Level 3 CFA® Resources
July 4th, 2018
I’ve been studying for the Level 3 CFA® Exam since October 1st and I honestly wish I’d started even sooner. I read all the official books and did all the end of chapter problems. I made and reviewed many flashcards and during all this I did web searches and visited forums to double-check I was at least partially understanding the material. I collected the best resources below.
In 2019 there are a lot more official and unofficial CFA study materials online than there was than when I first became a CFA Candidate. I still recommend reading the official material and doing all the official practice problems especially those that are on the CFA Institute website.
Google is your friend
Assuming you have access to Google and some diligence you can turn up all kinds of information about the CFA program and curriculum. I have to caution against completely relying on random stuff you find online, all the questions on the actual exam should be based on the official curriculum. None the less I found a few websites that I didn’t have time to review in their entirety. Many of these websites are not accessible from inside China without a VPN because they are part of “Google”.
Level 3 CFA Resources
Don’t Steal Intellectual Property
Although everyone does it, I have to recommend if you are a CFA Candidate not to steal intellectual property. Besides being against Standard I(C) Misrepresentation it will also upset people like myself. I had to spend considerable time reporting intellectual property theft especially on the dastardly website Scribd.
More Information on the CFA Program
Since the last CFA Exam I have had a lot more free time on my hands. So in addition to updating this blog and improving the CFA flashcards blog, I’ve also been chipping away at my “ta-do” list. My number one priority is to find a new job, hopefully a job which will allow me to finally complete the CFA Charter. My second highest priority is actually to lose weight and exercise more, but my bad knees and other accumulated injuries have made that more challenging. I’m reading more but have still found myself searching for information on the CFA exam, the grading has perhaps changed slightly as if Level 3 wasn’t different enough, the folks over on Reddit seem to have a lot to say, but I’ve also turned up a couple other websites/blogs/articles which might be of interested to CFA Candidates:
- Andy Solnik’s CFA Advice Blog
- Luminous Logic’s Path to the CFA Charter
- Mike Moran’s Life on the Buy Side CFA Advice
- The GMAT Tutor (Matt Kirisits) Also did the CFA Program
- Advice on tackling the CFA Level 3 Exam from Michael Field
- Why you fail CFA Exams from Sarah Butcher
- Wall Street Mojo has assembled a lot of information on compensation for Charterholders
- Beecher Tuttle writes about jobs and companies that hire charterholders
Although it doesn’t load and render at all in Safari on my MacBook Pro, the analysis of the historical CFA exam pass rates by AnalystPrep is quite thorough.
2018 was my final CFA Exam
I can’t say it was never in doubt, because during Level 1 especially there was a lot of doubt on whether I would persist in my folly. Level 2 is of course even harder than Level 1, but with the exception of my joints and apparently my gallbladder my health was better while I was a Level 2 CFA Candidate, now I can say I passed the CFA Level 3 exam, on my first attempt too. Now what I need is one of these jobs people are always talking about. If you have any thoughts, advice, or questions you can leave them below.
This entry was originaly posted on , it was last edited on and is filed under: Advice and tagged: CFA®, Finance, Study Materials.
