2 x blue pen 1 x black pen 1 x mechanical pencil 2 x manual pencil 1 x eraser 1 x spare calculator battery 4 x copies of ticket (just in case) 1 x watch 1 x passport/ID 1 x calculator (doh!) Other: - some flashcards to read during lunch - lunch Ok, what am I forgetting? Edit: darn, you were right! no calculator! Added now
Well, a calculator isn’t actually on your list. Why the blue and black pens?
earplugs (I had a band playing next door one year) sweater asprin (2 in the morning, 2 at lunch for me)
Cubemonkey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Well, a calculator isn’t actually on your list. > > > Why the blue and black pens? I’ll do the AM section in blue, but may use black if the mood strikes me
I used erasable pens, worked great and kept my paper neat. Take some Excedrin or Advil with you, you will probably need it after the AM session. Good luck. PS: I would also advise you leave the IPS questions to the end, those tend to eat up a lot of time and can make put you in a bad situation for the rest of the test. Manage your time wisely in the morning and target ideally having one hour for the Individual and Institutional IPS questions.
Aimee Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > earplugs (I had a band playing next door one > year) > sweater > asprin (2 in the morning, 2 at lunch for me) Did you write in Sydney last year? There was some sort of a concert going off just outside the venue.
Nah, this was in Miami for LI. Mo - I agree with not starting with IPS off the bat but I wouldn’t leave them for last, they are way too important for that. Personally I like to hit equity/GIPS/econ/perf eval first and then IPS… just don’t get yourself in trouble by skipping around too much!
Hahaha - Sydney last year… Salvation Army marching band right outside the door… pure gold.
interesting approach. IPS is a bear, agreed, which is why I take it on right away while I’m fresh. my worst nightmare would be running out of time with more IPS ?'s to answer. different strokes, I guess. good luck.
I always go from question 1 - last. Never had time problems. If necessary I could do the morning session in 1.5 hours… So I’ll do them one by one and expect to have plenty of time remaining I can focus on the questions I was clueless about (hopefully that won’t be too many).
Level I in atlanta typically has the SEC championship game @ georgia dome next door --> multiple marching bands.
me too, in addition, I would use pencil to answer questions, so that you can easily change when you get something wrong. BTW, is it allowed to use pencil to answer questions? Lurky Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I always go from question 1 - last. > > Never had time problems. If necessary I could do > the morning session in 1.5 hours… So I’ll do > them one by one and expect to have plenty of time > remaining I can focus on the questions I was > clueless about (hopefully that won’t be too many).
8 pens, 8 pencils, sharpner, 2 calculators. take no chances.
you need more than 1 sharpner and 2 lipstick as well bro
Aimee Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > asprin (2 in the morning, 2 at lunch for me) i do the same thing, chug them no matter what. didnt think anyone else was that crazy 
ndzhai Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > me too, > > in addition, I would use pencil to answer > questions, so that you can easily change when you > get something wrong. > > BTW, is it allowed to use pencil to answer > questions? > I havent come across any specification as to it cant be used - but seems like everyone here is saying one needs to use only a pen.
I wrote AM session last year in pencil. it doesn’t make a difference, whatever you’re more comfortable with. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw other L3’ers around me with pens. I asked a proctor and she said “I THINK it’s ok to use pencil.” didn’t exactly inspire any confidence. Thought I was still asleep and having a nightmare…but…unless it’s changed this year, pencil is ok.
I will assure you that proctors do not have more knowledge of CFAI exam rules than you do. Proctors are people that were hired just to administer the exam and were probably trained 2 weeks ago. (In my test city, the proctors were very friendly and even chatted with us before the exam began. Asked how many were retakers and we asked her a few questions too)
more related to the original post topic…are umbrellas allowed in the exam room? supposed to rain tomorrow in scenic Secaucus, NJ. I don’t think CFA website specifically mentions it. Although, strangely, they do mention you can’t have study notes with you during the exam…weird. (Sarcasm OFF.)
thanks cfafa. did use of pencil boost pass the exam? do we have a survey on this?