Level I of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam will be administered next weekend. Test-takers were probably spent their Thanksgiving holiday studying.
The CFA curriculum, which consists of three levels, is considered to be the most difficult tests on Wall Street with fewer than 20 percent of candidates passing all three on the first try.
The average test-taker also spends a solid five to six months preparing for the CFA.
And every test-taker hopes things go smoothly and according to plan on exam day. But we've heard some crazy horror stories ranging from bathroom disasters to concentration-breaking distractions.
We've included them here. Make sure this doesn't happen to you.
CFA test-takers witnessed a girl get locked out of the exam room after the lunch break.
"Between the morning and afternoon sections of the CFA exam, there's a two hour break. The proctors always warn you to get back to the exam room like 10-15 minutes before the break ends because they start reading instructions for the next part of the exam right when the 2 hours is up.
In the room where I was writing Level 2, the entrance into the test center was in the front of the room, and all the test takers sit facing the entrance. There were about 300 of us.
Just before the 2 hour mark (or maybe it was right at the 2-hour mark), the proctor started reading the instructions over the loudspeakers, but the doors to the entrance were still open.
Then, one girl walks through the door in mid-instruction. She was probably right on time, but late by CFA test standards.
The proctor stops reading, and tells the girl over the loud speaker: "I'm sorry, you have to go back through the doors." The girl stepped back, then the proctor said on the loud speaker "Can someone close that door?"
Everyone watched as the door closed on the girl, who just had this blank stare on her face. You could feel the collective gasp in the room as what just happened weighed down on everyone.
That girl never came back into the room, and wasn't able to take the second part of the exam. Six months of studying and preparation for nothing.
I feel bad for saying this, but it was a distraction feeling pity for the poor girl."
A test-taker couldn't take the exam because his driver's license just expired.
From Analyst Forum:
I saw him in the distance sitting on one of those portable heaters with his hands in his face, he was clearly upset. I called out to him, and when he moved his hands away from his face, i saw his red and puffy eyes, like he was crying. I thought to myself “alright, he thought it was hard too, so i must have did alight”. I said “don't worry man, I talked to like 6 people in the room after the exam and they all said they did horrible, don't be so upset man, the afternoon wont be as bad”.
I said: "Don't worry man, I talked to like 6 people in the room after the exam and they all said they did horrible, don't be so upset man, the afternoon won't be as bad".
He said: "I didn't write it, bro."
I said: "What the f*** are you talking about??"
He said: "My license expired on May 30th!"
They wouldn't let him write because his license was expired. Can you FREAKIN' believe that?! One week expired, and it wasted about a year of his life and 1 month vacation time."
They wouldn't let him write because his license was expired. Can you FREAKIN' believe that?! One week expired, and it wasted about a year of his life and 1 month vacation time."
A test-taker sat by another guy with a penchant for drumming.
Daniel Goodman / Business Insider
From Analyst Forum:
"This year I sat next to a very talented percussionist. Every 90 seconds, his layered nervous tapping would crescendo as he ruthlessly beat the answer out of his calculator in a solo that would make a metal drummer proud. With the invigilators roaming, I couldn’t express my appreciation with a look or a hushed whisper. So I grabbed the right half of the two person folding table we were sitting at, pushed the middle with my left arm, pulled with the end with my right jerking the table right out from under little drummer boy. I didn’t change my expression or even stop answering questions. He jerked the table back, clearly eager to resume his interrupted concert. A half-measure in, I threw his end of the table out from under him again. After 3 encores, he got the hint."
Two proctors talked through the afternoon session of the exam.
From Analyst Forum:
When I wrote Level I at the Javits Center, two of the proctors stood right in front of my desk (I was front row) and chatted through the afternoon session of the exam.
If X-Acto knives were allowed in the CFA exam, I would’ve stabbed them both to death.
A CFA test-taker forgot his calculator and no one wanted to share their back ups.
"The CFA Institute allows you to bring two calculators in case one calculator's battery dies. In the section I was in, one guy forgot his calculator.
He was sweating, his face turned purple and it looked like he was about to cry.
