[jeff]

We have a lot of “I took __ today threads” so to consolidate, here is the official thread.

Please – Not even a hint of exam disclosure per AICPA rules.

Links to other Exam Experience Threads:

AUD

REG

FAR

[Darya]

Good luck to everyone who is getting results tomorrow!

I'm waiting till 11/22. Took BEC on 10/29 and have absolutely no idea what to expect – I felt my preparation for it was similar to the exam itself – nauseating and all over the place. I have a gnawing feeling that I may have to start from scratch (at first I wrote that I don't know what I'd do differently, but that's not true. I know. I know my weak areas that I could not get over and kept moving on for the sake of time).
I come here for a glimmer of hope from reading posts by those who said the same, but passed.

My NINJA MCQ trending score for BEC was barely 75 with practice exams ranging from 71-79. I really struggled with this one for all of the 100 hours of study time. I feel like I needed 20-30 hours more, at least. Judging by my AUD experience the prep was exactly dead-on (NINJA 10-point combo only: studied 80 hours, trending 78, practice exams 80-83, actual score was 80). So, for BEC, I feel that I won't be surprised either way (happy or sad, but not surprised).

plan Jan 2017
[A] plan Aug 2016 (first exam)
[R] plan Apr 2017
[F] plan Oct 2016

[JJ Leeza]

@ needsA75..hmmm it was not very heavily tested but I would suggest you need to know IT. They throw few questions on it as well.

...FAILING IS NOT AN OPTION FOR ME!!!

[WANNABCPA]

I took the exam today. I thought it went OK. Way more IT and Audit questions than I expected. The first testlet was ok, second was impossible, and third was hard. Three essay questions were very vague, I thought they went OK.

I probably scored somewhere in the 70's. Hoping higher half 🙂

[DZagt]

By far the most frustrating exam to study…The whole thing is all over the place. It seems like they just wanted to add a fourth test for revenue purposes and threw a bunch of shit all together.

[Anonymous]

Sat for “the retake” this afternoon. I've been studying nonstop for the last week and I'm mentally exhausted; also little frazzled from watching the election coverage last night. I was much more confident going into the exam this time around and it was a grueling test nonetheless. The 1st testlet not bad but they next two were moderately difficult. The WCs were OK; I aced one of topics and the other two, I think satisfactory. Leaving the exam, I didn't feel super confident but a lot better than the first time around. I'm onto FAR tomorrow.

[Kaygmail]

Yes. I definitely thin that in all the sections (I took REG, AUD and FAR, BEC will be next), FAR was there present in a way or another (whether in the MCQ or the SIM) . So taking FAR first would be the wisest decision.

[Anonymous]

would you guys say that it is important to know DuPont Analysis and the extended dupont model?

[JessieP]

Just got home from prometric and really don't know how I did as usual. First testlet was as expected, same stuff on my mcq's over and over. Second testlet I had to do a little guessing, definitely harder. Third testlet was like whoa, is this the same material?? One question was about a theory I e never heard of in my life!! I think I did on on WCs. .. now I wait.

FAR:63,76!! 11/28/15
BEC:
AUD:
REG:75 🙂 6/6/16

[Paul]

I took BEC earlier today and would like to talk about my experience since I am not already tired from doing 3 WC's lol. Just kidding I am tired of typing but anyway.

So some background, I used Roger exclusively which wasn't that bad but there was some gray area.I took REG OCT 29 and started studying for BEC OCT 31st which didn't give me much time before today came around. Coming into BEC I had elementary knowledge about econ, cost accounting, and IT (from life), but that's about it. So within the next 26 days I dedicated as much studying I could while working full time. 3-5 hours during the weekdays, 8-12 hours during the weekends and a few holidays. I had about 9 days to pound out multiple choice questions and I did about 50-80 a night (while taking the time to analyze and try to realize why I got an answer right or wrong). I also read, reviewed lectures, and messed around with flashcards.

