I posted this awhile ago. Since then I have been in some way involved with lots of PCP inquiries due to exam issues.

"CFA Institute has all those stupid rules, but the only ones they actually enforce are the rules about conduct during the test. Every year, CFAI publishes a list of the outcomes of professional conduct program (PCP) inquiries and every year the list just includes people who mess with the rules during the test. As ridiculous as it sounds, if you don't stop filling in the ovals when the proctor says 'Stop', they will boot you out of the program, publish your name in a publication received by 200,000 finance professionals, and make you spend lots of money on lawyers. They really will.

As obvious as all this sounds:

1) Read the rules thoroughly. The answer to 'I wonder if it's OK to [whatever]?' is no.
2) Leave all your books, notes, flashcards, etc. at home. You can't do any meaningful study in the parking lot anyway.
3) Use only the approved calculator
4) Respect the proctor more than your boss, your parents, your spouse, or anyone else in your life for 6 hours.
5) If something does go wrong, bow out as gracefully as you can. June isn't that far away. "


I have a few other things I have learned since:

1) Do NOT write until the last second. Do NOT. It seems that oodles of people just cruise past the proctor saying stop and get busted by CFAI. Nobody seems to get out of this. You can fill in 1/2 an oval, be deaf, not speak the same langauge as the proctor, be sitting in a different state, etc. and they still void your exam, take your money, and give you a censure. Stop 1 minute before times up, close your exam book, close your eyes and look straight at your desk. Think happy thoughts about your kids or your spouse or your favorite basketball team. Just relax and wait for the proctor to say "Times up".

2) If a proctor accuses you of doing something, do not apologize or try to be cooperative even though this seems like the right thing to do. Do not say "I'm sorry" as CFAI has decided that "I'm sorry" is a clear admission of guilt (go figure). If a proctor accuses you of something say "Respectfully, I did not do [blah]." Just keep saying that. Do not try to explain what you were doing unless it's unbelievably clear you are innocent (" I wasn't looking at his paper. I was looking at him in disbelief because he just vomited all over my shoes"). Practice that sentence a few times "Respectfully [Sir or Ma'am], I did not look at anyone else's paper".

3) Do not look around the room. There are some psychotic proctors out there who think that gazing around the room is cheating (as if you might want to try to copy someone else's ovals from 3 feet away). Do not look around to see if other people think the exam is hard.

4) Do not even think about cheating. There is nothing that passing this exam will give you that justifies the crap they will put you through if you are caught cheating. If you are thinking about cheating, get $2000 from whatever source you can and have a great weekend somewhere else. It will be the best money you ever spent. I promise.

5) Failing this exam is nothing. A PCP investigation is vastly worse.

jdv this is a great post and i definitely agree with everything BUT i would bring the materials to the testing centre. i finished the exam an hour early in june and had 2 hours to pour over the secret sauce and condensed notes during lunch. i don't know what i would have done with those 2 hours otherwise.

just don't try to bring them into the testing room or accessing them during the exam or something stupid like that



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Friday, December 5, 2008 at 09:24AM by supersharpshooter.

Also

1) Don't bring a cellphone into the building. Leave it in the car or at home. You can live without it.

2) Make sure your ID of choice (driver's license, passport) is still valid. Back in June, there was a story on the forum about someone who wasn't allowed into the test center because his driver's license had expired.

Good advice. Let's hope non AFers encounter psychotic proctors. This post should be stickied.

yeah the proctors are really very strict about everything (rightfully so)

they even made me remove the cardboard sleeve from my eraser

I agree with all points Joey. If you don't know the information by test day, you are screwed anyway. My lunch was best spent eating and relaxing my mind, not studying.

Could somebody make JoeyDVivre's post a sticky one, just like Chad's? with the title in upper case, eventually? And leave all other comments in a separate thread or something?

with 10 hours of studying for the past 5 days, my back and neck have been hurting from leaning over too much. every 20 or 30 min i pick my head and look at the ceiling for like 2 seconds to stretch my back, then look immediately back down.

would you guys strongly urge against doing this on saturday? haha. i suppose its unnecessary, but my back and neck really do start to ache.

Raise your hand and politely ask to use the restroom or get a drink of water. In June some people just got up and left as they pleased and got scolded by the proctor upon return. No idea if an incident report was filled out.

is any water allwoed on desk?

no, there are water stations in designated places.

the show NY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> is any water allwoed on desk?


Nope. There will be the Culligan things in the exam room though.

the show NY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> is any water allwoed on desk?


Nope

this may help-- http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/resources/examdetails/policies/belongings.html

really? NO food or drink? not even a damn poland spring bottle?

This is from the form we have to agree to before printing our ticket. What are they talking about?

The Texas Instruments BAII Plus cover contains a keystroke card; the Hewlett Packard 12C has keystrokes printed on the back of the calculator. You may refer to these keystroke instructions during the exam.

Should I remove the boxes from my ear plugs?

the gloss card on the inside cover of the TI BAII...the card just shows you how to enter values into the calculator

I'm bringing my driver's license (which is the ID # I entered into the CFAI Website when registering), and my passport card just in case they want to decide they don't want to take the driver's license.

So if we we're inclined to bring a bag with say lunch, notes, papers, bottle of water/coffee, ect. there would be a holding room for us to store while taking the exam?

I'm not bringing my cell phone. All i'm bringing is my ticket, ID, pencils, eraser and calculator.

I'm scared i might lose my belongings if i leave it in the common area

rn118 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So if we we're inclined to bring a bag with say
> lunch, notes, papers, bottle of water/coffee, ect.
> there would be a holding room for us to store
> while taking the exam?


Yes, but apparently it won't be very secure. Best is to leave all that stuff in your car

I thought about that, but if it takes 15+ minutes to get from test room to car that's too long. I think I'll just pay someone at the front desk to keep my stuff.

yes, some proctors are definitely tough... they took away the elastic band that i used to tie pencils together... what are they afraid that i wrote formulas on the elastic band?

I will be using public transport and will be needing a cell phone after the exam is over. thats all i am going to have. Can i SHUT OFF my cell phone and keep it in my pocket ? other things is pencil, eraser and calculator. thats it.

Don't keep it on you. Turn it off and hand it to a proctor BEFORE the exam starts.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Friday, December 5, 2008 at 12:58PM by map1.

This whole handing the phone to the proctor before the exam starts - is that really ok?

I would feel much better doing that than leaving it unguarded in the coat room but I don't want to be accused of bringing prohibited items into the room.

Thoughts?

chasinggoats Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This whole handing the phone to the proctor before
> the exam starts - is that really ok?
>
> I would feel much better doing that than leaving
> it unguarded in the coat room but I don't want to
> be accused of bringing prohibited items into the
> room.
>
> Thoughts?


Do what you want. If it is off in your pocket, it is unlikely you'll be caught.

But why risk voiding your exam results due to your cell phone?

While everyone is saying the storage room is not secure, I'm going to have to disagree. While the CFAI/Proctors won't take responsibility for your things, they will have someone in a room checking in and out your stuff. While I went to the bathroom in June, I noticed a proctor sitting at the door of that room text messaging. Of course a chance exists that it will be lost/stolen, but I don't see it as likely.

No, keeping your cell phone on you is not ok.

Leave it at home or leave it in the check in area. If you're going to try to take it into the exam, then don't bother going at all. A PCP report on you isn't worth it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Friday, December 5, 2008 at 01:52PM by f2d.

Bump. Important or I wouldn't bump my own threads..

Bump.


Good read.