I appreciate this is a well-trodden debate on various platforms but with May 2021 being the first computer based CFA level 3 exam I was hoping to gauge people’s opinions on how useful Mark Meldrum and LevelUp (Marc LeFebvre) material and video classes were in helping to pass this new format of exam .
I have failed Level 3 relying a lot on Kaplan Schweser which I believe is inadequate preparation for level 3 (and scanning various forums it seems a fair few people do agree). I did go through all the EOC questions in CFA book but perhaps not enough times. I did the Schweser mocks and relevant questions in official CFA AM exams 2013 – 2018 multiple times. I thought the Schweser mock exams were pretty poor in all honesty.
Can you please help me with following points;
Levelup has about 80 hours worth of videos, given Nov exam is quite close, would you recommend buying the video classes and trying to go through all those videos as well as all White text examples, Bluebox and EOC questions in official CFA text ahead of boot camp – given this is only 6 weeks away this may be difficult. Of course I have studied for exam already and full disclosure I will be off work up until bootcamp but it seems like a rush to do and properly digest. I am thinking it may be more useful to read over the Kaplan material again and do all the questions in official CFA books (White text, Bluebox and EOC questions) hopefully two times over.
1.5) MM videos – similar question to 1) but in relation for MM videos this time.
Mark Meldrum – for those who used his mock exams, I’ve come across comments in previous years which rave about their quality for level 3 but how useful did you find them for the May 2021 exam?
CFA Q bank – I didn’t use this for the May 2021 exam, would you recommend using this in Oct given Nov exam window is 23-25 Nov. Is this a good way to study in last month and then read up on topics I consistently score poorly on.
For the last month or so, as well as CFA Q bank would people recommend repeating the White text questions, Bluebox question and EOC questions in official CFA text or previous official CFA exams and mock exams (would be looking at Mark Meldrum for mock exams instead of Schweser this time)
It will be my third attempt at level 3 hence really keen to clear it and return to a normal life.
Apologies for the lengthy question but I imagine others will have similar queries going forward in this new CBT CFA world.
Full disclosure: Marc LeFebvre and I are friends (I helped him with new slides for the 2020/2021 curriculum, and he sells my mock exams on his website), while Meldrum and I are . . . not.
I recommend Marc LeFebvre without reservation. He knows his <stuff>. If you don’t have time for everything, go through his videos first, then blue boxes, then EOCs, then white text. The more you can get done before the bootcamp the better, but some is a lot better than none.
I wrote the bulk of Meldrum’s Level III exams in 2019. I’ve heard that he writes them now.
Yes i think Levelup is certainly comprehensive which ironically is the issue given Nov is so tight. If the retake was Feb 2022 instead of Nov I wouldn’t hesitate signing up for it. How i wish i was aware of it prior to signing for the May exam …
I note your comment to go through the videos but 80 hours might be a bit much, Im thinking best to use videos for where i scored low marks as well as big topics like Fixed Income and then do the Bluebox, EOCs and white text ahead of bootcamp.
For anyone who used Levelup for May 2021 , feel free to chime in with your experience.
Used MM videos, notes, MM qbanks, MM mocks, BB, CFA online qbanks to pass this May. Did a total of about 4 -5 mock exams (including latest CFA paper mock and one older CFA mock…) within 2 weeks before exam. Supplement with CFAI, notes, videos, forum to help on any specific topics.
Note the MM mock exam workshops (addon package) with MM explaining and answering questions online are very useful. Very close to a 1 on 1 grading session; with a dozen other online.
MM also has a rolling drop-in online sessions hosting by MM’s hires. Those sessions provided great pointers for morning session. I would attend once or as many as you need to learn the technique, but not anymore. These sessions do not explain the questions and answers specifically or in details.
Definitely use the CFA online Qbank. Very helpful especially getting familiar with the tricky key words…
In the last month before exam, I went through BB and CFA Qbank and Mocks only. Review specific topics for specific questions if needed.
Yes, MM is certainly a lot cheaper which reduces the opportunity cost of failing, especialy with the ‘one-fee-to-pass’ pledge. Can I ask how many hours of video does MM have?
