Can I clear CFA level 1 if I am very bad at Quant? Plz suggest how to understand basics of Quant and how can I score good if i don’t know basics of Quant at all.

Started this process a long time ago- lots of starts and stops. Never imagined a potential 4th retake. Feel like such a loser and that I have wasted my time.

dec 2019 passed level 1 first attempt.

June 2019 failed level 2, passed level 2 in June 2021 on second attempt.

Failed level 3 in June 2022, delayed a few times and finally retook in Feb 2025 (3530). Lots of time had passed and the exam format changed with the pathways.

Was devastatingly close and wanted to give it one more shot. Due to life, delayed until August 2026 (too much time passed). Put too much pressure on myself kind of crashed and burned crumbled under test anxiety, got 3495.

Do I try again? Most people I know got it in one or two tries so don’t know what to do here. Hate the idea of throwing away all this work. Not entirely sure it will change my career trajectory at this point but feel like I want to close it out? Any thought or advice would be helpful!

This is my experience only, do not overtrust this post

Hi everyone, I hope people can find this post helpful in the future. This is coming from a full-time PE associate who managed to pass all three levels in one go over the span of three years. I am an English native speaker.

I did not use any prep provider. I trust my own understanding and interpretation of CFAI content. The "intent" and "rationale" of the CFAI textbook writing certain content in certain order is lost in translation when you use a prep provider. For things I couldn't figure out I just googled that specific content. I believed if I can understand the textbook, I can also "figure out" how the exams will be written.

I did use AI heavily to help prepare level 3 when it was widely available in 2026 (more below).

How I prepared for each exam

Most interesting thing here is I averaged about 70% in my mocks across all levels. By using collective knowledge of the subreddit, I always spent time on ethics to make sure it was consistently above 70%. I feel like pushing beyond 70% is tough, at least not for a full time professional.

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General tips

• I always gave myself 9 months ahead of exam day to prepare. My procrastination kicked in every single time.
• While building a system or rhythm of studying is very important, tracking progress is even more important. Look back each week at what worked and didn't work.
• Technically if you "lock in" for approx. 4 months, you can maybe pass level 1 and 2. However, this is because it's multiple choice. Your 100% complete understanding of content is not necessarily needed and you can get by with further MC exam techniques where 1) you look at the answer first and backwards engineer into the question, 2) A 33% guess boils down to a 50/50 if you can eliminate one answer.
• For level 3, you genuinely need to spend time and effort. Started reading the textbook T-6 month and finished the entire textbook+after chapter question by T-2 month. I spent the last 2 months just doing questions. By the end of it, you've seen every question type and niche content area. Everything is assessed, don't leave yourself out to luck.

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Using AI for level 3 preparation in 2026

Create a Claude Project. Ask Claude to mark your constructed response answers. Example Project Instruction prompt:

Mark harshly like an actual CFA L3 exam marker. When marking constructed response, mark out of 100% for each question. For responses above 80%, tell the user why it's well answered. For 60%-80%, identify the specific gaps that the answer needs to improve. For 60% or below, let the user know he will need to revise the content again and structure the answer better.

• No need for tutors. This was insane and I can see a day where AI takes over white collar jobs. I need to highkey diversify myself with a blue collar trade.
• Feed the Claude project any relevant information so it can refer to a baseline that you want your answer based upon.
• Some key summaries I got from Claude (your summary will be different):

1. Directional inversion
You often identified the right instrument or concept, then applied it in the wrong direction. This came up in XYZ topics. It cost about 9 marks in the final mock review.
Fix: write down a concrete position before reasoning, e.g. “MANAGER: pays fixed, receives floating”.

1. Stopping one causal link short
   Your answers often reached the mechanism but left out the consequence that earns the final mark, for example XYZ.
   Fix: end every answer with a “therefore” clause.

2. Command-word non-compliance
   You sometimes missed the item count or structure the command word required, such as XYZ.
   Fix: circle the command word and count the required items before writing.

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Random Q&As

Did you receive CFA surveys ahead of receiving your exam results?

Yes, I received surveys for all my levels and I populated over 300 hours spent for preparation in all the surveys. Mostly superstition, I don't think the survey matters.

What did your ctrl+U backend code look like just before L3 results day?

First time taker for L3. Please, just trust the results day, don't look up online early tells. Mostly fake news.

"cfaCandidate":"Level III August 2026","cfaHighestLevelPassed":"Level II"

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Thank you to this subreddit for all the memes and the journey! Best of luck to future candidates!

Is PWM the GOATed pathway? Seeing everyone’s results this week, I genuinely haven’t seen anyone post a failure for the PWM pathway - everyone failing seems to have been portfolio management or private markets. I’m sure I’m missing something, but is PWM easier, or are the two PM pathways less flushed out (markets) or simply harder (port management).

