Religious Alternate Date Testing Accommodations

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heshoos

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Hi,
wondering if any of you had availed this opportunity? and what ends up happening with when do you get to write the exam and will that also impact the time when your results are made available to you….. i think the wait is long enough for level 3 results.. adding more time to this will only drive me anxious and insane..
I’m considering to take advantage of this provision for myself, as a practicing Muslim next year my Level 3 exam will be during the month of Ramadan where i will be fasting for 16 hours + just thinking about writing the exam while fasting sends me jitters. I wonder if that qualifies as a reason to defer my test date next year.
I have already gone ahead and registered for the exam and i’,m committed to the CFA program and wish to get through it next year.
Any experiences with this.. much appreciated!
 
Looks like they just postpone it a day. Not sure that would help in your circumstance.
 
do you expect them to hold the exam at night.. so you can eat between sessions?
 
I believe there’s nothing in your religious doctrine that would prohibit you from writing the exam on the scheduled date, just that circumstances won’t be ideal for you due to a fast.
I think Sabbath observant Jews and Seventh Day Adventists would have legitimate reasons for delaying due to religious reasons.
Their religion prohibits writing an exam on a Saturday. Look at the Tel Aviv test centre which writes on Sunday instead.
My guess is you probably won’t get a deferral.
 
Yeah, looks i would be 1 week into the fasting month and 3 more weeks to go.. thanks for the input.
 
danv0330, eating is not my aim here during the exam.. but no drink and no food for 16 hours… can impact your mental ability to perform on an exam like CFA. Plus i will be running on 3 to 4 hours of sleep( if lucky) for the entire month given my religious duties and obligations during the month.
Jules,
I see your reasoning and you are probably right.. i might not qualify for one…
 
You can eat while it’s dark, can you not? I don’t understand the ‘16 hours’
 
yes can eat after sunset… the fast starts pre-dawn.. which means finish any eating before 4 am and break it after 9 pm
 
Yeah, I don’t think there is anything in your religious observance that prevents you from sitting, it just may prevent you from performing at your top level. I think the CFAI has to draw the line at this, because letting you wait another month is unfair to all the other takers (especially as this increases the possibility for info leakage).
If it gives you hope, I could not sleep before L2 last year. I ended up sleeping two hours total before arguably the hardest exam of the three. I was so out of it that I accidentally walked into the ladies room post-exam. I passed, rather easily it seems once I got my results. It’s not optimal, but if you learn the material well in the months leading up to Ramadan, you should be ok on a fast.
 
heshoos wrote:
yes can eat after sunset… the fast starts pre-dawn.. which means finish any eating before 4 am and break it after 9 pm
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Dude, this is easy. Doesn’t the exam start at 9 there? Eat at 3:45!
 
Honestly, I’m more supportive to your case than what they are doing in the aforementioned testing center.. Opens the door to a lot of mischief holding the same exam a day later for a large group of people.
 
I must say it does seem a little unfair that CFAI accommodate some religions but not others. But if I were you I wouldn’t be fasting in the lead up to or during the exam. Many high calibre individuals fail this exam every year operating at 100%. Personally it would be impossible for me to even pass level 1 while starving, dehydrated, and exhausted. I try and eat well, sleep well, exercise etc for months before an exam so that I’m in top shape physically and mentally. If you’re going to sit the exam, you have to give it 110%. If not, why put yourself through all that torture? Us level 3 candidates are still suffering now, 2 months after the exam!
 
CFAbeatmeup wrote:
heshoos wrote:
yes can eat after sunset… the fast starts pre-dawn.. which means finish any eating before 4 am and break it after 9 pm
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Dude, this is easy. Doesn’t the exam start at 9 there? Eat at 3:45!
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ya but during the course of the exam, you can’t even drink water as fasting prohibits intake of water as well.. you can imagine the brain drain it will cause…
But postponing by one year is not a solution as you will have fasting during exam time in 2018 too… 2019 may be the one where fasting may shift to May
 
I read Quran makes exemptions for people who are either sick or traveling.
Maybe take the exam in another city to qualify as a traveler and break fasting while you are there.
 
I had never heard that the Tel Aviv exam was on Sunday. That’s a slippery slope in my opinion as once you accommodate one religion you must accommodate them all.
I’m surprised CFAI is rather hardline on most of their policies so I’m surprised they accommodate any religions. Nevertheless, they should make some sort of concession for Ramadan is they’re going to make alternate arrangements for other religions.
 
Topperharley wrote:
I had never heard that the Tel Aviv exam was on Sunday. That’s a slippery slope in my opinion as once you accommodate one religion you must accommodate them all.
I’m surprised CFAI is rather hardline on most of their policies so I’m surprised they accommodate any religions. Nevertheless, they should make some sort of concession for Ramadan is they’re going to make alternate arrangements for other religions.
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I think religious accommodation is the law in many countries. People tie the Civil Rights Legislation to the treatment of African Americans, but it has just as much to do with religious freedom, especially so in the work place. Your question, then, is flawed. They probably do accommodate all religions. The standard is employers (and essentially everyone else) is to not force people to break their religious observances/activities and must *reasonably* accommodate the person’s observance of religion.
My thought is the CFAI meets this standard in this particular case: It’s not like the institute is forcing anybody to eat a bacon sandwich after the third item set. Additionally, postponing the exam for a month, when Ramadan is over, seems to meet the standard of an unreasonable accommodation (I’d say it would delay all results as well). That said, the OP may be able to get the test pushed earlier or later in the day to for his hunger. That seems fair to me.
 
In my religion, it’s oppressive to give me a failing score. So if I don’t pass, I believe my civil rights have been violated.
 
Topperharley wrote:
In my religion, it’s oppressive to give me a failing score. So if I don’t pass, I believe my civil rights have been violated.
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LOL!!
 
Topperharley wrote:
In my religion, it’s oppressive to give me a failing score. So if I don’t pass, I believe my civil rights have been violated.
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Nice!
 
jules18 wrote:
I believe there’s nothing in your religious doctrine that would prohibit you from writing the exam on the scheduled date, just that circumstances won’t be ideal for you due to a fast.
I think Sabbath observant Jews and Seventh Day Adventists would have legitimate reasons for delaying due to religious reasons.
Their religion prohibits writing an exam on a Saturday. Look at the Tel Aviv test centre which writes on Sunday instead.
My guess is you probably won’t get a deferral.
Click to expand...
+1
true
 
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