I see everyone discussing ballpoint vs. ink for the AM. Just don’t see how I could go with pen as the option given I am constantly flipping wording around and crossing certain things out here and there. Any reason in particular electing to go with the pen over pencil?
I prefer writing with a pen, so I wrote with a pen. You can use a pencil if you prefer.
Pencil is fine if that’s your thing. I tried it on a practice exam and had hand fatigue after a few questions. I’ll be using a nice smooth pen and crossing out where necessary (hopefully not much heh).
I have tried pencils out, both mechanical and regular. I just press down on them too hard and have to continuously sharpen them. Midway I start getting cramps and aches and pains and have to frequently stop what i’m doing to rest my hand. Did a mock with a pen, and I was able to go through the whole exam without breaking once. It allows me to focus, stay calm, etc. as oppose to franically running around trying to make up time etc. So you’re right its a compromise, but I value time management & comfort over being able to change my answers.
As an aside, I usually right what I think is correct in the margins of the question papers, think it over, ponder strike words and word choices, before inputting the answer into the template. This helps mitigates writing wrong things down and having to change my answer.
If I could write in a pencil fluidly through the exam I would, but ultimately I have to make a judgment call. I think I get more value-add out of a pen - but that’s just me. I bought an erasable pen too, so we’ll see how that goes.
Edit: My writing is also alot more legible with pen
I am considering using pencil as well. I’ve crossed out so many times using a pen and it looks like gibberish.
I’ll use pencil. It makes easier to change those circling options back and forth much easier. Plus, it is the 1st tool CFAI recommends for the exam anyway, you can’t go wrong with that.
Good point - I usually circle and then cross out each hedging decision once or twice before deciding on my final answer (which is usually wrong).
If you know what you’re doing the choice is trade off between conformability and tidiness. If you don’t know, neither choice would help you so much anyway.
brought a stack of pencils last year and did some erasing so glad I did. Not sure if it did me any good though since I failed. But anyhow, plan to use pencils again this year.
Sometimes you may be solving another problem and it may give you some clues about another problem or jigger your memory. It has happened to me even on multiple choice so having a pencil ready would allow me to change my answers quickly.
hb?
no erasable pen allowed?
You can use erasable pen. At least with pen I know nothing will happen to my answers until it gets to the grader. Not sure how much moving around our papers are exposed to until being graded but if theres enough rubbing of the pages some answers could get smudged. That’s my fear. I feel I have taken enough mocks and studied enough where I wont cross out much. Besides for most answers, even 3 pointers they give you an entire page. If you even use 1/8 of that then youll fail due to time. Pretty sure no answer should consume even a half a page except for the IPS return requirement calcs.