#F@©&!!!
totally agree with this. I think a big issue for many people are the fact that if you fail L2 or L3 you have to wait a full your to try again. Lots happen in a year…or two.
I think this is something that sets this designation apart. If you want it bad enough you need to be able to make sacrifices. If you fail, work harder and pass it the next time. I’m ok if they move level 1 to computer, but I think they should keep level 2 and 3 as is. My 2 cents.
I don’t care if the exams become computer/online based but I hope they’ll keep administering the exams just once a year. Having CFA exams quarterly would definitely lessen the respect the industry has for the Charterholders. In my opinion, achieving the Charter isn’t just about the knowledge and skills; it is also about having the right character. Getting kicked in the balls, waiting for another year and retaking the exam shows tenacity, which is just as valuable as mastering the concepts.
I took the PRMIA (risk management) years ago and it was computer based. There was a local career school where you could go and take PRMIA and a whole lot of other exams. The room I did it in had a handful of computers in it, but I was the only person in the room, and I think the receptionist was watching me on CCTV to make sure I didn’t cheat. With PRMIA, I was able to take it any day I wanted and if I’d failed (I passed) could have gone back fairly soon and taken it again and again and again.
The main CFA exam violations are what, writing after time, which a computer makes impossible, talking to others, and sneaking in notes. PRMIA didn’t allow you to bring a calculator, it was built into the exam in one corner of the screen.
The only “advantage” I can see for computer-based testing is the flexibility with respect to date, and no doubt it will let people take L1 multiple times a year. When L1 went to twice a year, part of the argument was that L1 was going to be used as a stand-alone regulatory exam in some countries. Not sure if that has ever happened, but last I checked which was long ago it hadn’t
Well, whatever prestige L1 had over, say, the Series will now be gone once they do this. Awesome.
If they do this for L2, that would be a pretty disrespectful move by the CFAI to anybody that has slaved over that exam.
They better up the difficulty if they do this. I’m kinda mad about it.
Anybody else with thoughts on this?
I’m okay with computer based given what I’ve just gone through with the CAIA. Not sure how this is exactly feasible given the number of test takers though. I would’ve thought there were about 1,000 candidates when I sat L1, and if a computer room has 30 PCs it would be a huge window for people to take the test.
It’s also harder as you keep switching from using a pen and calculator to work out the answer and then going back to the keyboard to punch it in. Disrupts your flow and I found that I went much slower than with a pencil and paper.
Also computer based testing would allow you to mix up the order of questions which should help reduce the level of cheating.
I agree.
*****. All these people saying “oh these testing centers are really strict, it’s really secure…”
Do you know how many different testing centers there are out there!!!
I took the CAIA exams on computers (how they are administered). The proctor looked at my ticket and my ID and told me what computer to sit at. I could have walked in there with a freggin textbook. He didn’t care. He was some 25 year old kid who sat in a room adjacent and was playing candy crush on his phone. There were also 10 other people taking 10 different exams in the same room. Some that were open book.
Some exam centers might be by the book, but you know there will be many, many that are not.
So yeah, thanks for cheapening the charter. Just hand them out like MBAs. This is such a terrible idea.