[rknight21]

so i just came from doing my test… i used a few different review resources and i honestly cannot saying which one helped me more. i used becker 2009, wiley 2011 and cpareviewforfree………….the exam is pretty much the same as the sample test on aicpa.com…… while i didnt see any of the same sims as the ones on wiley, they prepared me as much as i could possiblely be prepared…it gets you familiar with drop down boxes and such.

i still have mixed feelings as to how i did because the third testlet got easier i believe which isnt necessarily a good sign

testlet 1 medium/difficult

testlet 2 medium/difficult

testlet 3 easier

i believe i did good on 4 out of 7 of the sims, the other three i did ok.

i finished with 12 minutes to go. thats is with reviewing each testlet and the sims and took a ten minutes break…

[Stewie]

@rknight21,

Don't beat yourself down too much. Remember two things:

1) There is nothing that you can do to change the past; now it is history!

2) Remember that the questions are medium/difficult relative to the masses that took them, not to you. As a result, it is possible (and likely probable) that the “easier” section that you took was easy for you and not for the masses. Think of it like this… ever go to a casino? People go to a casino for two reasons 1) to have fun and 2) because they want to win. The reason that casinos are so profitable is that they bet long… ie. they bet that as a group, people are going to lose more than they win, over the long run. Individuals bet short, they expect to win a lot in the short run and get out (one night in a casino is short compared to the year that the casino has to recoup losses and win).

For the CPA exam, the casino is the AICPA (they rate their questions long) and you are the individual hoping to hit it big! Some people (mostly those that don't study much) hope to see questions that they feel are easy, most don't but some do. The difference is where the casino can win big on a 55/45 split (win 55 times and lose 45 times) the AICPA in designing the test is more like 80/20 or 90/10. You were likely lucky with the 10 and got an easy section (for you, but not for the masses).

Sorry for the long post, in the end, have a beer, because it is Miller time (or whatever poison you prefer)!

NOTE: this is not an endorsement of Miller Beer; quite frankly, I would rather endorse Bass Ale, instead! 🙂

REG - 91
AUD - 92
FAR - 88
BEC - OCT 2011

[Anonymous]

I'm in the same boat really. I'm more concerned over the simulations, I feel that they're geared for people in the industry, not the straight out of college “crowd.” I won't be able to get a job without passing the audit and it feels like I won't pass audit without the experience… sigh…

[rknight21]

stewiecpa i like your analogies…..insightful…after my nerve had settled i looked over my notes and even saw the answer for stuff that was on the exam and that didnt see during studying but i answered them correctly….after going home and writing down a review of the exam i really think i passed. i did good on 5 out of 7 sims (at least 30 points i believe) leaving me with needing 45 to pass, which is 75% out of 60 which means i could get 68 correct out of 90 and still pass. the way i figure it is it is very unlikely that i got 22 inocrrect..

and for anyone not sure, studying hard pays off. i swear a good 15 maybe 20 questions that i seen before was on the exam and i seen at least 3 that was word for word and those were questions i would most certainly had gotten wrong if i hadnt seen them before, very tough questions…

and like disoriented alluded to, i believe they dont stress sims enough in the study materials. the sims were based mostly on two concepts which the review course sims doesnt stress.

also they were two/three fairly easy topics that was stessed on the exams that isnt stressed in the review cources, instead they stress internal controls and evidence gathering….

and they was one topic (was touched on last in the becker passmaster) had one question on..lol

[Anonymous]

I'm not saying I didn't have “easy” or “difficult” sims just that it was more like “Are you serious? Am I supposed to do it this way or is it that way?” kind of sims… The probably I had was “what the hell do they want from me?” Hell, it was just nerve wracking because it's the “best guess” scenario…

[rknight21]

i had the same issue…if an error message had not popped after entering a formula i wouldnt have known they just wanted me to enter dollar amount n not cells…………..so aicpa helped me not totally failed that question

[Author]

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