I took the test in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and was surprised how many candidates were chatting among themselves before the exam, sometimes even walking over to other sections of the hall to find acquaintances. The announcer had trouble convincing everybody to sit down and start the test. At some point she even specifically called on two girls “with the black shirts” to stop talking and sit down. We started at 9:05 am.
Not funny, but strange…A proctor approached me while I was seated and asked if I had an extra pencil for another candidate. WTF? Are they allowed to do that? I gave one up. Christmas in June. Call me Santa Jonzen.
@Jonzen - good move on your part. The guy in front of me had dropped his pencils on the way in and I lent him two of my six. Hopefully that brownie point will show up on my exam somewhere.
ATH – congrats on the birth of your son and crazy respect here for you still sitting for the exam!
I took the test in Hong Kong. Characteristic of HK, there was crowd but the crowd was something else - too many people as if we came for a soccer match. As I was checking in, a guy was asked to bring his Int’l passport when he presented his HK ID and I was surprised because the passport requirement takes effect from next year but I supposed he was allowed in as the guy that sat to my left had only a HK ID which he placed on his desk. Another incident that amazed me was that the guy that sat to my right was practically so free flipping through the booklet once in a while. Initially I thought, probably he finished very early and was just waiting for the final call, alas, he repeated the same thing in the afternoon paper. I suppose if one thinks he hasn’t put in enough for the exam, it really doesn’t make much sense to show up for the exam. Finally, something very positive - I thought I am a bit old (in my thirties) for this exam, but guess what - I saw a man who I think should be in his mid to late fifties. I was motivated! This is commendable. I wish him success. There is no end to learning as long as one breathes.
Nothing really funny happened, just a few stupid things because I was so nervous. I arrived at the test center at 7.05. The doors hadn’t even opened. Luckily it was sunny outside. I took the test in a really old convention center where they had those clocks on the ceiling with those black-and white cards that flip over to show the numbers - classical 70’s style. Sadly they hadn’t adjusted them since the 70’s either, so they only showed random numbers. I didn’t realize that, though. I was talking to somebody I knew before the morning exam. We hadn’t registered yet. He wanted to wait until shortly before 8.30h to register and go into the exam room. This was a small test center so registration only took 30 secs. I looked at the clock on the ceiling (one of those evil 70’s leftovers) and it showed 8.28h. I panicked, ran away from my friend in the middle of a sentence and sprinted to the bathroom. I almost tore my zipper. I sprinted back to the registration desk, panting heavily and was so glad when I stepped into the exam room. Once I was in there, I looked at the big clocks they had posted up front. They showed 8.05. I sepnt 25mins sharpening my pencils. Generelly, I think it was a nice experience taking the test at such a small test center (~ 200 people). If I have to repeat the exam in Dec., I’ll try to avoid the mega-centers.
packattack4 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Flux Capacitor Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > The proctor who was guarding the bathroom was > > telling me how he got his designation 8 years > ago > > and how much it had changed… I was like > oh > > yeah what do you do now he said he is a > musician > > since the market went down… He then > started > > telling me how it was a lot different than wnen > he > > took it here (ATL) and I knew he was lying bc > it > > was the first year at the GWCC… I was > also > > pretty sure he wasn’t a CFA b/c he didn’t > exactly > > fit the “demographic” if you catch what I’m > saying > > he was a little dark… > > > its been at the GWCC before… Yeah, I took L1 last June at the GWCC. No way that bathroom cop was a charterholder. I’m pretty sure in the Code it states that you must have at least 12 teeth to maintain your CFA membership.
One guy was asked to take his baseball cap off, although many people wore wigs. And for some reason I always find it hard to hold my laughter when everybody is tearing of the MCQ answer sheet from the booklet and you hear funny sound effects all over the hall.
1- I got tested in Kuwait test center, I could say that 75% were from India, that was a bit weird to me 2- During the break I saw people studying in their cars and reviewing the material! 3- There was this guy that refused to sit down after submitting his paper, the microphone guy kept asking him to but did not listen! Honestly I though that he’s peed on his seat or something lol 4- One of the girls kept asking me about calculating the yeild right before entering the exam room! I was like wth! don’t confuse me, and after the two sessions she kept nagging on one of the questions and insisted on knowing the calculation method! I couldn’t even remember the question! 5- One dude kept sneezing during the whole afternoon session, it was annoying coz he was sitting next to me, he was doing 3 or 4 sneezes in a raw each time! 6- they had food and drinks in the break room, but the room smelled really bad! so “some of us” had to drive to the nearest starbucks to get some coffee
I wonder if they have cameras in the test center, and have special guys in the back that look for cheaters, like they do in the casinos.
bhabib Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > although many people wore wigs. could you expand a bit on this statement?
I know they are very serious about cheating et al but this would be funny. True filmy style.
At the NYC location the sections were all titled with triple digit letters. The first section was “AAA”, then “BBB”, “CCC”, and so on. In the minutes before the exam, the head proctor (who was African-American) repeatedly used the microphone to ask that a missing proctor report to section “K-K-K”. “Mike Jones please report to section K-K-K…”. Someone finally reminded her of the implication, and so she switched and asked him to report to section “Triple - K”…
Pardon my ignorance but whatz with K-K-K?
If you want to become an analyst I suggest you do leg-work and research to find that out on your own…It really applies to US history so if you are not from the United States it probably should not ring a bell to you. Either way good luck finding out.
I did google it and found the information but was not sure if it is the same reference. Now you mentioned US history so I know what it meant. The proctor must have felt bad
BFS announcing orientation session for CFA on Saturday 24 July 2010 at 4 pm. Location:MUSTAFA HEAVEN, NEAR TOOSO RESTURANT, BHADURABAD CHOWRANGI, KARACHI. For registration please contact Ms. Rafia/ Mr. Khurram at 021-35468840 or 0323-300346 fe
“At the NYC location the sections were all titled with triple digit letters. The first section was “AAA”, then “BBB”, “CCC”, and so on. In the minutes before the exam, the head proctor (who was African-American) repeatedly used the microphone to ask that a missing proctor report to section “K-K-K”. “Mike Jones please report to section K-K-K…”. Someone finally reminded her of the implication, and so she switched and asked him to report to section “Triple - K”…” ______________ HAHAHHAHAHA YES! I completely forgot about this. The head proctor was funny enough as it was. There was some basic work she kept mispronouncing over and over when she was reading the instructions.
@ hasnain0099 Thats pretty cool. They offered the refund option. That day was intense raining and i was anticipating that many will miss the exam due to stucking in Water filled roads. Btw, U give L1? What do you do?
I took the exam in India once. Plenty of room for cheating. Everyone had their illegally printed Schweser notes out in full view. People didn’t turn in their sell phones and sure enough they went off during the exam. The proctor merely confiscated them for the rest of the test. We were in a classroom amongst perhaps 30 classrooms full of students. It would be absolutely simple to do so. If you want to cheat do it in India. I took it in Moscow this spring. On my way to the convention center I pulled over to assist a single car accident on the highway. The guy didn’t need assistance though as he was completely dead. Good way to start the day!