Ask Me Anything with Marc LeFebvre of LevelUp BootCamps - October 23rd at 3:00 PM EDT

CFA Level III
#1

We’re about 8 months away from the June 2020 Level III CFA exam. Please join us on Wednesday, October 23rd from 3:00 PM EDT to 6:00 PM EDT for an Ask Me Anything series with Marc LeFebvre of LevelUp BootCamps. Marc will be answering your questions about the Level III CFA exam and how you should be preparing to pass the exam in June.

#2

Hi Marc , is this online question answer kind of post wherein candidates type their questions and you provide their answers or is there some webex/ conference link wherein people need to login?

#3

The former… you post on here, he answers on here!..

(or in this case, I answered).

#4

Maybe you’re really Marc. In disguise.

#5

It is the REAL Marc LeFebvre, CFA. This is a Q&A or AMA regarding the Level III CFA exam.

#6

Yup I answer on this page for the AMA.

#7

No disguise Bill except for the Micky Mouse ears :wink:

#8

Hi,

You quoted $1,289 for a combo package. I’m a little confused as to what this includes. I know it includes the videos + a 3 day class. What else?

Thanks

#9

Hi Marc , thank you , i passed both CFA Level 1 and CFA Level 2 in my first attempt , not that it means anything , i have started studying for Level 3 ,going through the CME and BF mateial and i find it to be qualitative which is always my bane ( i find qualitative material more harder than number crunching quant ) what wadvise would you have for candidates like me…also the material in the official CFAI books is just too verbose :frowning:

#10

i would also llike to know more about that , what does the combo package include , specifically does it include your bootcamp?

#11

Question:

  1. On your website, you cited a 47% failure rate on the exam. What is your estimate of the failure rate among the subset of candidates who incorporated your services into their study program?

  2. How best should we incorporate your videos or other materials into our studies as we work through the curriculum?

Thanks

#12

Hi Engee, congratulations on passing Level I and II on the first go. That is awesome. I hope you can make Level III One & Done® too.Yes Level III is somewhat more qualitative thus harder when answering essay questions. Boom! Yup that is why it is harder then Level I and II, much more touchy feely and vague. So shortcuts don’t work because that short cut might not cover that topic you need to answer the question. So reading the curriculum helps a great deal. I know not what you want to hear. But my candidates swear that if you watch my videos, as I teach from the candidate readings, and then read it goes faster, you see the material better, understand the connective tissue between readings and comprehend the details better. So in short…use a video resource, find a great instructor who can teach you the curriculum and start sooner than later.

#13

The CFA Institute posts a 53% pass rate, thus the failure rate is 47%. Candidates who start early, prepare using the CFA curriculum and work hard ultimately pass the exam. As to specific pass rates we are not able to discuss them according to CFA Institute guidelines.

Watch the videos first, it helps define the forest, the trees and the bark on the trees. Then. read the section covered in the videos. The work the probelms I list in the Focus Materila book for those topics. So its a multi phase learning process. Watch and listen, read for yourself then work probelms immediately after.

#14

The Combo package includes everything…a BootCamp in the location of your choice and immediate access to the JumpStart Videos. Once you purchase the videos the first volume of slide book and Focus Material books are shipped within the day.

#15

Thanks for your replies. Among candidates, there seems to be a major emphasis on taking mock exams. The general consensus seems to be that taking at least 7 mocks is a critical part of preparation in the final phase. It appears that full sample mock exams are not part of your package. So, are you implicitly saying that the focus on mocks is misplaced?

#16

one more question , i saw some examples of essay format question , CFAI pubishes the morning section of the actual exam , obviously there is some memorization and some rote learning involved , understanding of the matrial simply will not be enough , what is CFAI really trying to test here? yes starting early and going through the official CFAI curriculum will help but is there any specific advise you can give when it comes to attempting the morning session of the exam [ it is already giving me jitters :frowning: )

#17

Yes I am saying that a focus on mocks is misplaced. This is according to past candidate feedback. In the past candidates that used non-CFA related mock material expressed frustration that the questions were not well done, had lots of errors, where not worded correctly especially if you used the candidate curriculum. Then once graded gave a false sense of positive feedback. Once they sat for the exam they regretted that choice as the real CFA exam was far harder, trickier and the language used was CFA specific to the curriculum. Also candidates said they spent too much time working mocks then doing CFA questions in the textbooks.

Now things are changing. With 14 new reading in 2020 and the updates some of the older CFA essay exams won’t be available. Those old exams were the best practice exams you could use. They were true CFA material. Without the use of those it makes things harder. So…Bill Campbell will be offering some mock exams on my website soon and with our combined experience, like a combined 55 years, these mocks should be close to the CFA old essays.

#18

I want to buy your combo package, except that showing up for a 3 day review in either Omaha or another city is a real challenge. Is there a way I can purchase your materials on an a la carte basis?

#19

Answering the morning essay has a couple important elements that lead to success (1) putting pen to paper and actually practice writing out the solutions. Too many candidates read the old solutions and think they know the answer but if they tried to write it out stumble, fumble and burn too much time. So writing solutions is key. (2) There is an element of structure that is important to the essay solution. The CFA Institute is pushing this structure and I cover that at the BootCamps. (3) The morning is a time crunch. You have no time to think just respond so that translates into solid knowledge of the material, formula recall, practice the CFA reading questions multitudes of times. (4) there are blind spots in the exam where candidates makes silly mistakes or don’t answer the question asked. I show you these at the BootCamps and help prevent those blind spot errors.

#20

The BootCamps are four days NOT three. It is nearly impossible to cover what needs to be covered in 3 days let alone 4 days. You can purchase the JS Videos and later add the BootCamp at the incremental price of $710 not the $1,289 so all you pay is the combo price for $1,289. As for locations, I’ve had candidates fly from Australia to Singapore and San Francisco for BootCamps. Candidates attend BootCamps from Peru, Lebanon, India, South Korea. Inconvenience only occurs when you don’t pass. Its a small investment that has a major ROI after the exam that lasts the rest of your career. The time and travel challenge is short term.