A Level 3 Candidate in my area was about to kill the proctor when she said, “We have a problem, your exam ticket is ripped.” The exam ticket had a tear that looked like it was stapled to something at one point. They took it to another table for inspection and the issue was resolved. The Candidate looked like he had steam coming out of his ears, he was ready to kick some a$s.
I took the test in NJ and when I checked in, I gave them my canadian passport, since CFAI recommends a passport as ID, and I am still a canadian citizen. The lady looks at it, has no idea where the dates are for expiry, so I point it out to her. The way it is written, it says March/Mars 11 as the expiry (Mars being french for march), so she looks at me and says “is this a joke, you have a passport from Mars”, which was funny, until I noticed she was serious. Then she says “I think it has to be a US document”. Rather than argue, I am already reaching for my greencard AND my NJ DL (nothing like redundancy) and before I can get my wallet out, the lady beside her says “Canadian passports are OK too”. So I guess it is good that CFAI recognized the sovereignty of Canada…and Mars…
I am still a little irritated that nobody laughed when I said “I guess you’re all here for ‘Level II’” when I noticed a line in the mensroom despite some urinals being free… Americas Hall in the NYC Hilton.
two people offered another level 2er 50 bucks to finish the exam when he said he was going to leave at lunch. he didnt accept and i only heard this happened from another person.
On my way from the parking lot, some guy asked me if we are allowed to use calculators (obviously a L1 candidate). When I said yes but only two kinds, he whipped out a simple 10 key calculator and asked if that would be ok.
IARdude Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > When I was in line to check in & get my seat, the > guy in front of me hands his passport to the > proctor. Then I hear her say, “this is > expired…oh wait ok, > you’re seat number 38.” must have had an extension a couple of pages in
SkipE99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > two people offered another level 2er 50 bucks to > finish the exam when he said he was going to leave > at lunch. he didnt accept and i only heard this > happened from another person. Haha, that just made my day! I would’ve taken the the offer, circle all A’s and make $50 for about 5 minutes of work.
In my city the CFA was considered an ‘Event,’ so we all had to pay the event parking fee of $10! Total ripoff.
yeah, i thought that was really taking one for the team on the offering. i would have never participated in anything like this myself, but found it admirable
Singapore had a Chinese Noodles/Rice shop selling "CFA meals " … some good Chicken chop and rice … there was a big queue outside BKing … felt bad for one guiy who finally managed to get his burger meal after standing for so long in the queue and then realised that the PM exam begins in 10 mins … SO he almost gobbled up the burger 
But all in all nothing very interesting …
anyone else torn between the “eating too much and getting tired/sleepy” versus, eating little to keep the metabolism going? others rely heavily on coffee or other uppers (cigs)
Guys, you have no idea of what happened. Around 700 people from all 3 levels were taking the exam in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Everyone on the same room. The afternoon session had just begun (around 10 minutes had passed) and BOOM, the lights went off and nobody could see anything. The proctors all screamed and insisted everyone was calm and nobody talked. Then they tried and opened some doors and windows to let some light get into the room. Some big problem had occured and the whole neighborhood was off. After around 40 minutes without lights except for the natural ones, the emergency lights came on and there was some visibility. There was a huge line for the washrooms and of course, everyone should keep their exams closed. After everyone get tired of waiting, they suggested the candidates to continue the test with the natural lights, and asked if anybody felt uncomfortable they would be accomodated where it was lighter. After 58 minutes, the exam was resumed. Around 30 seconds later, the lights came back and all efforts to reallocate everyone were useless. It was pretty funny, also because of the jokes people were making, although the exam got even more stressful and consuming. Well, not to say much, but perhaps all candidates from Brazil were at least a little negatively affected by that fact.
My exam was held at an english language academy, so they had english phrase posted onto the wall. The guy sitting next to me had a phrase saying “Fail your exams”.
My exam was held at an english language academy, so they had english phrase posted onto the wall. The guy sitting next to me had a phrase saying “Fail your exams” on the wall right next to him.
SkipE99 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > anyone else torn between the “eating too much and > getting tired/sleepy” versus, eating little to > keep the metabolism going? others rely heavily on > coffee or other uppers (cigs) I was torn between creating a “caffeine high to get me through” vs “caffeine diuretic needing continuous toilet break”… In the morning I had very little caffeine and was really sleepy. I had a coffee in the break and a double espresso right before the 2nd part and did much better. Although I think the morning was much more difficult anyway. I’m never really struggling with time so I think a toilet break isn’t a particularly bad idea - going forward always go for the caffeine option.
BiPolarBoyBoston Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > They should add a standard to the code of conduct > that Candidates not pee all over the conference > center’s toilets. > > Maybe this falls under “misconduct”. hahahahaha… i’ll sign that pledge
In Detroit someone pulled the fire alarms. No noise but the flashing lights were going off. This lasted for about a minute or two before they got them turned off.
Friday night I stayed at the King Edward in TO 'cause I live 1 hour away. I leave my room to get some change for tips etc. the concierge is there with elevator on special service and pages me another one. He gets impatient and I hear two french guys coming down the hall so the concierge says to me “going down?, just hop in” which I do and who gets in there 2 seconds later but a member of Canadian government aristocracy (and likely future Prime Minister some day) - Justin Trudeau. I thought I’d joke with him about being in the same elevator as Ben Mulroney but decided against it. Neat, eh?
on the bus after we left the area and into another area (2nd transfer), there was a girl beside me talking on the phone saying how CFA is a trap… She did it cause ppl said it was a challenge, and then she passed level 1. Then she felt empty and thought level 1 wasn’t so bad so lest try level 2. And then the next thing she knows, she wasted 6 mths of her life studying for level 2 without a real cause… Then i thought, how it also applied to me.
In NJ, I thought most male noticed a girl wearing a deep V where she sat next to all the way to the left close to the bathroom. I just wondered if she came for the exam or looked for a guy to hand out. She actually spotted me looking at her and starred at me. Another guy in front of my seat went to the bathroom 5 min. after the exam started and then went every 15 - 20 min. for both sessions. I wondered if he was too nervous or just checked his cheat sheet in bathroom.