[rwilli]

HI Guys,

I took my audit exam couple days ago, and the anxiety starts kicking now. I left the exam feeling quite comfortable. However, I recalled my first experience with Audit when I felt I passed but then I failed. So I really do not want to expect much this time around.

This time around, I felt MCQ were manageable, but the sims were killing me. I had 2 hours left for the sims. I took every single minute possible to complete each one of the sims. First two sims took me 45 minutes, second set of sims took me about 30 minute, and third set of sims took me 45 min.
I think I pretty much had 3 sims that I was comfortable with, I had 3 DRS which I may get partial credits, and I think I got the research question right. I tried to count every point possible on the sims and I think I only scored at the most around 60% on sims.

I’m afraid to fail again, but I need to move on to FAR and take the test on Q3.

Has anyone feeling the same way? or mind sharing his/her experience after the exam on Q2?

Thank you.

[Mika]

@rwilli
I took AUD today. I actually felt like the MCs are harder for me than the sims. Some answers I know for sure, some answers I had to make an educated guess between 2 choices. I left 2 hrs and 50 mins for my sims, I had 2 or 3 DRS (can't remember already lol), and finished my exam one hour early. I don't feel great about it due to MCs. But I guess we will see in august. 🙂

I'm also taking FAR in Q3, good luck~

[rlarivee01]

There was a lot more FAR material on it than I thought there would be. Is that too much to divulge? I figured it would be ratios, changes, etc, but it was just…. more.

Fo real, listen when they say take FAR then AUD

[pjd11006]

I also took audit today. Not sure whether it's a good thing or not, but I left with 1.5 hours left on the clock… I had no DRS questions, but a decent amount of mathematical computations involved. No joke, I got through the first 36 multiple choice in no more than 15 minutes. Got to the first question of the second testlet, and knew instantly that it was noticeably more difficult. The research question I had was pretty simple (I think I got the right section of the literature), and the simulations weren't all that bad.

However, audit is very subjective with the simulations. I could've spot on with my methodology, or I could've tanked it. All I can do now is wait for the release in August (praying for a miracle that I pass both REG and AUD, as I have FAR and BEC finished).

Good luck to during the wait, and don't stress about the exam. Let the chips fall where they may…

FAR TBD (8/02/2016)
BEC --
AUD --
REG --

[rlarivee01]

^^ Sounds like my experience. I finished mine quickly. That's usually the sign of not doing well……

I actually skipped a sim, so that's probably going to fail me. But there was no way I was going to get even a single answer on that one.

[rwilli]

Well to be honest, I felt confident all the way from mcq through sims. Even until I finished the exam. I don't know if I should feel good about this or not. The first time I took audit, I thought I did ok, but apparently I failed with 68.

As the time goes by, I started to feel more anxious waiting for the score. I really hope I could pull this one off. I already passed BEC and REG.

So looks like you guys did not have any trouble with the sims..

What material did you guys use by the way?

[Anonymous]

I did AUD 2 weeks ago. It wasn't a hard exam but I just don't think I did all that well on it. In my studies I focused on the difficult stuff, not hardly any of which was tested, and I kinda ignored the easier stuff. I only got one DRS and not one question felt like it was any different from the old version. I don't think I got any questions that tested the much-touted higher-order thinking skills that the AICPA had talked so much about. I used Roger, which I think is better for AUD than any of the other sections. We'll see though…in another 2 1/2 months when scores are released.

[rwilli]

I know it wasn't a hard exam, but it is very subjective which makes it harder for me to choose between answers. As for the sims, I just wasn't sure if I got it all correct. I know I bomb the FAR related sims (maybe got only 30% correct), and I was comfortable probably only 3 sims plus the research which I think I got it correct, the rest of the sims were educated guessing.

Wish all the best of luck!

