Retakers - DIfficulty? difficulty

Wendy01

For those who sat for L3 last year as well, would you say this year's exam was more/less/of the same difficulty?

thommo77

I think the AM was a little easier, but the PM probably about the same as last year. Still, in the AM portion, there are a few things I know I missed. Who knows in the PM. I just don't have a very good feel for whether I passed or not. This is my second time taking the exam and I was Band 9 last year.

cityboy

I was in band 10 last two years (hence the name). I agree with some others that this year's AM was easier from a content perspective but more difficult in time management. I completed last year's AM no problem and actually fared pretty well, but this year I essentially left 26 points unanswered.

Afternoon got me in 2009. This year I thought PM was easier. Either that, or I was more prepared. A few tricky ones, but I feel good about PM this year. Then again, I did last year too so kind of hard to say until scores come out...

Band 10 two years in a row is BRUTAL. Please CFAI, let me into the club!

nannan66

I am retaker ( was in band 9). This year the exam was more qualitative. Fewer questions requried punching numbers in calculator. AM was easier compared to last year and didnt have many tricks.

PM in CFA Level 3 is very qulitative and it depends a lot on what you have learned from reading and solving end of chapter questions.

Reading study notes probably would make you guess more in pm and that's where the real catch is.

Valores

I think that both the AM and the PM were harder this year. No doubt about it.

mik82

Overall, I thought the 2009 was tougher, but there might be some increased knowledge bias in that. The 2010 AM was def. easier than 2009 in content, but more difficult from a time mgmt perspective. The afternoon I thought was about the same, maybe slightly easier, but less calculations than last year. In general, very few WTF moments (ala Wacc w/pension, Implied asset/liabilities, 2 bond hedge) as there were in '09.

I did notice the bigger picture more this year, when reading the questions,....like needing to incorporate the differences in duration for a life insurance IPS with a surplus and rising interest rates. That, imo, will catch a lot of candidates choosing the wrong answer.

oneboy

last year was easier...this year was about little things and correlation you can only know if you have read the CFAI text 5 times...

anyhow by experience i think a lot of us would be surprised in aug(some positively and some negatively)

jmh530

^ 90% plus. Overconfidence bias?

former

Exam seemed much easier this year compared to laster year. Time management was a big problem though in the morning but the difficulty of the questions wasnt bad at all compared to last year. PM was MUCH easier than last year...would expect 90+%. However may not be enough after horrible time managment in AM.

Windjam

This year equal to more difficult. Had enough time to finish, but believe I droped a few bombs in the process.