First of all, please take some comfort in the fact that you are not alone in this struggle. The CFA Level 3 exam in June 2019 saw a pass percentage of just 56%. Just passing the exam is hard, leave alone acing it.
It’s definitely not because of a lack of effort! Just like you, most candidates try to sincerely go through every single study session and readings, word for word, to absorb as much information as they can. However, this is exactly what leads to their downfall when exam time comes around. They remember a little bit of everything, but never enough of anything
A frustrating failing score after months, days and hours and hours of sincere studying.
*The sample summary here condenses Reading 18, a 30 page heavily descriptive reading on “Overview of Fixed-Income Portfolio Management” into an easy to absorb 5 page flowchart illustrated summary!