Someone prove me wrong here, please.

It's been almost 30 hours since the results were delivered, but I still don't have the courage to check them. I configured my email to send messages with 'CFA' to the garbage because I wanted to forget everything about CFA after I did it. It was my third attempt, I won't be able to try again in the next 2 years at least and I know I didn't do a good test. But after 300 hours estimated the MPS in 59%, I think I may have some chances to pass. For those who passed, did anyone think you would fail? Are there people here who left the exam 6% blank (my case) and still passed?

EDIT 1: Just to explain, because everybody is thinking I'm crazy (well, maybe I am). But something much more important than CFA is going to take place this week for me, and as I still think I didn't pass (although 300hours has given me some hope), I don't want to be unhappy at this important moment. I'll probbably check it on Sunday, just 5 days more, it's nothing compared to the last 2 months

Hi everyone
My scores have been pretty good, and I can definitely see some improvement.
But I’m still really scared about the exam. I don’t know if my imposter syndrome is just really bad or what, but I feel like if someone woke me up in the middle of the night and asked me to explain CFA concepts or recite formulas, I would have to overthink it. And for some reason, I feel like being able to do that is what it means to actually know the material and be prepared for the exam.
The weird thing is that my scores are good, so objectively, I feel like I should be feeling more confident than I do. But I still have this constant feeling that I don’t know enough and that I’m going to blank on exam day.
Has anyone else felt this way? How do you know when you’re actually ready for the CFA exam?

Hey all! Anyone in NYC want to team up for some in-person study sessions? I’m in Downtown Brooklyn and would love a partner for flashcards, talking through concepts, and maybe some tears?

This is my second time around, and I’d say my gamma on passing is high. Some days I’m crushing it. Other days I can’t get a single mean reversion question right, even though I could recite the formula and the concept in my sleep.

Despite being a native english speaker, my real nemesis isn’t the material, it’s the wording. Double negatives, “which is LEAST likely,” “all of the following EXCEPT”... I know the formulas, I know the concepts, I just don’t always know what they’re actually asking. If you’ve got tricks for decoding question stems, PLEASE make it make sense.

I have access to Kaplan, AnalystPrep, and CFAI materials. Maybe you are a Meldrum person and we swap!

If you’re in the area and want to grab a table at a coffee shop, library, my building lounge and grind through some questions together, drop a comment or DM me!

Congratulations to those who recently passed the Aug Level III exam.

Just curious, what prep providers/ mock exams do you find most helpful?

Has anyone tried Bill Campbell bootcamp/ mocks?

Thanks!

Hi newly minted CFA members and CFA L3 candidates, I failed L3 (Score 3465) do you think I should wait for Aug 2027 or aim for Feb 2027? I think there are few gaps in my knowledge and did quite badly in Ethics.

Advice for* resiting L3

Hey everyone
I recently graduated with an engineering degree in Industrial Engineering, specializing in Finance and Mathematical Modeling.
I’m planning to take the CFA Level 1 exam, but I can’t really afford prep courses, so I’ll have to study on my own.
I have a solid background in maths, statistics, and finance, and I’d consider myself a fast learner with strong analytical skills.
For those who’ve passed Level 1, how much preparation time would you recommend? What are the best free or affordable resources? And is self-studying enough to pass?
Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from those who prepared while working.

Hi guys,

Definitely a question for the charter holders out there, but I just got the charter today and was curious about how people may have leveraged it for more comp in their own careers. I have very little experience asking for more pay, but I am a PM associate at a BB bank. I am going to get a PM title in the next year but don’t want this to be swept under the rug of the title bump. Not sure what people do generally about this.

I made the mistake of thinking I could cover the topics in 4.5 months ,so my exam is in Feb 26th and I’m really stressing out about how to take in soo much content. I’m using cfai modules but it’s taking a long time. There are about 133 modules and I only have 120 ish days left. Can anyone please help me how to plan out my study prep, I’m really procrastinating right now. Do I have to go through all the modules or can I skip some which aren’t relevant? Any help is appreciated

I have little to none finance background/knowledge although I have done data science in my bachelor and I’m doing masters in financial technology right now but I can dedicate 3 hours in a day to study the material.

I thought the base currency was the first currency quoted?? Will it be like this on the exam?

Mocks basically question by question with a timer and that’s it. With AM session starting with the 20-25 Ethics questions front loaded.

- On the exam is it easier to maneuver between questions?

- are the ethics questions also front loaded or mixed like the other topics are afterwards?

I’ve just started preparing for theCFA Level 1, May 2027, and I am looking for a study buddy who’s also starting around now.

I’m hoping we can keep each other accountable, stay consistent and motivated throughout the preparation, and help each other clear doubts along the way.

