Auto pilot during the exam

Our test centre had projectors displaying the time in digital format on a couple of massive screens at the front of the room, either side of the main doors.
Very handy for time checks, but I had a watch as well though.

i felt like i was in a daze after the exam, and the only thing going through my head was “did that really just happen.” also rather random, but the exam kind of reminded me of the hunger games where all of the people are lined up (in this case sat down) for the reaping with the one proctor reading instructions..

I took it in Brussels and they have an ikea clock strapped on the white board. It looks like something got fixed up after a huge accident with white banners everywhere. I was engrossed with the questions and only have time to have a few quick glances on my wristwatch. did not bother to look up or noticed a few people coming in and out for toilet break. no time for recheck too. 3 hours is not enough for the 300 hours we put in.

Yes, we were all in one single hall. Wow, I really shouldn’t press submit until I’ve proof read what I wrote, as that last post proves that my mind and fingers operate at different speeds and frequencies…

Yeah, I didn’t have a watch and the “countdown” from the proctors is a lagging indicator, so I got pressed for time at the end on both, no time to review.  😐    BRING A WATCH

I always felt that the exams passed really quickly and I don’t remember much of it at all. Adrenaline, I guess.

I don’t remember anything about the exam. Not one question!  All I remember is the fatigue! That’s about it. The exam day seems like it happened months ago, even though it’s just been a few days! 

There was a wall clock in my classroom and our proctors would give a countdown by writing it on the board. I had carried a wrist watch,  just to be safe. I generally run out of time on every single exam that I take. However, for this particular exam, I was able to mark answers to all questions! Didn’t get time for a recheck in the afternoon session though! 

Sounds like most of the testing centres were nowhere near as well spec’d or decked out as ABD. Seriously, we had about enough space for 212 seats (I calculated rows x columns) with a circa 75% fill rate and then the clocks were 20 feet high either side of the room. Multiple proctor registration tables within the room and a good 30 or so proctors actually in the room during the exam…

That said, I was well up on questions to time at the 1hour mark, then all of the a sudden I realized I was just passing question 72 at hour 2 (autopilot for an hour? or sleeping?) and had to do some catchup to then finish on 2hr48. I hope that catching up didn’t make me rush a fall into common traps laid out for us in the ornate wording used per question.

Incidentally, I kept losing 2 to 3% in mocks by failing to notice that after a period of “most likely” questions, a “least likely” or other contra-worded question would be thrown in, so took to underling the most likely or least likely slant of each and every question in the actual exam book…

Were you guys all put into one big hall? We had around 2400 people in the one test center which was a college so we were divided into around 30 and put into different classrooms. There were around 5 floors of classrooms all packed. We did have a clock at one end of the classroom but anyhow my watch was 1 minute faster than that clock which they were following. Luckily that 1 minute buffer gave me time to randomly fill 2 or 3 bubbles which I had missed in that last minute.

I had a major adrenaline rush at the start – I realised my exam ticket didn’t quite match my passport!! (The expiry date was one number out, I have no idea how I missed it.) The proctor disappeared with my passport at one point and I was convinced they were gonna kick me out. It all turned out fine, although I was in a daze for the entire exam. No idea how I’ve done as I have a total memory blank!

longest day of the life – day before cfa exam
shortest day of the life – day of the cfa exam