I’ve been practicing in pen, because that’s all I ever write in and it’s simply superior to the pencil, but I’m worried about scratching out answers and getting graded for those. Any of you all have hard hitting advice to convince me to pick pen or pencil for the AM Session?
Mechanical pencil with HB leads. Nothing beats that.
Both works and CFAI has no preferences. Graders will check answer sheet either way.
If your intention is to erase answers and submit neat answers, then unfortunately there are no additional points for cleaner sheets. Moreover erasing answers takes more time and shakes the desk that disturbs your neighbor (I had gone through this pain).
So use pen or pencil but do not use eraser too much!!
I had used pen.
I’m gonna use a pencil for circling and pen for writing. Good ol hybrid method. Pros: Easy to implement. Cons: Additional transaction cost at CVS
The artificial answer: whichever you prefer.
Just curious, a HB pencil is considerably lighter in shade than 2B pencils. Why would some of you all prefer HB over 2B? Wouldn’t it risk the machine not being able to read the OAS?
Can we use hybrid ?
Whichever you prefer to use, when you write/calculate something incorrectly, cross it out. Never erase. Takes too much time and it could erase through the next page…
^ Yes, can we? Also can we use multiple pens? Each hurts my fingers in a different way so I usually change them every 30 minutes or so. But they obviously write differently. Hope it’s not against the regulations.
If you’re hardcore enough, you do the PM with a pen.
Let CFA Institute know that you’re serious: do it in blood.
With a red one because that’ll look nicer on that answer sheet.
I always write with a mechanical pencil. No need to worry about sharpening, but the clicking can get…annoying.
Yes, I am that guy_…_
Broken record time: get rid of the thin-bodied ballpoint pen!!! 
Go with a wide-bodied gel ink or rollerball pen. Foam pencil grip so you don’t put the death squeeze on it.