Is the grading fully automated for level 1 or do they verify it after being scanned? Someone said they grade it by hand afterwards: http://www.analystforum.com/phorums/read.php?11,1012420 I’m being a bit paranoid because one of the pencils I used had an unknown specification. It didn’t say HB and felt a bit lighter. I also didn’t fill in the bubbles very heavily.
A proctor at my test center said that they grade them all using the machines, and then they hand grade a sample (~5%?) to make sure there were no issues. I don’t know a whole lot about the specifics of those scantrons, but I highly doubt that there will be any issues with your test if you used the wrong type of pencil… I just quickly read an article about the machines and it said that most these days can tell the difference between a deliberate mark and a poorly erased bubble (or a smudge). It also said it can read pens just fine. I can’t say how accurate the article is, but I would be more worried about getting a high enough score to pass than the type of pencil you used. I just graduated college and I’ve probably taken over 100 tests on scantron and I’ve never had a problem (and I’ve never heard of anyone having a problem) and sometimes my eraser for the tests was BAD. cliffs: you could probably draw a tiny little “x” in the bubble and it would read it just fine. but don’t quote me on that
I remember on the CFAI website that if you feel that your mark is not calculated correctly, you can request them to verify it manually. It’ll cost you $100 though.