And everyone else in the room was pretending they couldn't hear what was going on, even though they knew exactly how the guy felt. But at the same time, nobody wanted to risk losing another year on their CFA progress. Nobody wanted to give the guy their second calculator because everyone's thinking "If my calculator dies and I fail, then I have to wait a year to take the test again."
A test-taker showed up at the wrong location.
From Analyst Forum:
Showed up at Javits last year with one of my study buddies:
Me: I’m in section JJJ. What about you?
Him: I’m in A5.
Me: I don’t think it works that way. They’re all three letters, right? Let me see your ticket…Yeah, OK, you’re not taking the exam here.
Him: What?
Me: Yeah, dude, you’re up in midtown at the Hilton.
Him: How can that…how did I..
Me: Stop floundering, get outside and get in a cab right now, idiot. Go. GO! [shoves him towards door].
Him: Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-
So yeah, that was fun.
One CFA test-taker made the whole room smell like Burger King.
From Analyst Forum:
"After the morning session we seemed to have access to the testing room and could just wander back in after the break. When I entered the testing room one guy is sitting at his desk EATING BURGER KING!!! The testing room smelt like his lunch??????"
A test-taker cut his hand changing the batteries in his calculator.
From Analyst Forum:
My buddy had to change batteries during the exam. He thought he was covered since he brought his screwdriver. He said during the exam he cut his hand pretty bad when his hand slipped. Had to write his first half of his Level I with blood all over his desk.
A bunch of test-takers got screwed out of a little cram study session during the two hour break when hotel staff decided to throw all their backpacks in a massive pile.
"The test site was at a hotel in Midtown New York a couple years back.
Everybody brings their notes to the CFA exam in hopes of cramming during the two-hour break in the middle of the exam.
The institute doesn't allow you to bring bags into the exam room, so everybody assumes there's a bag check of some sort. But there wasn't one at this hotel so everybody left their bags outside in the hallway.
Apparently the bags were a fire hazard, so during the first part of the exam the hotel staff essentially bulldozed all the backpacks into an empty ballroom. There were hundreds and hundreds of backpacks in huge mounds in no organized fashion. It was f---ing chaos. No one could find their bag, and people were furious."
A test-taker was in a fix after eating breakfast that upset his stomach.
Wikimedia
From Analyst Forum:
Bad past experiences at Level 1: I went to a bagel shop in the morning for breakfast. I thought if I had a good breakfast, it would hold me through the morning. It was a bad idea. I had to go to the bathroom so bad in the morning session and was so far away from the bathroom. It took a good minutes and killed me on the test.
I know someone that went to a fast food restaurant for lunch during the level 1 exam since it was the only thing near the test site. Apparently it was not the most sanitary fast food restaurant in town. Needless to say, he didn’t even come back for the afternoon session.
My advice….pack your own lunch, make your own breakfast and eat only things that really agree with you. You don’t need to have those problems on exam day. Also don’t drink too much coffee or tea or anything else for same problems noted above.
Test-takers witnessed one of their own drop his calculator in the urinal. He retrieved it and used it for exam.
From a Business Insider tipster:
"The afternoon session is about to start, so folks make their last minute run to the bathroom. I’m in the bathroom and a fellow Level I candidate steps up to use the facilities (the urinals go all the way to the floor). Candidates are carrying the various test-day items (calculator, passport, exam registration, etc.), and this particular guy didn’t seem to have any pockets. So with hands full, he decides to put his belongings on the counter near the sink. Not more than five seconds later, I hear all of his things drop to the floor. The worst part: his calculator hits the floor, the case shoots underneath the sink…and the calculator flies right into a urinal. The look on his face was priceless. All of us stare at the ill-fated calculator, then stare back at the poor guy, who says what each of us were thinking – “I gotta have it. I can’t not have it”. The poor guy uses some paper towels, grabs the calculator, rinses it quickly in the sink (but not too long for fear of ruining the batteries), and hurries out to the exam room.
"As I look back at this funny incident, I can’t help but think two things: (a) I would have done the same thing. The calculator is your lifeblood for this test. (b) The guy never did use the bathroom. That had to be a tough (and gross) afternoon session."
A test-taker was in the Holland tunnel headed to New Jersey and realized he was supposed to take the test in Long Island.
