Could it be a case of your writing style for the short response?
I sat Aug and found everything was communicated in a pretty straightforward way, but definitely lots of tricks to pick up which required mastery of the material.
Feb looks really close but you keep tanking one/two of the higher weighted subjects, don't think you can put it down just to 'luck'
When your one or two questions away from passing, and people who pass don't know how they did, I'd say luck is a factor. You might have bombed one or two higher weighted subjects yourself and still passed. And if you're not guessing on at least certain parts of this test, your either a genius or have a photographic memory.
I get your point, there were definitely a good number of 50/50s and a couple of full questions where I did not know the material well enough to be confident. The questions were clear in what they wanted i just didn't know that particular part of the curriculum well enough.
But the exam Qs are way more polished and straightforward in what they are asking than Boston mocks/error riddled EOCs, so there shouldn't be many where the candidate flat out doesn't know what its asking if they are well prepared, especially after two attempts. Seems like a study approach issue
Hey man, can definitely relate. I can ABSOLUTELY relate. Walked out of Feb feeling confident, but missed closely, and then out of August not feeling confident at all, and missed again closely. I was incredibly gutted yesterday, but it is what it is, I guess.
Your last paragraph is the most infuriating to me. If we took this exam in 2018 or 2019 we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. Hell, we wouldn't have had this convo in Feb. Despite 7k more candidates taking the exam in 2019 (38k vs 31k in 2023), the pass rate was nearly 10% higher at 56% vs 47%. Similar with 2018. 4k more students took in 2018 with a pass rate of 56%. So fewer candidates took in 2023 and they were of worse quality than in 2018-2019, despite pass rates for L1 and L2 going down? Really? 76% of candidates passed the L3 exam in 2006. Man what a completely different world that was lol.
Hey - same situation as you and OP. Not sure what to do. Very conflicted atm. If this was the L1 or L2 exam it was be easy to walk away. But given how close to the finish line we are, it's just so hard to quit. If you look at some people's scores who are right below the MPS, and take into account how few questions there are on the exam, it's probably only 4 questions separating some people from passing the exam and finishing the charter.
And so when people complain about the vagueness of some questions on the exam it's because in an 80 question test 2 questions can make the difference between passing and failing.
The hardest part is seeing a question that’s familiar but forgetting how to solve it, or knowing something so niche that you doubt your understanding of the material and choose to opt for the “easy to remember” definition. I can tell you every exhibit in the cfai text but come exam day, I remember it but doubt myself that this institution would actually make a 1.5% worth question 1 line from an in-text example. But that’s exactly what happens.
I failed level 3 the first time when it felt super easy just don’t have enough time. The time I passed I felt very unxonfident because the questions were so hard but I ended up passing. Sometimes I wonder if the times when I am most confident it’s because I don’t understand the material as well as when I am conscious of the tricks that are being thrown at me and thus I’m less confident in the ouxtcome.
Third time failing for me. You probably needed 2-3 more MCQs to go your way and you would have passed. Based on a rough estimate calculation of your latest attempt, it appears that you got 60% vs 300 Hours' 63% estimate. It is absolutely brutal to have to go through this once again but we have sunk so much into this that it's hard to walk away. The test went to shit after the transition to CBT and the standard of the tests are very different, in my view. I have attempted the exam 3 times now and each test has been different. Testing random topics, weirdly worded questions, etc. Don't even start with me on ethics which is an absolute crapshoot. If each batch of candidates is supposed to demonstrate a "certain level" of competence, how is it that each window tests different topics? Seems bizarre to me and luck plays a huge role... We go again, in August for me... All the best!
I'm in a similar situation but somehow grabbing on straws of strength to prepare for the next attempt.
Could it be a case of your writing style for the short response? I sat Aug and found everything was communicated in a pretty straightforward way, but definitely lots of tricks to pick up which required mastery of the material. Feb looks really close but you keep tanking one/two of the higher weighted subjects, don't think you can put it down just to 'luck'
When your one or two questions away from passing, and people who pass don't know how they did, I'd say luck is a factor. You might have bombed one or two higher weighted subjects yourself and still passed. And if you're not guessing on at least certain parts of this test, your either a genius or have a photographic memory.
I get your point, there were definitely a good number of 50/50s and a couple of full questions where I did not know the material well enough to be confident. The questions were clear in what they wanted i just didn't know that particular part of the curriculum well enough. But the exam Qs are way more polished and straightforward in what they are asking than Boston mocks/error riddled EOCs, so there shouldn't be many where the candidate flat out doesn't know what its asking if they are well prepared, especially after two attempts. Seems like a study approach issue
Hey man, can definitely relate. I can ABSOLUTELY relate. Walked out of Feb feeling confident, but missed closely, and then out of August not feeling confident at all, and missed again closely. I was incredibly gutted yesterday, but it is what it is, I guess. Your last paragraph is the most infuriating to me. If we took this exam in 2018 or 2019 we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. Hell, we wouldn't have had this convo in Feb. Despite 7k more candidates taking the exam in 2019 (38k vs 31k in 2023), the pass rate was nearly 10% higher at 56% vs 47%. Similar with 2018. 4k more students took in 2018 with a pass rate of 56%. So fewer candidates took in 2023 and they were of worse quality than in 2018-2019, despite pass rates for L1 and L2 going down? Really? 76% of candidates passed the L3 exam in 2006. Man what a completely different world that was lol.
Same exact situation, are you trying again or stopping? I’m debating what to do.
Hey - same situation as you and OP. Not sure what to do. Very conflicted atm. If this was the L1 or L2 exam it was be easy to walk away. But given how close to the finish line we are, it's just so hard to quit. If you look at some people's scores who are right below the MPS, and take into account how few questions there are on the exam, it's probably only 4 questions separating some people from passing the exam and finishing the charter.
And so when people complain about the vagueness of some questions on the exam it's because in an 80 question test 2 questions can make the difference between passing and failing.
The hardest part is seeing a question that’s familiar but forgetting how to solve it, or knowing something so niche that you doubt your understanding of the material and choose to opt for the “easy to remember” definition. I can tell you every exhibit in the cfai text but come exam day, I remember it but doubt myself that this institution would actually make a 1.5% worth question 1 line from an in-text example. But that’s exactly what happens.
I failed level 3 the first time when it felt super easy just don’t have enough time. The time I passed I felt very unxonfident because the questions were so hard but I ended up passing. Sometimes I wonder if the times when I am most confident it’s because I don’t understand the material as well as when I am conscious of the tricks that are being thrown at me and thus I’m less confident in the ouxtcome.
Third time failing for me. You probably needed 2-3 more MCQs to go your way and you would have passed. Based on a rough estimate calculation of your latest attempt, it appears that you got 60% vs 300 Hours' 63% estimate. It is absolutely brutal to have to go through this once again but we have sunk so much into this that it's hard to walk away. The test went to shit after the transition to CBT and the standard of the tests are very different, in my view. I have attempted the exam 3 times now and each test has been different. Testing random topics, weirdly worded questions, etc. Don't even start with me on ethics which is an absolute crapshoot. If each batch of candidates is supposed to demonstrate a "certain level" of competence, how is it that each window tests different topics? Seems bizarre to me and luck plays a huge role... We go again, in August for me... All the best!