Hi,

Congrats to you!

Can you share what approach you adopted for practise. I mean which material ?

good question. how do you practise the essay questions?. for multiple choice, one can bang out the question bank atleast.

i havent written more than a paragraph using a pen in the last 10 years. need to start practising to write on paper rather than type on keyboard.

Congrats Nihag!

YOur inputs would be very useful... Have heard that L3 becomes a different ball game cos of the essays... I guess asking whether L3 is difficult or easier than L2 becomes likes comparing apples to oranges to some extent..What say?

Well, as we all understand we all have different ways of studying , per se there isnt right or wrong way but here is what I did ( will break it into two parts one is how did I study for Level III and other is how did I prepare (along with what should I have had done ) for writing the test ( yup both are very different and you need to approach in the same way):

HOW DID I STUDY ?

1) Read Schweser once from Book 1 to Book 5 ( excluding ethics) started during Diwali time ( Oct/Nov) was through the first reading by Jan/Feb

2) Noted down my weak points along with I also spent time on analysing what is asked in the test and how we are expected to answer ( THIS IS VERY VERY IMP STEP IN YOUR STUDY PROCESS atleast for level
III)

3) Private Wealth Management and Portfolio Management are the key to the success in the essay portion of the test I think i cleared coz I aced all the Prvt Wealth Management Q and most of the PM for Institutions

4) I was tempted to memorise the format for the IPS( both Individual & Institutions) ( glad I didnt do it) believe me IPS looks very very easy when you first read it but the key to my success on scoring >70% was to understand the DNA of IPS , make sure you understand what are the key ingredients of an IPS because you are going to see the most wierdiest of IPS on the test so unless you understand why is it being done? for whom is it been done? and what purpose are you going to serve by using the IPS you are never going to get it right on the test.

5)Behavioural FInance is a cake walk but not a given, read it multiple times ( i read it 5 times ) yes !!! reading it second time will put you to sleep but wake up !!! u better read it now coz the questions on BF is like a freebie in the AM test

6) rest all is manageable but also important , for eg derivatives ( know the strategies ( DO NOT MEMORIZE THE FORMULA ) as schweser recommends , instead break the formula into individual parts so you understand where and how each component reacts.

7) read the PM for Fixed Income... it may look difficult but it isnt

8) I read Private Wealth Management, PM for Institutional Investors, Fixed Income PM , Ethics from the CFAI official CR

9) I re-read schweser twice ... before even looking at the practise tests, do all the schweser tests very very seriously and time each and every one of them, beleive me most of the guys I know think timing a practise test is a waste of time but it isnt,

10) And lastly I made sure that after work I devoted atleast 2 hrs daily and 8 hours on weekends , yeah go in a social lockdown if you can ( it worked for me) be persistant, patient and disciplined .. there is soo much material to understand and digest at times you will feel that you shuld just give up... but don do it everyone feels the same

HOW DID I PREPARE FOR THE TEST

10) download the past AM tests ( www.cfasuccess.com) and practise them just dont aim to get the answer right , observe the way they have presented the answer and what they expect from the answer, ( you are never going to get the answer which replicates the guideline answers since they have been written by industry experts who had lots of time on hands) but remember your aim is not to reach at the end result( tht is wat is return req/ risk objective) but to understand and master the process of developing IPS.

11) If you have time , download IPS developed by some of the major Insitutions , for eg CALPERS etc ... you will find them interesting and also will understand how things are applied in the real world


12) try to write with pen/pencil ( whichever you plan to use) i havent written an para with pencil for say 1-2 yrs so develop the habit ...very naive suggestion but it is important

13) TIME MANAGEMENT--- for AM .June 2008 was something... I was soo behind the time that one point of time everything was just blank , my mind could not think nor could I write.. so prepare yourself for it (frankly i wasnt in fact all the past tests i completed the test with 15-20 min to go)

14) once you have done all the past tests ...revisit them mulitple times ( i know its boring ) but its very very important, REMEMBER you have to have a firm grip on IPS IF YOU WANT TO CLEAR L3

15) Try to aim at a perfect score in afternoon section since it is similar to the L2 test (in fact a lil easier) coz how much soever you prepare AM is going to screw you

16) Buy all the tests offered by CFAI, ( for me preparing for L3 was the most expensive ) they are really useful. One of the way I used to stretch myself was to write the test at the end of the day, my aim was to take the test with a tired mind, ( this is very difficult) but its just the way i prepare for worst .

my aim was to get~ 55-60% in AM and ~ 90 % in PM


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ok guys this is wat i did and what i did not do for my Level 3 studies and test

If I can be of any help to you guys you can always mail me



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2008 05:50PM by nihag.

very extensive and useful. thanks nihag!.

dsylexic , dude howz FRM going on...
have started quantitative methods from schweser ,will be relying on schewser only hopefully it wont let me down!!!

same here schweser being used. will start credit risk in a few days. this is my first round of readings ,ofcourse.

Nihag, For what areas in level 2 , you think it is necessary to read the CFAI text ? of course apart from schweser ?

Can u pls elaborate?

Same question to Dsylexic ?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2008 10:19AM by rajivagg.

sure,100% if you have the time.i used CFAI texts 100% for Portfolio mgmt ,parts for FSA , plenty for FI (Credit analysis) ,zilch for equity .

Hi Nihag,

Thanks for taking out the time to type these details.. This is very useful..

Best wishes for FRM,

dsylexic, mercsss

you guys wanna catch up for a drink ?

sure, but it will have to wait a bit -i am out of town on a vacation for the next couple of weeks.

Sure.. Nihag have sent you an email..

not received your mail.

Have sent it on ur ofc ID. Did you get it?