I love the CFA institute for their strictness in test taking.
In my university there were so many f**kin obvious cheaters in my classes it made me sik.
I did not snitch out on them, but they definently did not deserve to pass the classes.
Really sucks when the class is graded on a curve.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
Could someone explain to me how does the CFAI know/determine that someone copied from a neighbour or just both marked the same wrong answer.
After all there are only 2 wrong answers for each question it’s not such a remote probability to choose the same. Especially if someone has studied it is relatively easy to rule out one of the answers as wrong, and then from the other wrong and the correct one it’s usually a question of mis calculating or making a silly misktake (overlook) to mark the wrong answer.
Besides the fact that cheating is unethical, stupid and almost impossible technically (you need to have eagle eye or an eye on the side of your head) I think it’s VERY EASY to come out with the same wrong answer as someone else.
Am I the only person who doesn’t understand this???
They look at more than one question. Are there a bunch of consecutive questions that have the same answer as your neighbor (right and wrong)? Then you could ask, who copied whom?
Yes, who copied whom is another thing I’ve got no clue how they figure out.
And sure they look at a good amount of questions to be missed in the exact same way, but when I study and I have a question (I don’t understand how I should have come to the right answer) and I ask my study buddy he usually answers “yes, I had the same problem understanding” “yes I made the same silly mistakes” etc. so I guess a lot of people go through the same “evolution” during learning and might easily be at the same stage of committing similar mistakes.
Honestly all this would not be an issue it the people were seated at larger distance from each other. I would be happy to pay a bit higher fees so that CFAI can rent bigger exam rooms.
Sitting farther would have the benefit of being able to concentrate better on the exam. The guy who sat next to me was so feverishly writing and ereasing that our whole table was shaking. I kept on marking outside the bubble when he was in action. Thought I was gonna kill him during lunch break…
Everyone seems to be under the assumption that they read someone else’s paper, but that’s not neccessarily true. Very easily could of been caught bringing in papers/notes or a cell phone or any other numerous things that would increase your chances at passing. The world may never know, despite my kind inquiry as to how and why!
That is going to be hard because for them cheating is a big offense and if you’re banned you’re banned.To be honest I failed once on exam but then I added more time to study and luckily I passed the exam and now I am an accountant in http://www.tilikanava.com/ and this achievement for me was worth it .Hope that they can give you second chance because everyone really needs a second change especially if you have a potential to pass the exam without cheating.
i have no idea how they would detect cheating after the exam is submitted.
First of all, even if two people have identical answers that doesn’t automatically mean they are cheating, two candidates in 2 different location writing at the same time can potentially have the same answers.
Second, let’s say they tested the statistics and it deems to be “impossible” to have 2 identical answers, are they going to punish BOTH of them? one could be completely in the dark with someone behind him/her copying the answers without knowing. Are they going to ban an innocent person permanently?
Third, in order to prove that they are cheating based on the answer sheet, they will have to look at every single paper in the world with the same answers, because that’s the only determination of cheating in this case.
^ On the second point, like I said in the other cheating thread, you have an obligation to protect your answers. If someone copies off you, you’re in trouble. How would they ever know you didn’t intentionally let the cheater copy?
COVER UP YOUR ANSWERS!
I am surprised the proctor did not say something like “Killing another candidate is a violation of the CFA code”
Isn’t it a bit strange to put the burden on the candidates rather than making sure that the exam place is safe ?
I’m sure they take into account proximity of test takers, which is why they keep record of your exam location/seat. To determine who the cheater was (assuming they have irrefutable statistical evidence), they probably compare performance in other areas. However, if somehow the 2 answer sheets were identical and the 2 people were sitting near each other, I’m not sure what they could do.
It’s probably unlikely they would take any action unless the solutions are stupidly the same. Imagine if 50% of the errors are the same or more, then it would be hard to argue that there was no collusion.
Following your logic, each candidate should be in an isolated sound proof room. The exam place is safe if people use reasonable diligence in protecting their answers.
I mean with technology these days, if they are cheaters, they can easily slip a video recording pen into the exam room and share answers remotely.
so they are assuming there is only ONE way of cheating when two people have identical answers?
Why didn’t you just call the proctor over, tell him the guy beside you is disturbing you with his shaking, cite your right to a fair examination environment, and ask them to convey the message to the guy beside you.
^ That would be too much work for a procter.
Oh I didn’t know there is such a thing that “right to the fair examination environment” :-))
I did however add a coment on the CFAI Feedback Questionnaire about the uncomfortable exam environment. I wrote sth like “I understand if this is intentional to create an even more stressful environment but I wasn’t prepared for that”
Since then I’m trying to do practice questions in crowded and noisy places to get that kind of practice.
Honestly they just should seat candidates at more distance and this would solve the cheating problem too.
[quote=“BlueTrin”]
I am surprised the proctor did not say something like “Killing another candidate is a violation of the CFA code”
Yes exactly, this is what kept my killer instincts in control - not to violate the code.
The Toronto ones seem to have a fair bit of common sense and quite supportive - and had some cuties too. I skipped my revisions just to watch one walk down the aisle. No PCP for me 
The only females at mine were bitter and menopausal.