genuinecfa

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say that L3 more than any other level maybe tests a candidate's not only knowledge but ability to synthesize the textbook material, think quickly, and then be concise and to the point when it comes to answer articulation. An essay test is far harder than multiple guess. You can't back into anything. You can't blindly guess. It is far more like the real world where you not only need to make good decisions, but you need to get your point across well. There are plenty of study materials out there for practice on L3 AM tests, more so than any other level, and free from the CFAI. If you bomb the AM, chances are you underestimated the difficulty of the essay part of the test or didn't express yourself briefly and to the point. Thankfully for those who fail, you will get published the exact exam to study and learn from. Once you see their guideline answers, take a look and you'll realize quickly that this is a fair test, just a very tough one. Many people who breeze through 1 and 2 get tripped up on 3. It is a completely different animal, not to be underestimated. Learn from your mistakes and you will have a huge leg up on 1st time takers next year having sat through one in real-time conditions and stress. You can't hide from the AM section- the key is to just survive it. Cut your losses sometimes on questions, turn the page, and have a very strong understanding and plan of attack for both the individual and inst. IPS q's.