Usually I just use my normal wristwatch and place it on my exam table for each 3 hours session. This year, I used a digital watch too with a stop reset timer for the AM questions, so both to help with time mangement.
It was helpful to keep me from spending too much time on one question. Caved in and got one a week before the exam.
Anybody else used a digital stop/go counter? I had to manually de-beep mine.
I also used a digital watch. Have done so for all three levels, and I always find it helpful with time mangement. It is important to manually de-beep it (as you have done), this way youdon’t violate CFAI rules. I couldn’t find the right sized screw driver in my house, so I just took my watch to a small watch repair / shoeshine place and they ripped out the spring in the back.
Oddly enough, I typically don’t use the timer function. Instead I use the chronograph start/stop mode and watch the time go up to 3 hours. (Kind of like a European soccer game – time goes up instead of down). Not sure why I started doing this, but now it is what I am used to.
I did not use a wrist watch for L1 and L2 (which I both finished with 1.5-2 hours remaining) but used one in L3. I think having a watch was actually a disadvantage for me. I always looked at the watch whenever I finish a question. The 30-min interval announcements actually worked better for me than having a constant reminder of the exact time remaining.
I’ve always used a standard wrist watch, and reset the time to exactly 9:00:00 down the second as soon as they call “begin”. This allowed me to know exactly how many seconds I have left. really useful.
then afternoon session, I just do it again starting 12:00:00
Never used a watch for level I and II, but was glad to bring mine for the AM session. I was fine for the first few questions, then as I got to like 3-4 questions left and saw I had like an hour left, it kind of got me rolling better, and also helped me figure out it was best to skip something to finish two more whole questions and go back to the sub part I skipped with the last 5-7 minutes left.
Used one for all levels but for Level 3 AM it helped a lot for pacing. At the beginning of the exam I mark of the end of every hour’s worth of points so I know approximately where I need to be every 30&60 minutes.
I used one and also manually de-beeped it by removing the back cover and pulling out the spring.
During the AM exam I used the timer function for each question to see if I was going over/under time. I seemed a lot slower on the real exam than any of the practice ones, rarely did I finish a question with time to spare and only had about 5 minutes left at the end.
It was really heplful during practice tests to get a sense of my pace.
#SlightTangent
#ILikeToStopMicrowavesWith1SecondLeft
#BombDefusalExpert
#quiteEntertaining
Did you answer Level 3 AM in hashtag mode?
Never used watches for any levels. There was a big analog clock in the centres for all levels (except in level 2). I thought this was a standard across all CFA exam centres!!!
During the 4 exams I’ve taken in Seattle I’ve never been able to see a clock in the exam room. All they have a big sheet of paper that they write “2 hours left” or “15 minutes left” on.
Here in the UAE, we the locals don’t need watches. We’re in tune with nature. We are connected to earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars. We know where underground water is and we know who will get killed in Game of Thrones. We have strong instincts. Just like Indian Americans, the indigenous people of Australia, the Amazon, Tibet, and New Jersey. Exactly as the movies portray us.
For all the others, in Dubai’s test center, there were two huge ceiling mounted projectors projecting time on two large screens. Can’t get a clock big enough for the hall? Improvise
Best I’ve found are Timex sportwatches with a countdown timer-- set it to 3:00, push start, and you’re good. Really helped this time because the proctor erroneously said “1 min to go” when there were actually 2 mins left.
I have written in 3 centres in India and all the centres (except one centre) had huge clocks which everyone with decent eye sight can see. Then the CFAI staff used to write the “xxx hours left” stuff every 15 minutes.
Not just total session time itself, I thought more people would use timers for the AM section (21 mins, 18 mins, 12 mins per question) since it wasn’t straight 3 mins each where time management can make or break it. I didn’t time it for all the questions but most and it did help me allocate time to speed up and move on.
I have never seen a clock on the walls if they exist, heck the walls are so far away from you in all directions and so expansive, it was a light jog to get to one for water and a walk to get out of the exam room.
They do write 15 mins left and such which I think is standard. Each block of candidates had a sheet they could see. Huge Clocks is definitely not standardized across centers.
This room without all the volleyball stuff and just tables and chairs. We only use 1/3 of the space, you feel like a tiny speck in there.
http://www.coachhouser.com/NextRevolutionVball2013/BigSouth5.jpg
I’m curious to see what the other centers look like.
Chicago was at a giant convention center in the west suburbs, not sure sizing compared to the downtown location, but this map describes it best
http://i.imgur.com/YH6STNi.gif
Enter through hall D (Belongings area here)
Hall B was basically a pass through into hall A
I was in the back back right corner of Hall A as viewed from that picture, probably a 5 minute walk to get out of there in the PM session.
http://www.mccormickplace.com/floor-plans/west/west-level-3-specs.php
Much bigger than the skyline ballroom where previous summer exams were offered. But way smaller of a lobby common area.
didnt know the patek 89 could do that
Why do u call urself a local here?
