HI, I am a repeat L3 er (for 6times)… I seem to always do <50 on the Indiv IPS. I just can’t seem to beat this part that is worth so many points. I studied the old exam exams and the end-chapter questions… It seems like I could never get the full points. What’s the trick to this? Seems like many people were able to get >50 on the IPS part.
oh my gad shy34 6 times ??? u make me so freaking out as i hope to pass this thing from 1 st time( like level 1 and 2 ) . Can u please telling me what was ur strategy the last 6 attempt and if u took the exam serious all 6 years or u were not prepared well on some attempts ?
Don’t just study the IPS, you need put it down on paper via pen----write it down. Address each RR/TTLLU.
I did. I find that the answers that get points always changed. For example, the boiler plate answer for Return is: Total Return Approach. Maximize after tax returns. Meet living expensives and adjust for inflation, etc. However, the answer that get the full point always seems to change. For example, in Tax… There was once a past answer (2003?) that said “Tax rate is ____ . Consider the possible benefits of tax advantaged securities. And consider asking a tax advisor.” In the last few years, thoses answers would have been ZERO points.
I know it’s frustrating, some answers are softy feel-y while others are direct. The best thing I can suggest is concentrate on the direction words = Describe, Calculate, Formulate… b/c they all mean different things for the exam. Google the 2005 exam - the 2nd page has all the descriptions. For what it’s worth… here’s my two cents worth of tips I’m throwing in that helped me pass last year: a) To SAVE TIME… write out your constraints first… even if it asks you to determine risk/ret, skip it and write out your LTTLU first so that your answers are CONSISTENT b) EXPLAIN - answer the “so what principle” in the constraints… don’t say… Liquidity requirement is high… state " Mr. X is in the retirement phase of his life… so he’ll have a substantial liquidity need going forward as it will provide monthly income to support his living expenses." c) ANSWER THE QUESTION - Highlight/pay attention - what return metric is required… nominal after tax return calc is different for pretax return (see 2007 exam Q1) d) AGAIN… ANSWER THE QUESTION - when the question asks “FORMULATE”… don’t just put a return metric down… i.e. Required Return = 8.5%… actually state “In order for Mr. X to achieve his goals of blah blah blah… he will require a return of XX%” e) WATCH YOUR TIME… not in terms of looking at the clock and thinking OMG it’s 90 minutes in and I’m only on Q4… budget your time based on the minutes allocated to the questions. A lot of people were psyched from this last year, but if they just added the minutes together, they were exactly on pace with the expectations of the exam. Basically, my thoughts are, focus on passing the morning and scoring near perfect in the afternoon. It sounds like a no brainer (i.e. passing the morning) but realistically, nobody gets >70 in the a/m portion on each and every question, so aim to score as many points as possible. The key to passing, IMHO is to try to get your top marks in the item set for each topic area and, hence, your blending mark should be >70%. Other things… don’t skip GIPS… it’s like Ethics, they test it every year. Infact, pray that it’s in the morning b/c GIPS tested via m/c is akin to pulling teeth… they want obscure calculations. Good luck and don’t give up - you’ll get there!
sha_carsie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I know it’s frustrating, some answers are softy > feel-y while others are direct. The best thing I > can suggest is … Helpful info. And of course, thank you for scaring the sh*t out of me.
sha_carsie, Thank you for the good info. But now I understand why LIII is not a ‘walk in the park’ and why the passing rate is still pretty low… I think I will miss the straight forward calculation from LI & LII…
Thanks sha_carsie!! Great info!
sh34, I hate to bother you with this, but would you mind answering night_visitor’s question about whether you took the LIII as seriously as LI & LII, if you had outside factors preventing you to properly study, if a protctor was blasting a high power speaker by your ear during the various attempts… etc Because if you just tell me that all 6 times you gave it your best and it didn’t work… then I’ll quit now!
I am in the same boat. I always mess up the afternoon exam. How do you score more than 70% in multiple choice? Any help is appreciated. Also, for those who passed this year-anybody remember the exam questions?
please email the LIII '08 exam questions to me also at slouiscar at noética dot net
“I am in the same boat. I always mess up the afternoon exam. How do you score more than 70% in multiple choice? Any help is appreciated. Also, for those who passed this year-anybody remember the exam questions?” Practice Practice Practice - get your hands on as many questions as possible! Schweser Q Bank or Stalla Passpaster. DO ALL OF THE ONLINE EXAMS from CFAI. Seriously, there were repeat questions on the exam… not necesarily in terms of duplicating the exact question, but the same presiding themes were examined.
sha_carsie Thanks for your good tips. What was your schedule look like from Jan to June ? Did you read the CFAI at all? Also, Did you do the end of the chapter problems? Thanks for the advise.