Wikipedia
From a BI commenter named Cameron:
"I took a company car with a fellow employee to New Jersey for level 1. He was taking the test at the Continental Arena. Midway through the Holland tunnel, I realized I was taking mine at the Nassau Coliseum. Cabbie dumped me off in Weehawken. Somehow, I called a cab service, he booked it to Long Island, and got me there just in time before doors closed. Heart attack city. I passed, I don't how, because I was shaking for the first hour of the test."
One guy was so preoccupied by the CFA that he opened his car door into oncoming traffic and nearly had it ripped off.
From a Business Insider tipster:
"The night before my Level III exam I went out for dinner. I was so preoccupied with the exam, I opened my car door into a car coming up behind me. It nearly ripped the driver side door off. Then it wouldn't close all the way. Instead of dealing with it, I drove it back to the hotel with my arm out the window barely holding the door semi shut. I parked it/wedged it driver side door against a street light in the hotel so no one could get in it and crawled out the other side and locked the car. Obviously it was NOT a good night’s sleep before the exam!
A test-taker answered his cell phone in the middle of the test and still didn't get kicked out.
From Analyst Forum:
"A mobile phone rang during the afternoon session down in the Level 1 section. The guy actually answered and told the caller he was in an exam and couldn’t talk …… WTF!!! The proctor took the phone and placed it at the front of the room - did not seem to take any other action. THEN IT RANG AGAIN ABOUT 1 HOUR LATER at which point the proctor turned it off."
Some test-takers have complained that the Excel Centre in London test site is near the airport so they can hear the airplanes overhead.
I noticed the drilling and the Aeroplane’s flying over as well. Not to mention the guy with the tap-dancing shoes running to the toilet and back.. twice
Some test-takers were wearing high heel shoes that echoed throughout the exam room.
AP
My favourite parts were when people with high heel walked up to get some water or go the bathroom. Concentrating during the exam, my brain did block out some of the minor sounds but the high heel sound got into my head and I picked it up whenever someone walked past and it would last a good 30 to 60 seconds, both ways.
I know it’s a bit silly but high heals should be discouraged in the exams. And if you do have to wear them and walk about during exams, please do so as a duo. Also both (you and your friend) will have to gallop across the exam hall to give the illusion that a horse is running through the exam hall. That way it will not only be distracting but amusing too.
In 2004, a test-taker claimed that another guy had diarrhea in the sink.
Youtube
From Analyst Forum:
I am waiting for the bathroom in this massive line about 10 minutes before the start of the exam. There is this guy panicked out of his mind in line ahead of me who I noticed for the previous half hour had been rocking back and forth in the corner of the lobby murmuring his notes back to himself from memory…a real whack job.
Anyway, As I am standing in line with this guy in front of me he starts to sweat profusely and I can literally hear this guys stomach rumbling…this is where he really freaks out. He starts pounding on the stall doors ( there were only 2) and, of course, no one is coming out so this a-- clown drops his pants, hops up on the sink, and blows s--- all over the sink! The most disgusting thing was the back spray all over this guy! He was COVERED in his own s---. I am laughing my a-- off but this guy didnt miss a beat, he rinses off his pants, throws his shirt in the trash and walks into the test wearing only his windbreaker and wet pants.
Another guy claimed that he squirted lemon in his eye and stumbled into the bathroom and used the soiled sink.
I’[m] squirting lemon in my iced tea (for a little caffeine pick me up) right before I walk in to the exam center. Some of it squirts the wrong way, gets me in right in the eyes and I literally, can’t see a thing. I ask someone to help me get to the bathroom so I can rinse my eyes. I feel around for the sink, run the water and immerse my face in the sink, and to my horror, it’s full of s---! I scramble to find a paper towel and the bin’s empty! At this point I go rummaging through the garbage in sheer hysterics to find anything to wipe my face, and to my relief I find a discarded shirt. I wipe my face as quickly as possible w/ the shirt, only to find I’m caking on more s---, and now I can’t see again. I was totally confused until Cooper’s post put the pieces together for me. BTW I think I did ok in the morning session, afternoon was a little tough.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/cfa-horror-stories-2013-5#ixzz2mJgkVosL
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