[parekhparekh]

Thank you very much for providing this platform and enabling exchange of such useful ideas and information, it is really very helpful.

I am a beginner, and just wanted some advice on how to allocate time for each of the testlet during AUD test.

I understand that MCQ has 60% weight-age and TBS has 40%.

would it make sense to allocate proportional time to each of these testlets

In other words, would it be prudent to plan such that out of 4 hrs, I allocate about 2.5 hrs to MCQ and 1.5hrs to TBS.

or 50 mins per testlet for MCQ and then remaining 1.5 hrs for TBS.

Does above line of thinking seem reasonable.

Thanks again for the forum and for reading my post.

[Anonymous]

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: You need to make sure you have time for the Sims. There are only 7 of them but they can be very time consuming. Or they can go pretty fast. You won't really know until you're sitting in the Prometrics center hammering it out. For Audit, it took me about an hour to go through the Sims and about two hours for the MCQ (and for what it's worth, I'm a naturally fast test taker). For FAR, it was the other way around where I knocked out the MCQ in an hour and then spent a solid 2 hours on the Sims.

Time management is an extremely important part of the test taking process. While you shouldn't rush through anything, you can't be spending 10 minutes on a single MCQ. If it's a question you're not comfortable with, guess, flag it and move on. Come back if you have time from in your budget. The last thing you want to happen is to run out of time halfway through the Sims though. That shows a lack of time management (and possibly implies that you weren't ready for the exam if you're not prepared enough to move through the material at a reasonable pace).

[parekhparekh]

Thanks a ton Angelwatch for prompt reply.

[y_u_no_pass]

One thing I think is important to note. The multiple choice can get more difficult if you are doing well. For math heavy exams (FAR, BEC) you should allocate more time to those. When I took BEC the first testlet took about 20 minutes and the next two took about 45 each. For audit though all parts took almost the exact same time to the minute 30 minutes. I think they give us plenty of time for these exams. So far the only one I was even close on was BEC, but that is just because I am not great at writing.

Florida CPA!
Took final exam 2/25/15.
Sent in Application 3/12/15.
Issued License 3/20/15.
Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

[Anonymous]

How can I get 90 s

I am failing each time.

Aud-42,58

Bec- 68

[zoctoman]

Ekta Singh. My best advice is to go for it with everything you've got. don't spend any time worrying about if you are gonna pass or not. Don't spend any time during the exam trying to figure out if you are doing well or not. Just scrape and claw and get as many points as you can.

Develop a mantra that nothing is gonna stop you. If you have a bad day of studying, use that as motivation to kick butt the next day. Study what scares you. If you are afraid of practicing sims, go for it and don't put them off. If you feel like you are just reading too much and shying away from multiple choice, then dive in and practice hundreds of them. If you feel like you are just doing tons of multiple choice but don't understand the big picture then go through your study materials slowly until you understand what you are learning. If you answer a multiple choice question right but you know you have memorized the answer and are not sure if you truly understand it then force yourself to explain why the answer is correct. if you can map out each step involved to solving the question(for math problems) or if you can clearly explain the reasoning behind why a concept question is right, then you know it.

Basically, go for it with everything you have…it is the easier option as you will never have to wonder if you could have given more.

You can do it!

Audit(11/5/13) - 89
Reg(5/16/14) - 86
FAR(7/18/14) - 82
BEC(11/14) - 85

[outstanding CPA]

I find that time isn't really an issue on the AUD exam vs. FAR for example. Most of the questions are conceptual, so either you know it or you don't. I would say leave 80 to 90 minutes for the simulation and you will be fine.

Good luck!

Far 83 (Jan 2014)
Reg 90 (May 2014)
Bec 84 (Aug 2014)
Aud 99 (Nov 2014)
Ethics 96

[Author]

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