I am in my senior year of undergraduate studies and set to graduate after next quarter (winter), with my last final being March 17, 2011. I took the Level I exam this past Saturday and am certain that I passed. I want to enroll for the Level II program as quickly as I can because I will have plenty of time to study. According to the institute, “If you initially enrolled/registered as a final year undergraduate student with a degree in progress, you must update your account education information prior to Level II registration.” My graduation date, which is March 2011 (after the winter quarter) cannot be awarded to me prior to March 17th,2011, however, the institute’s last registration day is March 16, 2011. When I click “register for exam” and I click the “update education” should I just click Bachelors Equivalent, instead of in process. Since the date would technically be March 2011 anyways? This is infuriating to say the least since I made my schedule such that I would be able to crank out Level II prior to beginning my job. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Does the institute ask you to either fax in or mail your degree completion? If so, I am assuming there is some kind of administrative lag, which would be sufficient enough for me to get my degree completion certificate (as I mentioned, also March 2011). Any thoughts? Thanks.
how do you “know” you passed?
Not exactly the answer I was looking for, but to defend that statement, I would say that of the 3 Elan Mock’s I’ve taken I never scored less than 80%, and I felt like the actual CFA exam was much easier than the Elan Mock’s and I would be shocked if I didnt score above 70% in all the sections.
i would call CFAI.
Hey Bruinbanker … Im in the same situation … but I am done school in on Dec 19th … Obviously my school is done … so I have just updated the graduation date to Jan 2011 … I am sure I can get a transcript from my school if needed to prove that I have graduated … that way I can sign up for level II in time … I feel cautiously optimistic that I passed as well and am gonna start preparations for level II in January … let me know if you hear anything else about this … I do not know what the process is for the institute when they are checking up on these kind of things … maybe someone can enlighten us … I will not be receiving my “official” Degree till some time later … maybe i should go and change the date to March 2011 as well … not sure …
Call the institute.
This is what i found on another forum … yeh i think we should give them a call … “Haha confirm undergraduate in last year cannot sign up for CFA L2. I tried to give CFA a school letter but CFA require official letter stating that you completed your university study.”
Only if you were the real Bruin from UCLA
call you jabroni
There must be some administrative lag though, for example March 16, 2011 is the last day to sign up for Level II, so change education update from in progress to Bachelor’s in March 2011, that is not a lie since my degree will say March 2011. The only issue is, getting the proper proof for verification. Once I get through my finals, March 17, it should take about 5 or so days to get my grades, upon which UCLA can clear me (meaning I finished my graduation requirements), they would be able to offer me proper paper work stating I completed my degree.I am sure there is at least a 1 to 2 week lag between when the CFA institute receives level II candidates information and the time they call them to inform them that they need the verification proof.
I think you may be out of luck for registering for the June exam this year. It says “If you initially enroll/register as a final year undergraduate student with a degree in progress, you may not register for the Level II exam until you have earned your degree, or obtained work experience that meets the program’s entrance requirements.” In order to write the June exam you need to register by March 16, but you are not able to register until you have earned your degree. If your final exam is March 17, then obviously you will not have earned your degree by March 16. Also, once writing your final exam your degree is not earned. The exams need to be marked, and all of your information needs to be processed by your school. You should, of course, call CFAI to confirm.
Do they really verify every candidate’s educational background? I can’t imagine that a university would give out academic information without the written consent from the student. Not that I’m suggesting you lie on level 2 exam registration…
bay.street Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If > your final exam is March 17, then obviously you > will not have earned your degree by March 16. > If this is right, then you can’t officially register without lying to CFAI
and Ive got my eye on the BruinBanker trying to sidestep the law of the CFAI
JonnyDee Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Do they really verify every candidate’s > educational background? I can’t imagine that a > university would give out academic information > without the written consent from the student. Not > that I’m suggesting you lie on level 2 exam > registration… I believe they can request a verification report from the school. I’m not sure about your school, but for University of Toronto anyone can request verification simply by going to this link https://degreeconfirmation.utoronto.ca/degree/online There is an instant response and a $15 fee for U of T. “The verification function relies on the fact that, under the Ontario Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, confirmation of a degree, diploma or certificate is public information. This is the only information we can release without a student or graduate’s explicit consent. Other information, including confirmation of enrolment or a student’s academic history (i.e. majors, minors, grades, courses taken, academic standing), cannot be released to a third party. The academic history, including major and minor fields of study, may only be obtained from an official transcript, which must be ordered by the student.”
I wouldn’t risk it, Violations = serious business Just call and ask them
BruinBanker I am in the same situation as you, except my last exam is sometime in late April. Also it takes time for the school to verify your degree. I had the exact same discussion with the program head at my school (who is a CFA charter holder) and really there is not much we can do. the only possible alternative I can see is that the CFAI extends their deadline and your school marks your exams asap so that maybe you can squeeze in. However this puts pretty much everyone else at a disadvantage so I strongly doubt that would happen. even after you write your finals and they are marked the registrar still has to perform the due diligence to verify you’ve met all course requirements. it does take time. I believe CFAI does check because my advisor did tell me about the possibility of written letters from the school confirming degree requirements have been met (before everything is official), but even those weren’t being allowed.
that doesn’t give you a whole lot of time to study for L2 - looks like you’ll be taking it in 2012 anyway