Exam Date question - 7th June

Hope everyone is doing fine. I still have few things to be taken care of and hopefully I can do that before the exams. I will appreciate if someone can answer the following logistics questions. 1) Is it necessary to be there before 1 hour. 2) Is it paper based or computer based. I’m assuming that the questions appears on PC and we have to shade our pick on the answer sheet. Right ? 3) We are advised to bring our own lunch but if they dont allow the bagpacks, then where can we keep them during Part 1? I dont have a car. 4) Do questions in part-2 tests same concepts or different concepts. I mean how much worth it is to revise (or better to relax) during the break Thanks, DD

i sat in the december exam so hopefully this can help you: 1. i’d recommend getting there at least 30 minutes prior. the 15-20 minutes before are spent registering, checking calculators and ID, going over rules/instructions, and bubbling in scantrons. 2. it’s a paper test. scantron. remember to fill in the bubbles correctly! the questions come to you in a little packet that’s taped up. you open it when they tell you to open it. 3. they’re not going to provide lunch. depending on where you exam is, there might be some places open. or you might have to walk out somewhere to eat. in houston, ours was at the convention center, which had a starbucks inside. there were also rooms where people left their backpacks, and proctors (i think they were extra proctors) were inside the rooms watching the bags. i assume people left their lunches in there. 4. part 2’s the same. the test is the same layout as the mocks/samples. they go from section to section in order of the curriculum. for what it’s worth, i reviewed notes during the break in case something that WASN’T in the first session might appear in the afternoon session. hope that helps.

Are we allowed to leave once we are done? For both morning and afternoon sessions? Or do we have to wait until everyone is done before we can leave. I’d like to maximize my study time in between if possible?

for the morning session, you can leave whenever you want. for the afternoon session, if you want to leave, you have to leave before 30 mins prior to end. if you finish during the last 30 minutes, you have to wait.

Thanks zizou. That really helps. How was Part-2 compared to Part-1. Do you think it more-or-less tested same/similar concepts as part-1 or different concepts that were not tested in Part-1. Thanks, DD

you’re welcome. i thought part 2 was easier, but then again, i failed. so take that with a grain of salt. obviously, it’s tougher though because you’re exhausted mentally and physically by the time part 2 comes around. as far as concepts, i really don’t remember… i wish i did, but a lot of it was a blur to me. honestly, by the time i went back to work on monday, i couldn’t even remember a lot of the questions. there were some things on part 2 that weren’t on part 1. can’t really say more than that though. sorry.

Zizou, as someone who actually took the exam in Dec 07, how would you say are Ethics/FSA sections. I have heard that the questions on real exams are more wordy and tricky compared to the CFAI sample/mock test. Is that true ? And what is your overall impression about the real test? Is the level of difficulty of actual questions compared to CFAI sample/mock. I am assuming that it is of the same difficulty. Thanks, DD