During the exam I couldn't tell you the difficulty of each multiple choice section but, I can tell I feel I could of been sharper.

I had about an hour and ten minutes for the WC's and finished with about 2 minutes left.. I am happy I had more than 45 minutes because I don't think I would of finished all three. I was able to write a good amount, check spelling, and make sure all three were nicely put together. I feel all three questions were fair and could give an alright answer for all 3.

Advice to anyone taking BEC: Know IT, Corporate Governance, Cost accounting, know everything! Also be able to quickly understand how to manipulate computations with the formulas you study during review.

Don't know how I did, Could be ether way. This is my second CPA exam ever, Took Reg first and failed so I am attempting REG section again. (Reg study materials were ROGER and 40 hours of Ninja MC questions tending low 60's)

Best of luck to everyone on this journey.

BEC 10/29/16
FAR 11/26/16
REG TBA
AUD TBA

[75percentCPA]

So,had an hour and 40 minute drive, that was actually 2 hours. Raining sheets of water, in the dark, with construction. Got there half an hour earlier than I needed to because I thought my test was a half an hour earlier than it was.

Went through the first screen, first question and the test crashed. When prometric got it up, I couldn't even calculate an answer that was one of the options.

I felt like the test should have been easier but I had no idea on some things that I should have known, so I just picked an answer. The testlets never seemed to get harder, but what is subjective, something hard for me may be medium to people who had the questions as pretest questions. It felt almost like one of those times in school where you studied your heart out but on material that hardly made it onto the test, and neglected other things because you though, “oh, I'll remember that.”

On top of that I spent too much time on one of my written communications, so I ended up hitting submit with 1 min 05 seconds left. I'm pretty sure I did not do well on 2 of them. The third is iffy. I bet with the luck I was having I did well on the pretest written communication.

So, I am really up in the air about how I feel about it. I studied with Becker and, excluding wc, I got a 61 and 54. So, I pretty much felt like I was going to have a hard time anyway. This is my last one. I passed the other 3 the first time, even though I have no idea how I passed FAR. I really hope I passed this one, but it is not looking good. I think I am just going to get use to the fact I will probably be re-taking this one.

[bryceallant]

Just got out of BEC. Overall feel okay about the experience.

Testlets did not seem to get harder. Felt like medium testlet every time, but I still felt confident in my answers. There were only a select few I had to straight up guess on. A lot of cost accounting and financial stuff, not too much IT/COSO like a lot of people said there would be. WC was super easy. Finished with 20 mins left.

Just want a 75..

[jms10101]

I just took what I hope is the last CPA Exam of my life. BEC. I found that all three testiest had a combination of easier to extremely difficult questions. I cannot say that one was more or less difficult than another. The three writing assignments I thought went well.

I had two questions that I believe was contrary to what I was taught in review class. Many questions I had to guess because they were either never discussed in review or the subject was but not even close to applied in the manner that the question asked.

I had Very good homework scores, the best practice exam scores. All indications were that I could not fail. Yet I am not sure. I left feeling the way that I felt after leaving FAR. I passed FAR but barely. AUD. and REG, I felt good after leaving those exams and I scored very well. I am nervous. No way I could have prepared better for this exam. If I passed then it is over. If I failed then there is nothing more that I could do to prepare.

Subject matter was a smattering of everything. I cannot say that one dominated over another.

I used Becker self study.

Score released Dec 16.

[cpa007]

I have BEC on sat . Any last min advice.

[jms10101]

@cpa007 unfortunately I don't. Everything in the review courses is subject to the exam. I found questions that were not covered at all and others that the general concept was covered but good luck in applying it to the question. I reviewed formulas and ratios a lot, made up my own flashcards. These helped but only to a point. It depends on how many calc questions you receive. Even then, you can get calc questions that do not fit into any formula or ratio that you have seen.
Just focus on your weakest areas and hope for the best.

[cpa007]

@jms10101 thanks and good luck . Hope you pass!!

[Author]

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