[Anonymous]

I guessed on a good number of the MCQ. As I say, I just don't think I was well-prepared for the easy stuff LOL! I was expecting a whole battery of questions about sampling and probability and assertions and other stuff and I saw barely any questions on those things. And yet, the person sitting next to me may have gotten a bunch of questions on those things. Again, attesting to the randomness of these tests…you never know what you're gonna get!!

[Anonymous]

I took mine a while ago in April, was done in 2 hours and 5 minutes… I did BEC (old format) in 1 hour and 15 minutes, and passed, so the amount of time alone may not be an indication-I just am a very fast test taker-can't go back and rethink my answers-that's a sure way to failure for me. The exam is so weird. SIMS were definitely hard, but not impossible. When I left-I thought, if I pass, I know why, if I fail, I know why….

[Anonymous]

1:15 is about the shortest time I've ever heard for someone finishing a CPA exam! I never took BEC on the old format but didn't it just have a bunch of MCQ and then the written communications?
If so, I could probably see why you got through it so fast.

Personally I'm glad there are fewer MCQs on these exams now. I have never been good at MCQ in my life, I always pick the next-best answer choice instead of the correct one usually. I've always been better at open-ended problem tests and like filling in blanks.

[Anonymous]

I didn't get any lengthy calc questions on BEC-and I knew the long ones like the back of my hand, and the written communication portion only took me 30 min. tops… Once that clock starts ticking, I am like a crazy person-just want to be done-I don't dwell-have always been like that…

[Anonymous]

Probably a good approach, just “get ‘er done and get outta there”. Looks like you did well on BEC! I notice you did it first, and I know some people say to do that one last but in retrospect I wish I'd done BEC first too. I did FAR first and while in a sense I was glad to get the studying for that one out of the way (altho did not pass, re-taking soon) I think BEC would have been better to start with since it's a friendlier test. Or at least it was when it had no SIMs. I agree though, sweating over questions and going back and re-checking answers and doubting yourself is never good. Pick an answer, be it right or wrong, and just move on and don't look back. I never have flagged or skipped questions on these exams or even while doing practice ones on Roger.
Those I've read about who did a lot of flagging were usually those who didn't score well. I think most people underestimate how much they know – you have to trust your hunch especially on MCQ, and don't change it unless you 100% know that you clicked the wrong one.

[rwilli]

Dang you guys are very fast test taker. I'm usually very slow because I wanted to read the questions very carefully. But sims, those were brutal because I had to go back and forth several tabs, and sometimes I forgot what were asked. -_-

I hate audit to begin with. Just hoping to get this by, and move on to FAR..

[Mika]

I agree with flagging. I rarely use them, I only flag when I completely don't know the answer. If it's a guess between the last 2 choices, I'd just pick one and move on. I do not go back and check my answers either, I believe that first gut choice is better than going back and second doubting yourself.. lol I remember my audit professor in grad school told us that 70% of the times, people who go back and changed their answer is wrong.

[Anonymous]

Just took my AUD on 5/31, and felt good coming out, which scared the hell out me. MCQs were closer to Gleim than Ninja, and the SIMS were very very similar to GLEIM. I had 1 of each for SIMS: DRS, Ratios, Flux analysis, JE's, Research (pretty sure got research). I did not think this AUD was harder than the 1 I failed last time.

Normally, I would prefer feeling horrible and as I have passed FAR and REG coming in near tears and cursing the CPA. When I felt good coming out of REG, I failed at 73. So, not sure how to feel, but this waiting till end of AUG is going to kill me. Already passed all 3, so this really sucks waiting.

Question for everyone:

How will this delay in score affect our 18 months? My FAR will expire by end of this year, so I will loose next testing window (July & Aug) and only have OCT & NOV to test if I fail this pass May.

I have not seen anything address this 18 months, does anyone know?

My order of CPA: Passed in this sequence FAR, REG, BEC using GLEIM and NINJA test banks

IF I would do it over again, I would following this sequence for testing:

1. BEC
2. REG
3. FAR
4. AUD

Good luck to us all.

[Author]

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