Winning strategies for L3 essay paper

Practice helps, and @Analyst0719 is right, past papers are very useful. CFAI used to have them on their website but they don’t host much anymore. You can find some here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8CYozSqvEvXM0tyZ0xoLWhMeVE

Also, there is quite a few guides written on the 300 Hours blog.

https://300hours.com/cfa-level-3-essay-constructed-response/

https://www.300hours.com/how-to-prepare-for-the-cfa-level-iii-essay-section/

https://www.300hours.com/how-to-accurately-self-grade-your-cfa-level-iii-essay-questions/

The CFA institute will post lots of prior year essay questions online. I took over 10 old essay mock exams from the institute (some of them might have even been actual old exams).

Also really refresh time value of money from L1. There will be a significant retirement planning related question that is heavily based on TVM. good luck!

Right from the start, especially when you practice, use bulleted lists and get straight to the point.

For example, say you have this question:

What emotional bias, if any, is Steinmore experiencing when recommending investments for Mirren’s college fund?

A candidate might answer:

The emotional biases that Steinmore is experiencing are loss aversion and overconfidence.

But what you’re going to do, which works just as well and takes 90% less time:

Loss aversionOverconfidence

This kind of writing takes some getting used to, so practice this from the start.

Pens and pencils are both allowed, I’ve heard…

This is correct.

Some additional points:

Your pencils can be wooden or mechanical. I recommend using a pen as ink doesn’t fade, so it will still be clear when the examiner gets your paper. If you make a mistake, just cancel, don’t use corrective fluid.

L3 newbie as well. Haven’t even thought about how to approach this – commenting to get notified of an answer.

BTW, does anyone know if both pens and pencils are allowed in the essay paper?

<span data-sheets-root=”1″>Studying in medicine can be challenging, especially when writing academic papers. The nursing paper made easy service helps students cope with these tasks quickly and efficiently. Get quality help in creating research papers, essays and reports, saving time for practice.</span>

I just opened my books about 20 minutes ago and you guys are already talking about essays?!

Amazing find on the past papers, I’ve been looking for them.