Also does MM mail the lecture notes or do I need to print them out myself?
Silly question but MM doesn’t allow Paypal which is my usual format for online purchases as its safest. So you pay using credit card and submitting address details etc…?
I purchased his mock exams a la carte paying with debit card and everything went fine. I believe the same is with credit cards, but dont know about other payment options. As for the length of the videos I think there is the info on his webpage.
Btw worth mentioning, i failed in December 2020, and only after I purchased his mocks i gained insight on many errors I must have made. He is not there to bring you to wonderland, but will definitely raise you to another level. Unfortunately magician was below budget for me at the point, so dont know personally about his mocks, but being a memeber of this forum some time now, I would say they are hell of a worth purchasing.
Wishing you all the best as much as I wish myself!
Thanks for confirming on the debit/card situation.
Yes on purchase page it shows 97 hours videos in total for MM.
I think I’m gonna take the plunge with Levelup guys. aim to complete 50 hours by bootcamp and focusing mainly on the big topics and those I scored poorly on. Equity for example meets both those criteria.
Appreciate the feedback guys, much like wishing I knew about Levelup & MM prior to May 2021 exam , same applies to this forum
I passed L3 in May. Since I used both MM and Level up full packages, I wanted to share my thoughts. If you plan to retake in Nov, I honestly think it is impossible to go through all levelup’s regular course videos. We know that 80 hours of videos take a lot more than 80 hours to watch, especially if you pause and take notes. I like the videos, but just want to be realistic that there isn’t much time left for the Nov exam. Instead, I recommend Marc’s Bootcamp, especially if he will provide recordings like what he did for our cohort. Watching the bootcamp videos slowly helped me a lot because I couldn’t stay focus 100% during the entire bootcamp. Even though I am so used to working loooooong hours at work, I am not a superman like Marc. Moneywise, there is no passing guarantee. If you unfortunately fail in Nov, you will have to pay the full price again for May even though you will only use the 2021 access for 2 months. This is a concern if you pay out of pocket.
I have used MM since L1. He is consistently good and getting better and better in terms of the services he provides without any extra charge beyond standard subscription, especially for L3. Last year, he took the time to modify 2 past exams to make the questions more relevant to the current curriculum. The value was in his video walkthrough explaining each answer. I also learned a lot from his answering approach for the morning session. He showed us the way how he would answer the questions in words, instead of just talking them over. In my opinion, solution videos are very important for Mock exams because the value is in the explanation. MM offers passing guarantee starting this year (not the old one fee to pass). You are covered just in case CBT throws some crazy questions at you.
I like both Marc and MM. There are many people who passed with either one. You can’t go wrong whichever you end of choosing. I just felt like to comment because I used both and I know the logistics part pretty well.
Thank you for reply. Yes its becoming evident to me that Levelup 80 hours video is not possible in short time frame , had retake been in feb then yes but sadly not to be.
I am going through schweser and official books in tandem with marc’s slidebook. aim is to cover all topics excluding GIP, trading , performance eval and derivs before bootcamp (I will quckly review these topics before the bootcamp as they don’t have high marks)
How close did you find MM’s mock exams to the real thing in May? Maybe I can purchase the two he modified as I have already been through the CFA past papers 2013 - 2019 so should be quick to review once more. BTW, did you do the Boston mock exam … that was tricky tbh in my opinion.
For MM’s mocks, I believe they are a pretty good learning tool, but cannot be solved in timely fashion unless you have mastered (emphasis on mastered) the curriculum and know how to answer. And they are cheap. And they are morale crushers - but in a good way. Again, I believe there are no better mocks than Bill’s or Mark’s.
As for Boston mock exam, there were many polemics, and in my opinion it is not tricky at all, because many of the questions were relying on pure memorization (rather than conclusion). Also very heavy on time constraint, impossible I would say. If I remember I scored around 72% on it (no timing), but wouldn’t rely much on this score. PM was fair enough (if I remember correctly).
Blue Boxes in the curriculum. These days, they’re more grey than blue, but historically their background has been a pale greyish-blue: the examples/questions embedded in the text in the readings.
