All three levels of the dreaded Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam will be administered on June 7.
That means those test-takers will probably be spending their Memorial Day weekend doing some last-minute cramming.
The CFA curriculum, which consists of three levels, is considered to be the hardest test on Wall Street. To put it in perspective, fewer than 20% of candidates pass all three on the first try.
The average test-taker also spends a solid five to six months preparing for the CFA.
And every test-taker hopes things go smoothly and according to plan on exam day. But we've heard some crazy horror stories ranging from bathroom disasters to concentration-breaking distractions.
We've included them here. Make sure this doesn't happen to you.
Also, if you have a CFA horror story to share, feel free to email jlaroche@businessinsider.com. We'll keep you anonymous.
CFA test-takers witnessed a girl get locked out of the exam room after the lunch break.
"Between the morning and afternoon sections of the CFA exam, there's a two hour break. The proctors always warn you to get back to the exam room like 10-15 minutes before the break ends because they start reading instructions for the next part of the exam right when the 2 hours is up.
In the room where I was writing Level 2, the entrance into the test center was in the front of the room, and all the test takers sit facing the entrance. There were about 300 of us.
Just before the 2 hour mark (or maybe it was right at the 2-hour mark), the proctor started reading the instructions over the loudspeakers, but the doors to the entrance were still open.
Then, one girl walks through the door in mid-instruction. She was probably right on time, but late by CFA test standards.
The proctor stops reading, and tells the girl over the loud speaker: "I'm sorry, you have to go back through the doors." The girl stepped back, then the proctor said on the loud speaker "Can someone close that door?"
Everyone watched as the door closed on the girl, who just had this blank stare on her face. You could feel the collective gasp in the room as what just happened weighed down on everyone.
That girl never came back into the room, and wasn't able to take the second part of the exam. Six months of studying and preparation for nothing.
I feel bad for saying this, but it was a distraction feeling pity for the poor girl."
A test-taker couldn't take the exam because his driver's license just expired.
From Analyst Forum:
I saw him in the distance sitting on one of those portable heaters with his hands in his face, he was clearly upset. I called out to him, and when he moved his hands away from his face, i saw his red and puffy eyes, like he was crying. I thought to myself “alright, he thought it was hard too, so i must have did alight”. I said “don't worry man, I talked to like 6 people in the room after the exam and they all said they did horrible, don't be so upset man, the afternoon wont be as bad”.
I said: "Don't worry man, I talked to like 6 people in the room after the exam and they all said they did horrible, don't be so upset man, the afternoon won't be as bad".
He said: "I didn't write it, bro."
I said: "What the f*** are you talking about??"
He said: "My license expired on May 30th!"
They wouldn't let him write because his license was expired. Can you FREAKIN' believe that?! One week expired, and it wasted about a year of his life and 1 month vacation time."
There was a regional blackout and the test center went dark. One prepared guy had a flashlight on him and the other test-takers basically wanted to kill him.
From a BI commenter:
When taking L2 in [New Jersey], there was a regional blackout that made the entire convention (testing) center pitch black. Amid the darkness, one very well prepared gentlemen took out a pocket flashlight and continued writing the exam. As you'd expect, this didn't go over well with either the proctors and fellow exam takers (who's exams are graded on a curve). A proctor ran over to take away his flashlight and unwittingly saved his life.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider