As an upcoming level 1 test taker, I have been doing my due dilligence and research looking into all things CFA related. One thing that has struck me time and time again, is the incredible emphasis by the CFAI to shroud so much information in secrecy and not release many facts.
Does it strike anyone else that they go out of their way to hide information and keep things unknown? Stuff that would otherwise be harmless to know?
It doesnt really bother me too much. I am still excited and ready to start the exams and see just how well I can do on these bad boys.
I just find it interesting and think that there must be an underlying motive for them to be so hush-hush about stuff. Do they think perhaps that releasing all the information would cut down on the number of test takers, or perhaps increase it? Are they afraid that releasing all sorts of data and facts would diminish the prestige of the charter? Maybe Im the only one that has even noticed this or feels this way. What do you think?
never releasing any sort of information about the details regarding test results/pass rates. What percent of people pass all the exams, of the pass rates of each exam, how many are 1st timers vs retakers. What score was needed to pass, salary figures of charterholders…not allowing to discuss what was on an exam.
it just seems that they pride themselves on making many aspects of the whole thing unknown. Obviously they’re free to do as they please. I just thought it was interesting that they aren’t exactly upfront about a lot of things.
no need to get smart about it. Obviously they can do what they want to do. That’s not the question. The question is, why do they go out of their way to not be as upfront as they can?
I imagine that if somebody really cared and truly think they got screwed, they could sue CFAI and a lot would come out in the wash in the discovery process. But to date, nobody has ever sued them over their test scores, as far as I know.
I, for one, would not want to pay many tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees just for them to “prove” to me that I got below the MPS.
Yeah that would be really interesting. That’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about. Why can’t we receive a copy of our exam with those that we missed/got right? The goal is to learn, not to play some sort of little game.
Being smart about things is the charm of the forum. Hang around and you’ll learn to love it if you have thick skin.
A lot of crazies take this exam. Why give them ammunition? Another reason is probably to keep people from questioning their management too much, or it costs too much to compile that kind of data.
^speaking of crazy, when i took level II, this guy was sitting in my area and had a huge bottle of lotion on his desk…i had no idea what it was for but as the exam started, he would apply lotion all over his body every 10 minutes. it was the weirdest thing ever. i dont think lotion is allowed these days.
i dont know if he had some kind of medical condition or was just a crazie
They do release the pass rate for every exam. Providing the % of people who register for L1 and end up passing all 3 would require a long-term longitudinal study that would not be worth the time or effort. I agree the pass rate for 1st timers vs. retakers would be useful information, but it gets complicated again because you can have someone retaking the test for the 1st time or the 9th time. My guess on not disclosing the MPS is that they don’t want people to ascribe more or less value to someone passing in a particular year based on that year’s MPS. I don’t think CFAI asks for my salary information (could be wrong). Not discussing what’s on the exam is a no-brainer.
Providing the percent of people who register for L1 and end up passing all 3 would not require much of a study. All that would be required is compare the yearly number of new enrollees to the programs corelleated how many people end up passing level 3. wouldnt be hard at all. especially if they ballpark it and give an estimate. just say, “about 20%”, not 20.32343223%.
I dont understand why their software cant easily figure out if a person has registered for an exam or not before. It’s 2014. If they wanted to know the percent of 1st timers vs retakers, itd be easy to do.
True, but if they were worried about people ascribing more or less value to someone passing in a particular year, could someone not do the same thing with pass rates? ie someone that passed in a year with 50% could be less valued than someone who passed in a year with a pass rate of 25%.
Why is not discussing what’s on the exam a no brainer? CFA is the only exam ive ever taken that does not allow discussing of the test. What is harmed by someone talking to their friend about what he put for #8 two weeks after the exam is over?
^ The actual questions are the CFAI’s most valuable intellectual property. More than 60% of CFAI revenue comes from the exams. That’s why not allowing discussion of the exam is a no brainer.