I did yes, and changed a couple answers.
The problem with multiple choices, and this has been studied quite often and I have seen in while doing mocks, is that most often your first instinct is the right one. In the mocks I would have doubts and change my answer quite often only to realize that the original answer was right. So I do that on exam day, but unless I’m 100% sure I will not change the answer. 90% or 95% does not do it, only 100% confidence.
8 to 10 mock exams do you mean real exam questions? It’s very common for AM score lower than expected because of the strict standard.
You need to make sure you practiced past 10 yrs real exam questions, not mock, to get familiar with CFA language.
You are 100% correct as I changed 3-4 from right to wrong and cost me the pass, probably 1 or 2 of those would have got me over the line…exam condition stress and second guessing myself cost me but to be fair have to aim higher than just pass so these little mistakes don’t come back and bite me in the ass again…
I would suggest, you read CFAI material then do 10 yrs of CFA papers about 5 times. Each time look at the CFA answer. After 2-3 times, your answer will start tallying with CFA answers and you will get the keywords automatically. Hope this helps
You can go over the exam multiple times, but I would caution against scoring the same exam more than one time. The answers would be ingrained in your memory and give you a false sense of success when you take it on the second or third time.
My strategy is to ace the private wealth and institutional wealth in the AM exam. Year after year in the mocks, it always asks very similar questions (calculated the require return, state one thing that increases/decreases the risk tolerance, why is the risk tolerance above average/below average, etc). Also, this section is the largest component of the exam. It’s kinda guarantee that you see 3 problem sets in the AM section.
I feel for you. I retook after failing band 8 in 2017 where I didn’t cover about 10% of the curriculum. Came in much more prepared this year, felt good after both sections of the exam, and shockingly failed miserably. My AM results were so poor that it rendered the entire amount of time I spent on the exam this year an utter waste of time. It’s inconceivable to me that I scored that much worse this year despite knowing the material much better based on all the questions and old exam reviews. I’ve pretty much decided to give up on this as I’m much further into my career than most candidates and not having the charter isn’t a negative. It would be a positive in some way for sure, but the benefits aren’t immediately tangible. I’ll think about taking it again in the future should it be necessary. Good luck to you in your journey and to all who passed.
Jimhockey, I too am like you where i’m too old now for any significant benefits from the charter…but it then became a personal challenge to feel the satisfaction of finally slaying that L3 BEAST. Otherwise, i won’t be able to die in peace knowing I came so close but gave up.
It’s do-able. Took me 3 attempts at L3 but worth it.
I was definitely passing the last 3 years mocks of the actual exams but struggling to see how I didn’t pass this thing.
Could you give me some advice on how to approach this for the second time as I really only have one more shot left in me at this beast. What is a winning strategy ? Date to finish the curriculum by and any other suggestions please.
all i can tell you is from my approach after failing 2x. I redid the mocks and past exams multiple times until my answers were almost like the guideline answers. Study them coz I feel that the questions are quite similar after a while and can be ‘learned’. That was my secret in passing this year. It’s really the essay that is the beast that you need to conquer.
What results did you get exactly?
Have to second this 100%. For me there is nothing more important than having a strict learning regimen. I set mine up on a weekly basis but was still helpful as I did not start with the studying before January with no time off from the job and a 1 1/2 year old daughter at home.
Every time I felt behind my plan it created this mental pressure that forced myself to study until late in the night to get back into plan.
I got around 48% in the am and 63 % in the pm
really surprised by it as in all the mocks I was doing, I was consistently getting around 73 to 75 in the pm
ethics I only got 50% but in the mocks I was getting always around 75 % +
did Lots of mocks to get my confidence and predictability of result up but no good. Very surprised
Best thing is to move on and go for 2019. Stay positive
Though I did not pass, my score was more or less in line with my expectations. And for all the claims of not being able to tell what you can get on the essay section due to marking harshness bla bla bla, my essays reflected my thoughts. After the exam, I estimated a score of 45%-50% on the AM essay, and I had around that. My PM of circa 66% reflected my fears. I believe many L3 candidates lack self awareness or an ability to rationally assess their performance. Perhaps, you’re not as good as you thought. Apologies if I sound harsh, but your score is where your skill level lies at the moment.
You would have a case with the am… but that doesn’t explain the pm in my opinion… I actually expected a better score in the pm in the actual exam as I did the mocks in 2 hours or less and did make some silly mistakes due to rushing but on exam day I took it slow and the full 3 hours so was expecting around 80 % but got 63 ish.
Quite hard to accept but will have to get over it unless a miracle happens in the retabulation
It’s not so much that what you’re saying sounds harsh, but rather that it sounds like you don’t really understand. Did you even see the blue box around each of the score lines or understand what it means? Did you pass L1 and L2 which presumably require at least some basic understanding of probability and variability? Someone’s score represents how they did on a particular exam on a particular day. It is an indicator of where ability lies, but is certainly not dispositive. And how good of an indicator it is will vary from individual to individual.
So, yes, it may be that a particular failing candidate doesn’t have a realistic assessment of their abilities, but you certainly can’t say that without knowing more.
Problem:
If I may chime in, I think the AM is rather vague and confusing because A) they are subjective and ambiguous and B) even the solutions are very long so it makes it hard to decipher and you really need to summarize it in clear concise points while still using their language. This is why schweser and some of these other providers don’t work. How do I know this? I took it twice with schweser and failed twice with very similiar AM results matrix.
Solution:
You need to use the text. Not some prep materials but the actual text. Second…if you want, you need to use a prep provider that is BASED OFF THE CURRICULUM. So that’s topic tests, CFAI real exams, blue boxes, EOC’s…the whole 9 yards you get the idea. You need to hit those keywords. Monte Carlo? You need to say ‘path dependency’. Conservatism? You need to say ‘slow to incorporate new information’. I know LevelUp runs with the actual curriculum but damn they’re pricey.
I also used a less known provider called Deep3 that specialize in critiquing my AM mocks…from the actual curriculum. ACTUAL CURRICULUM. I don’t want to endorse anyone provider here but just sharing my experiences. Just my .02. Thanks guys. Have a great weekend 
I assume that your asking if I passed level 1 and 2 is a rhetorical question
Same exact thing happened to me last year, I fully expected to pass and got a band 4. It’s humbling for sure. You likely graded your AM to easy and all it’s takes is a few trick pm questions. I also did 10 AM mocks last year. You’ll be fine, gear up for next year, passing it is as sweet as you imagine.
What was your strategy big guy for the retake ? Cfai or schweser ?
start early or ?
external am marker ?