Failed due to where answers were written

To everyone who doesn’t know how a mistake like this could be made, I will concede that all of us who made this mistake should have been less focused on ripping open the exam and writing and more focused on listening to the proctors and reading directions.
However, there are very likely hundreds of people who did not have their exam graded because the format was so confusing. Think about that for a second. Any time there are that many people failing an exam for reasons other than how well they knew the material, the people who wrote the exam bear a great deal of responsibility.
 
Butterich
I failed this too but I think we made different mistakes. You wrote some answers under the questions. I wrote my answers only in the extra book without ticking the box. I think this is what the tick box is for. if you write answers under the questions they probably just assume that these are notes rather than answers.
 
Just a quick question, I wrote all my answers in the lined pages, but remembered there was a check box below in each page. I didn’t check any of them. What was that for? I know it’s too late, but would like to know. Thanks.
 
I see actually I marked my questions with a precice number each time just putting it below the question so there was no doubt this is my answer. I didnt right anything back further in the book because I used bullets answering it. I followed with the flow of the text and thought this is the exam structure like a template also for the questions without a box where u circle answers etc. I am actually very disappointed because this is something which could have been avoided by the test makers. Next time I am gonna read the instructions very clearly but this wont be another CFA Exam I guess.
 
RoastBeef Wrote:
——————————————————-
> Even if you didn’t flip
> through the entire test book to see the formatting
> and questions (which is a fundamental tip for test
> taking), the proctor clearly states that you have
> to answer the questions in the answer space
> provided, and anything not in the answer space
> would not be graded.
I absolutely agree. Come on, you stare at the instructions page at the back of your sealed exam book for about 5 minutes, and instructions are read aloud at the same time.
However, CFAI should have left this instructions page at the end of the essay question PDF they publish on their site, as they used to until 2006.
 
To those who don’t understand how someone could make this mistake, it is simple:
I had taken many mocks, all 3 they provide, and was conditioned to answering under the question because there were no lined pages. I was in error in not reading the directions closely enough, but under the exam pressure and with lack of sleep i misinterpreted the directions to mean that you check the box and use the lined pages if you need EXTRA room.
I think it is fairly easy to make this mistake under duress, and that is proven by the number of people who did. I spent countless time preparing for the content of the test, not some confusing format.
One thing that apparently everyone agrees on, whether or not you think this is a stupid mistake and we who made it are all suffering from some form of severe mental handicap, is that the institute is in the wrong for omitting these lined pages or instructions in the “copy” of prior exams. Even as Paraguay stated, prior years had the lined pages, so candidates were arguably better prepared for the format, which is unfair to current candidates.
 
Good point: lack of sleep is definitely bad. Now I understand better - not that I slept that well either the night before :-)
Prior years never had any lined pages, as far as I know. In 2006, they just included many blank pages stating “this page intentionally blank, any marks on this page will not be graded”. This is also the year they removed the last page with instructions from the PDF.
It would be very easy to publish a template in PDF format with a dummy question, an answer template and the lined pages, to familiarise candidates with the exam format. CFAI may not want to, who knows?
 
haha this talk about sleep reminds me of the night before the L2 exam where I was cuddled in bed watching a UFO documentary in a hotel in London…had fu^%ing nightmares and was so tired in the morning ..lol.
 
markCFAIL Wrote:
——————————————————-
> To those who don’t understand how someone could
> make this mistake, it is simple:
>
> I had taken many mocks, all 3 they provide, and
> was conditioned to answering under the question
> because there were no lined pages. I was in error
> in not reading the directions closely enough, but
> under the exam pressure and with lack of sleep i
> misinterpreted the directions to mean that you
> check the box and use the lined pages if you need
> EXTRA room.
>
> I think it is fairly easy to make this mistake
> under duress, and that is proven by the number of
> people who did. I spent countless time preparing
> for the content of the test, not some confusing
> format.
>
> One thing that apparently everyone agrees on,
> whether or not you think this is a stupid mistake
> and we who made it are all suffering from some
> form of severe mental handicap, is that the
> institute is in the wrong for omitting these lined
> pages or instructions in the “copy” of prior
> exams. Even as Paraguay stated, prior years had
> the lined pages, so candidates were arguably
> better prepared for the format, which is unfair to
> current candidates.
Sure there are legitimate excuses, but they are still excuses. The directions and format was clear, if you paid attention. The problem is if you fail to pay attention. It wasn’t intuitive. Unfortuantely for you, you failed to pay attention. That is of your doing, and not the CFAIs. The exam being formatted oddly is another issue altogether, and that is something the CFAI should fix. In a perfect world the format of the test should be obvious to anyone, but a candidate shouldn’t assume a perfect world. A candidate should definitely pay attention.
And I disagree with the premise that you should prepare for the format. No you don’t. I didn’t do a single mock. I didn’t find the format confusing at all. Because I read and listened to the directions.
When I was a young buck in elementary school there was an exam that in the directions simply stated that all you had to do was sign your name. If you answered questions, they were immediately wrong. Guess what? Many people actually took the test, including myself, and failed. I guess I learned my lesson.
And honestly I call MAJOR BS on the exam duress, pressure, sleep thing. You DOMINATED the portions that were graded. How can you do so great if you were wilting under pressure? The fact is you failed to read the directions and made a huge assumption that the mocks were the same as the exam (did you seriously not question the lined pages?).
I learned my lesson in a relatively meaningless 5th grade exam and you learned your lesson on L3.
In conclusion: the exam was confusing, but it is your responsibility to read the directions. If 99% of test takers fail to read the directions and screw up…that is not the issue of the test itself, but rather the test takers.
 
