Post Game Review

Well, it's taken several years, but I am now done taking level 3. When I dreamt about this summer, I thought I would be on pins and needles for 3 months waiting for the results. I didn't think that I would be taking MBA classes at the same time. Right now, I'm just happy to be done. I don't even now when the results will be out. They probably sent the email, but they sent it to my tertiary email account and I can't be bothered to check it more than 2 or 3 times a month.

Anyway, the test was actually not that bad. I think I might have done average on ethics, but always think that. Last year I got in the right hand on ethics (which is probably why I passed) and didn't think I had done particulary well at this point. Derivatives were tough, and between the various futures, indexes, and other minutae, it was about 20-25 percent of the exam. I think I muddled my way to about 50% on all derivative questions. Everything else, I feel pretty confident about. I missed very few calculations that weren't derivatives (and got some of those as well). I was expecting much worse from the essay questions, but they were decent overall. The essay section was only the second time ever in a CFA exam that I was running out of time. I had enough time to finish all of the questions, and then enough time to flip through the book to confirm I answered them all before time ran out. The main reason for that was that I managed the time poorly. I treated the questions as essay questions, and they were actually short answer. I tried to give too much detail on some of the lower point questions so by the time I got to portfolio management I was only able to give the right amount of detail. Of course, the PM questions were worth the most points as I expected.

All in all, derivatives are the key. The higher I did, the more likely I pass. I had said before that if I failed this, I would take next year off. After seeing the real thing, if I fail, I proably won't take it next year, but I will consider it.