Some interesting trivia for June 2009… Top 15 Test Center Cities with Largest Number of June 2009 Candidates 1) New York–8,336 2) London–8,098 3) Hong Kong–7,746 4) Mumbai–7,586 5) Shanghai–6,217 6) Beijing–5,517 7) Toronto–5,467 8) Seoul–5,152 9) Singapore–4,845 10) Chicago–2,840 11) Boston–2,809 12) San Francisco–2,132 13) Taipei–1,994 14) Los Angeles–1,993 15) Sydney–1,769 http://www.cfainstitute.org/aboutus/press/release/09releases/20090512_01.html
Holy crap Toronto has 5467 people …damn that is gonna be a traffic nightmare getting out of there …
Rudeboi I am in Toronto too…
anybody know what the testing center in Jersey is like? i usually take exams in LA (which is like an aircraft hangar), but the 3rd i get to take in Secaucus.
What is with Chicago? I used to think it had a sizable financial presence but I am starting to reconsider that notion. The fact that there are more test takers in Toronto vs Chicago depresses me.
AFJunkie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What is with Chicago? I used to think it had a > sizable financial presence but I am starting to > reconsider that notion. The fact that there are > more test takers in Toronto vs Chicago depresses > me. We should get together after the exam.
Yes we should as that evening is all the break i get. I start preping for B-school on June 8th. There is a Stalla/CFA afterparty btw, free booze, you should register. http://www.cfachicago.org/postexam_reg.asp
Sounds great. I just signed up for the party. See you then.
WTF so many in india and half of those cities are in Asia.
No one wants to talk about it but white man’s days of dominence in finance are numbered
AFJunkie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What is with Chicago? I used to think it had a > sizable financial presence but I am starting to > reconsider that notion. The fact that there are > more test takers in Toronto vs Chicago depresses > me. The CFA exam has certain regulatory recognition that it does not have in the U.S. I used to work for a Canadian Bank and the charter is virtually required for all PMs up there (I think there is some sort of exam(s) that you can take to opt out, but that is rarely done).
AFJunkie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > No one wants to talk about it but white man’s days > of dominence in finance are numbered Oh, we talk about it, but we don’t necessarily respond correctly. Check out cities # 3 - # 6 in Asia - 27,000 candidates versus New York’s measly 8,300! So we add elective (or even mandatory) Mandarin to the primary school curriculum in some of our private schools / better school distrcits. HAH HAH!!! Cut out the Mandarin – obviously the people we’re 're really competing with are learning English anyway. How about trying to give these kids the extra two hours of math a week they’re going to need to compete. Otherwise, you might as well just train them to say “Would you like fries with that?” in Mandarin. All of that said, I’m still not that threatened. I’m old enough to remember the 80’s when everyone thought Wall Street would be owned and run as a franchise by the Japanese by 1999. Uh huh.
Rudeboi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Holy crap Toronto has 5467 people …damn that is > gonna be a traffic nightmare getting out of there > … My advice is to not park in the underground parking in Toronto. I wrote L1 there and it was a disaster. I did not help one bit that FC had a game that ended at pretty much the exact same time as the exam.
Not totally off topic…but… I know that here in HK some employers will effectively pay employees to take the exam (buy books, time off, a nice 5,000 (USD) bonus for passing) so it’s not so much that the candidates give a rat’s a$$ about the program, they’re just responding to the incentives. And the exam center in HK is at the Airport Expo (holla HK peeps) which is such a clusterfk. Oh I am dreading that this year SO much. I’d rather get a bad case of crabs again.
Advice for the Toronto peeps: DO NOT DRIVE THERE!! I lived within walking distance last year and the year before and it was crazy watching people still trying to get out at 7pm after I took a nap. Take a streetcar. There’s one that leaves from Union station and also one that leaves from Bathurst station that goes right into Exhibition place.
I wonder what happened to Europe.
What’s it like taking the exam in Singapore? I took Levels 1 & 2 in London and that was surreal!
Expat_CFA, I appeared for L2 at Singapore Expo. Its huge exam centre…you will have to walk at least 5 minutes to reach hall and also inside hall. I had brought my own tiffin as that was much convenient. But you can get food there if you manage to grab a seat. To my taste, exam hall was quite cold during exam due to air conditions. (I am from a hot country.) This time I am appearing at Excel London, how is it? any issues with reaching there, cold/hot conditions or food?
sanfrank, Sounds very much like Singapore Expo & London Excel centre experience will be similar. Transport links are pretty bad. I got a lift to the exam centre in the morning and then fought to get on the DLR after the exam. You can get food at the Excel centre but the queues are normally unbearable. I found the temperature OK but it can’t hurt to bring a jumper if you think you might be cold. Best of luck!
leafsrule Wrote: > My advice is to not park in the underground > parking in Toronto. I wrote L1 there and it was a > disaster. I did not help one bit that FC had a > game that ended at pretty much the exact same time > as the exam. I know i was one of the people stuck in the underground parking lot for over an hr after the exam . I dont live in the city so I would have to drive there , do you know of any other parking spots outside the CNE within walking distance ?