exam/question/schweser qbank i could get my hands on....schweser, stalla, old cfa, and esp the ones from the cfa site. at first i was hestitant to take these and 'pay' for them...i was being a cheap since i've already spent so much on these exams...but when i though about how much money and more importantly, time, it would cost if i had to re-take it again (not to mention the blow to my ego if i had to make it my 4th try) i realised money wasn't an issue.

my last strategy was during the exam. having already written it twice i had realised that the last 1-3 questions in morning were never really that difficult, what made them tough wa that i hardly ever had time for them because i would get too tied up with the first 3 questions as they were the biggies. this year, after doing the big ones, i went to the back and did the last few and found i did really well on these as they were realtively easy if i wasn't rushing....i also skipped whatever i couldn't do and went back...no need to go in order, you just need to be organised enough to remember to go back and try to get them.

best of luck to you.

former

I failed Band 5 last year using only Schweser and only end of reading questions.

This year I read through the CFAI text once and right after read the Schweser to re-enforce concepts.

The last month of studying I just reviewed using the Schweser and did all the examples in the CFAI text (I think this is crucial) and all of the end of reading questions again. I also went over all of the old tests... I believe the old IPS's are the most helpfull as all the other stuff changes around.

Essay Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70%
1 Portfolio Management - Individual 35 - - *
2 Portfolio Management - Institutional 25 - - *
3 Portfolio Management - Institutional 24 - * -
4 Economics 14 * - -
5 Portfolio Management - Asset Allocation 15 - - *
6 Fixed Income Investments 18 - * -
7 Portfolio Management - Risk Management 20 - * -
8 Portfolio Management - Monitor&Rebalance 17 - - *
9 Portfolio Management – Performance Eval. 12 - - *


Item Set Q# Topic Max Pts <=50% 51%-70% >70%
- Alternative Investments 18 - - *
- Equity Investments 36 - - *
- Ethical & Professional Standards 36 - - *
- Fixed Income Investments 36 - - *
- Portfolio Management 18 - - *
- Portfolio Management - Individual 18 - * -
- Portfolio Management - Risk Management 18 - * -

mik82

3rd time was a charm this year

1st time- Started in March, only schweser , Band 4

2nd tim- Started in Jan/Feb - Only Schweser , Band 7

3rd Time, Started in Jan/Feb but put in WAY more time studying, I used the CFA texts ( read through and did initial highlights) then re-read and made written notes on highlights and did the EOC twice, I used Schweser ONLY for the end of reading questions, did not read any of the texts - Passed !!!!!!

mp3bu

CFAI books are critical to L3 passing. Yea there are a few people that will only use schweser and pass but is it really worth it the risk/reward? There are not short cuts @ L3.

______________________________________________________

CFA Jay, CFA

Iginla2011

Read CFAI first, then supplemented with Schweser (IMO, more important at this level than any other). Didn't spend all my time on IPS...I focused too much on this the first time at the expense of other topics like FI (same thing happened at LII with Equity/FSA....nailed both, but failed).