derswap07 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > sha_carsie > > Thanks for your good tips. What was your schedule > look like from Jan to June ? > Did you read the CFAI at all? Also, Did you do the > end of the chapter problems? > > Thanks for the advise. I started in January with Behavioral Finance. Ethics is such a quick read, plus you’ve seen it before, you can do over 3 to 4 days during Christmas break, depending on how fast you read, might as well get it over with. Then I followed the remaining 15 weekly study sessions sequence. Let’s say you start on Jan 4, that should leave you 5 weeks before the exam for review and drill. Stalla has great weekly checklist for reading the material, making your notes, doing the CFAI questions, doing Stalla’s PassMaster questions, and review. (I’ll see if I can find it online, or bug my coworker who’s doing Level 3 and I’ll post it). It could definitely work for people on the Schweser plan or even if you’re doing this on CFAI materials alone, it reminds you how important reviewing and doing the end of chapter questions are. One bit of advice, the CFAI textbook questions are harder than the Stalla or Schweser Q Bank, so don’t leave them to the final 5 weeks, or you’ll cause yourself unnecessary stress on why you don’t understand a particular concept. So, to answer your question CFA materials and end of chapter questions, yes, they’re extremely important - that’s 3/4 of the way from the level you’ll be tested at. To keep myself honest, I also took Stalla’s “online classes” that I did every following Monday night. If I really absorbed the material, I found that I could do the Stalla homework on my other monitor concurrently. My weekly schedule was basically Monday (class and homework), Tuesday (study), Wednesday (study), Thursday (study), Friday (off), Saturday (off), Sunday (study and do any followup homework questions that I skipped) Hope this helps!
sha_carsie, I would definitely like to get this checklist-to keep me on the track. I am doing 1st reading SS6 now. I am going to do the end of the chapter questions and write my own notes. How many hours did you put in ? Weekly basis and total? Thanks-this helps a lot.
crablegs, Yes, I gave it my all. 300 hours each year. From 2002-2003, I just studied with Schweser. Then from 2004-now, I studies with the CFAI readings… I wish I had used the CFAI readings in 2002 and 2003. Yes, I did my very best. In fact, last year, I was a Band10 er… I messed up the Indiv IPS and the ethics, which were very dubious (in my opinion). Otherwise, I would have finally passed.
derswap07 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > sha_carsie > > I would definitely like to get this checklist-to keep me on the track. I am doing 1st reading SS6 now. I am going to do the end of the chapter questions and write my own notes. How many hours did you put in ? Weekly basis and total? > I just checked with my coworker - Stalla hasn’t sent it. If they do, I’ll send you a note for your email address. Granted, it also shouldn’t be hard to draft up, that way you can built in an extra week for harder topics. I think your plan of attack is sound. Making your own notes will solidify the concepts even further and doing the EOTC questions will keep you focused on the difficulty level and focused on the application as opposed to the definition of concepts. On the exam, there were a ton of questions that melded 2 or 3 concepts into one question. BE READY FOR THAT. Especially from different topic areas. In terms of hours, it fluctuates. For topic areas that weren’t my forte, I probably put in 20-25hrs or so (that’s inclusive of doing the readings, questions, making notes, attending the online class). For areas that I found easier, probably closer to 10 to 15 hrs. I also took some time off before the exam so mentally I could just focus on the exam and not think about work. Altogether, I woudn’t be surprised if I put in 400+ hrs for Level 3. I know its daunting, but I count everything: coffee line ups, going over flashcards at the gym, eating lunch while reading, on top of the time spent at the library. You’re starting now, you’ve got a pretty solid plan ahead of you - I’m sure you’ll do well!
sha_carsie, Thanks again for the advise. I messed up in the afternoon. Any advise on how to nail that? I was pressed for time more than in the morning session. I actually left last two questions. That definitely cuts down my chances.
sh34, Thank you for answering. It took me 3 attempts to pass LII and all 3 were with hard work, so I guess my initial question was studid. I admire your perseverance with this. 3 is my magic number, after that, I give up! So incredibly scary to think that people can go through LI, LII and just get stuck in LIII… would be nice to get the charter prior to retirement! sh34, again, thank you for your answer, congratulation on such dedication and my absolute most sincere wishes that this year will be the last one for you.
derswap07 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > sha_carsie, > > Thanks again for the advise. I messed up in the > afternoon. Any advise on how to nail that? > I was pressed for time more than in the morning > session. I actually left last two questions. That > definitely cuts down my chances. Yeah, the time crunch in the morning is probably what burns people the most. You have to budget and realize if you don’t know the question, or if you know that it’s going to take longer than allotted, just move on and come back to it later when you’ve “banked” minutes from answering the questions that you do know quicker. I found, and this is totally a generalization, that derivatives and fixed income tend to be tested in the afternoon b/c of it’s formula regurgitate application (this is could totally changed as I found with GIPS in the pm) Definitely don’t skip the EOC questions on these topics, especially the MBS as they verge onto theory based questions (vs. calculative). The best advice to give you is try to get your hands on as many questions as possible. Seriously, I know this could mean dishing out extra $, but do all online and mock exams from CFAI. There are suppose to be at the difficultly level of the actual exam (it feels easier b/c, mentally, you know it’s just a practice exam) but it gives you a realistic picture of the areas you still need to focus on and the likelihood of pulling >70% on the actual exam. In fact, when you write, aim for 80 - 85% plus (the practice exams give you your actual score and answers). So for any section than you score less than, review the section, rewrite EOC questions, and revise any bad habits you’re making. OHH!! And flash cards… they’re absolutely great… more practical when it’s closer to the exam, but excellent resource to jot down things that aren’t top of mind. Good luck!