I wrote my AM answers in pencil for 3/4 of time. Is this OK? Will they grade my paper?
yes
A candidate in my room asked for a pen just before the exam started.(8:55a) dont think the procter gave him one…
and of course the procter didnt know if pencils were ok, but they assumed they were. Lots of people around me wrote in pencil so i’m sure you are fine.
I switched off between pencil and pen. If there were calcs, I used pencil. If it was circle and explain, I used pen.
I brought two pens with me just in case but already set my mind on writing a pencil and did. The guy next to me was the last person into the room, barely made it, and forgot his pen. I gave him mine. What if i fail and he passes? JK
on the exam instructions page when you were given your AM exam it said to use pen.
parmesan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A candidate in my room asked for a pen just before > the exam started.(8:55a) > dont think the procter gave him one… lol were u in the riverside ballroom? yea i mean who doesnt bring a pen to this. everyone had like 5 pens and this guy didnt even bring one.
i used a pencil throughout. i asked the proctor if that was ok, 2-3 of them conferred, came back to me and said, no problem, use a pencil if you like. i had 3 pens with me but just preferred pencil. seriously does it matter?
2 guys around me did not bring pen, and they were asking for pen. a procter asked if someone has extra pens and i had to let him use mine. but i think no difference.
For the last time, it doesn’t matter. They will grade it either way. This issue shows up every year and every year, people say you will fail if you don’t use pen. Ask Bambi if she failed using pencil? I believe she emailed CFAI directly and they said it was OK. Do you really think they won’t grade your exam if you don’t use pen?
Pencil is OK. confirmed with CFAI.
Using pencil is absolutely fine. Several Level 3 candidates passed in 2007 using pencil.
i asked the proctor and she said pencil is absolutely not allowed.
The proctor is not a CFAI representative so information provided by them should be taken with a grain of salt. One of my co-workers was told by a proctor that bringing in two CFA approved calculators was forbidden. Upon further discussion with fellow proctors it was decided that two calculators was in fact allowed. Back to the point, several posters have emailed the CFAI in the past regarding the usage of pencil. All received the same answer that pencil is absolutely fine.
Here is one place where the CFAI is clearly at fault. Pencil is ok, but they say it must be pen, so there is massive confusion. The proctors see “pen only” and then enforce that rule (why should we expect them to understand any better). Then people start saying, “but someone else said…,” or “he’s using pencil” or whatnot. CFAI can add two words - “or pencil” - and save everyone a lot of grief.
I emailed CFAI before the exam asking if pencil was ok, and they said no. They are not consistent with this.
chuck_norris_cfa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The proctor is not a CFAI representative so > information provided by them should be taken with > a grain of salt. One of my co-workers was told by > a proctor that bringing in two CFA approved > calculators was forbidden. Upon further discussion > with fellow proctors it was decided that two > calculators was in fact allowed. Back to the > point, several posters have emailed the CFAI in > the past regarding the usage of pencil. All > received the same answer that pencil is absolutely > fine. on of the senior proctors at my exam (you know the ones in red) asked me what the CFA stood for and what this exam was. do they have ANY training for these people?
How can you people prefer pencil? Are you in Grade 4? It’s clumsy to write with and not nearly as smooth as pen. And if you’re worried about neatness, it’s not as though they scan your answer sheet and post it on the website to mock your penmanship; if you make a mistake in pen, just draw a f@ckin’ line through it! GEEZ!!
I used pen only for the morning section - no matter what the calculations were. Where I made a mistake with the calcs, I just drew a box around it and crossed it out. I went to one of those Mock Exams seminars put on my Stalla and the instructor said pen was best because they basically rips your book apart depending on question to give it to the graders and he said that pencil might smudge as all the pages rub against each other. So I decided (psychology) to put my grader in a good mood to make the writing nice and clear.