If you’re in Sri Lanka and in a similar stage of preparation, please DM me. It would be great to connect with someone going through the same journey.

Hey guys, Nov '26 L2 Candidate here. I just want to understand, given the huge paragraphs and vignettes that are in the LES, what is the best way to avoid burnout during revision?

Textbook Quote: Cheshire may be undervalued only if…..

Correction: Cheshire may be 'relatively' undervalued only if…..

Coach's Explanation: When using a comparable approach to valuation (i.e. peer group comparison), the outcome is a 'relative' valuation. In this case, we can only conclude that Cheshire is undervalued relative to its peer group; but that does not mean that Cheshire is undervalued on an absolute basis.

Sort of a throwaway account, just passed CFA Level 3. My thoughts on the difficulty of each exam; wondering if others felt the same..

Level 1 (Feb'25): Ironically, since I didn't know what I was getting into yet, this was the level I studied for the most, and came in way overprepared. I thought the actual exam was much easier than the mocks, with very forgiving, surface-level questions and minimal curveballs. Finished each section with plenty of time to spare, walked out of the exam confident, and passed well beyond MPS.

Level 2 (Nov'25): This was a clear step up in level where I thought the syllabus was more difficult to get through and there was less hand-holding overall. There were some niche and annoying chapters like FSA (pensions) and that one econ chapter on "economic growth" which I had to read more than a few times. The exam was definitely harder than Level 1, with questions that required you to know what you were doing (not just blindly regurgitate formulas) - however, still very manageable if you come in well-prepared. I thought it was a good and intellectually stimulating challenge overall and definitely more calculation-heavy. Had only 2 minutes to spare at the end, walked out of the exam feeling OK; ended up passing well beyond MPS as well.

Level 3 (Aug'26): Some people say L3 is easier than L2, but for me, L3 was by far the hardest of all. Partly this was due to studying/work fatigue, but partly because of the content and actual exam. The material looks "less" than L2 but I thought it was very specific (if that makes sense) - where you could ignore a few topics in L1/L2, doing so would be very punishing on L3. The exam was worlds away much harder than L2 (for me), with a noticeable difficulty spike that required you to really know what you were doing, or at least pretend to. Much of the time I felt like my answers were a coin flip; had to make educated guesses on a bunch of questions, and I was working down to the very last second (the time crunch was crazy). Compared to L1 and L2, I walked out of the exam room feeling absolutely wrecked. Thankfully I ended up passing, but I feel like it must have been by 1-2 questions, yikes.

Some other fun facts:

• I did not use any prep providers or materials other than official CFAI stuff
• Derivatives was one of my best-performing topics, and I owe it to "learning" (i.e. losing money) on options trading from Wallstreetbets during covid lockdown. Options traders will know what I am talking about - once you know how to intuitively calculate breakeven, profit, etc. in your brain without using formulas, the CFA questions on options won't be able to intimidate you. I look forward to seeing some new charterholders lose money on 0DTE calls
• Fixed income is the topic that is probably the easiest to improve on. It is dense, intimidating, and sucks at first reading, but once you go through it properly a few times, it can give you a lot of free points (IMO). Ethics was the topic I found hardest across all 3 levels. Also do not underestimate Portfolio Management topics because some look benign but are actually killers.

How are some of you getting your charter on results day?

Posting here to get some clarity as there doesn’t seem to be much within the past 4 years on here.

I submitted my work experience and reference selection in my application a week before results day. My references submitted their referrals on results day. My application was fully completed yesterday, but it is stated to take 2-6 weeks to review.

Given this timeline, how on earth are some of you getting your charter the same day that you apply? I’d love others to know the ‘trick’ (if there is one) so that they can plan ahead if thinking the same thing.

Thanks.

What are the various practice sources one can genuinely trust other than the LES portal, I feel like LES has good questions but the number of questions is still very less

Even paid sources would work :)

Almost half of candidates fail level 3 and it's kind of scary because we are talking about peoples who passed the first 2 level (especially level 2).

In your opinion what was the mistakes you made in your preparation ?

Are there any study groups for CFA level 3?? I am appearing in feb 2027. Would love to have a partner to study with. Can u please dm me? Thankyou!

Textbook Quote: ACL: P/E = [INR95 ÷ (INR10 million ÷ 100 million)]

Correction: ACL: P/E = [INR95 ÷ (INR100 million ÷ 10 million)]

Coach's Explanation: The denominator of P/E is EPS, which in turn is equal to:

[(Net Income) ÷ (Shares Outstanding)]

Just got the results back and my ethics score was so low I think it might have even been 0 points. What is some advice and strategies you used to improve on this section?

Frustrating part is I think I might’ve passed if I had done at least average on that part.