matthanuf06 Wrote:
——————————————————-
> markCFAIL Wrote:
> ————————————————–
> —–
> > To those who don’t understand how someone could
> > make this mistake, it is simple:
> >
> > I had taken many mocks, all 3 they provide, and
> > was conditioned to answering under the question
> > because there were no lined pages. I was in
> error
> > in not reading the directions closely enough,
> but
> > under the exam pressure and with lack of sleep
> i
> > misinterpreted the directions to mean that you
> > check the box and use the lined pages if you
> need
> > EXTRA room.
> >
> > I think it is fairly easy to make this mistake
> > under duress, and that is proven by the number
> of
> > people who did. I spent countless time
> preparing
> > for the content of the test, not some confusing
> > format.
> >
> > One thing that apparently everyone agrees on,
> > whether or not you think this is a stupid
> mistake
> > and we who made it are all suffering from some
> > form of severe mental handicap, is that the
> > institute is in the wrong for omitting these
> lined
> > pages or instructions in the “copy” of prior
> > exams. Even as Paraguay stated, prior years
> had
> > the lined pages, so candidates were arguably
> > better prepared for the format, which is unfair
> to
> > current candidates.
>
>
> Sure there are legitimate excuses, but they are
> still excuses. The directions and format was
> clear, if you paid attention. The problem is if
> you fail to pay attention. It wasn’t intuitive.
> Unfortuantely for you, you failed to pay
> attention. That is of your doing, and not the
> CFAIs. The exam being formatted oddly is another
> issue altogether, and that is something the CFAI
> should fix. In a perfect world the format of the
> test should be obvious to anyone, but a candidate
> shouldn’t assume a perfect world. A candidate
> should definitely pay attention.
>
> And I disagree with the premise that you should
> prepare for the format. No you don’t. I didn’t do
> a single mock. I didn’t find the format confusing
> at all. Because I read and listened to the
> directions.
>
> When I was a young buck in elementary school there
> was an exam that in the directions simply stated
> that all you had to do was sign your name. If you
> answered questions, they were immediately wrong.
> Guess what? Many people actually took the test,
> including myself, and failed. I guess I learned my
> lesson.
>
> And honestly I call MAJOR BS on the exam duress,
> pressure, sleep thing. You DOMINATED the portions
> that were graded. How can you do so great if you
> were wilting under pressure? The fact is you
> failed to read the directions and made a huge
> assumption that the mocks were the same as the
> exam (did you seriously not question the lined
> pages?).
>
> I learned my lesson in a relatively meaningless
> 5th grade exam and you learned your lesson on L3.
>
>
> In conclusion: the exam was confusing, but it is
> your responsibility to read the directions. If 99%
> of test takers fail to read the directions and
> screw up…that is not the issue of the test
> itself, but rather the test takers.
Amen
 
“If 99% of test takers fail to read the directions and screw up…that is not the issue of the test itself, but rather the test takers.”
Dude, you’ve got to be joking. Maybe in fifth grade they design tests to trick you so you know to read directions. But when its a professional exam that you pay a lot of money to take, and the format on exam day is different than any practice exam, there is something wrong going on. Professional exams are not designed to decieve the test taker, they are designed to test the knowledge of the test taker.
The CFAI has a responsibility to make sure format is not an issue.
 
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