[Anonymous]

hi guys, I have been a silent visitor to another71 thus far. Always makes me feel better when I read about other experiences. However, I thought i’ll contribute something today by giving you guys some feedback on my BEC exam which I took earlier today.

Unlike some other posts that i read in Jan, I have to say that the exam was very straightforward for the most part according to me. I am quite confident that I’ll pass. The FAR and AUD exams i have taken were much harder, where I couldnt be that sure that I passed. In today’s exam, my first testlet was very easy, and my second and third testlets were moderate. Not too many calculation questions. However contrary to what I expected, the calculation questions were easier than the theory ones since I knew i had gotten the correct answer when I had worked through it. Some of the theory questions (especially from IT) were a little vague. WC topics were easy. They were quite open ended.

This could well be because I have a solid undergraduate education (being a finance major), and I am fresh out of college. Still, i would say BEC requires much less prep time than FAR and REG.

Btw, I used Becker alone.

[Tootsie]

I had a similar experience to you. The exam overall was easy for me because I studied very hard and understood the questions. I did have some bizarre and poorly worded questions, but I think those were pretest. Anyways, I feel confident too that I passed. Glad you had a good experience!!

FAR - 76
AUD - 88!!! DONE!!!!!!!!
BEC - 76
REG - 77

never, never, never give up

[Anonymous]

Thanks tootsie i am also giving reg later this month, this is going to be so much more work!

[ssachetti]

It's nice to hear some good experience feedback for BEC for once. It seems like every post BEC exam experience is horrible. I guess that is why they are posting. I scheduled BEC last thinking it would be the “easiest”, but from reading posts I wouldn't think that anymore. You gave me a bit of relief for this Saturday, 2/4! I think im prepared but you never know.

FAR - 91
AUD - 87
REG - 78
BEC - 83

[PistolPete]

That's good to hear, cpastud. Seems like people are only posing horrible BEC stories recently. Since I'm going into my final 2 week review before my exam, this gives me a little confidence boost.

FAR - 68, 79
AUD - 82
REG - 71, 71, 80
BEC - 76

CMA
Part 1: October 2013
Part 2: January 2014

[Peanut]

@cpastud, you're giving me hope about my BEC exam. I had a similar experience. I had not too many calculations, and I nailed all of them. For some reason I was associating not having a crazy amount of calculations as a bad thing.. My theory questions were more difficult than the calculations. Also, my SIMs I thought were very easy and open ended as well. Which is something else I associated with not performing well. Hmmm.. Maybe there is a chance!

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[Anonymous]

Haha good to see this post is boosting the morale of bec exam takers around the globe. Yes I found the exam questions to be much easier than becker, that doesnt mean you slack off, but you can def go into the exam with confidence if you've done all mcqs on becker and know the stuff.

[Anonymous]

My BEC is next Monday. I too am very glad to see some positve experiences. I am on my studying home stretch and trying so hard to push through. Thank you for the encouragement! Good luck to those of you who have your exams coming up!

[Anonymous]

I just took my test yesterday no so lucky here. 1st Testlet was so easy I could not believe I was taking BEC. I got 2 or 3 easy calc. 2nd well no that easy, it took me about 50 minutes which was OK because I saved like 15 mins. From the 1st testle, I got about 50/50 calc./theory. 3rd I looked over each mcq after mcq searching desperate for a theory question. Nothing I am still trying to Google some of the “topics/formulas”. I had 19 long consecutive tedious and some unknown calculations in that testlet alone. I had to guess and rush thru the last 12 or so mcq. End up with 29 mins. for WC, completed two very well (I think) and the third incomplete.

I used Becker +Wiley +Google. Good luck and DO NOT underestimate BEC. If you got my test you will not think it was doable. This exam is no joke … no trying to scare anyone .. Just giving heads up!!

[Peanut]

@Certified Public Accountant, I used Becker + Wiley too, and still had questions about topics I hadn't heard about. Let's pray those questions were pre-test!

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[Anonymous]

I wonder how many pre-test questions are there out of the 72? does anyone knows? 5, 7? I hope 10 or more 🙂

[jeff]

Up to 20%

[Anonymous]

The AICPA released some pdf (link below) on how the test is scored and in it there is a chart that shows how many questions are operational vs. pretest (pg. 3)….hope this helps!

https://www.nccpaboard.gov/clients/ncboa/public/static/how_the_cpa_exam_is_scored.pdf

[Justinnnn]

My test is Saturday, Feb 4…It is good to hear some positive experiences. I used Becker and Wiley test bank, and Wikipedia. I read Becker front to back 2 times, including the new Becker sections on Cobit and internal auditing, and certain chapters a third time. I have done every MCQ I have twice.I studied twice as many hours for this as AUD, which I took in November, and probably 4-5 times as much as when I took my first section, Reg. I am taking tomorrow off to study all day. I am hoping for nothing out of left field.

REG 80 2/7/11
FAR 91 10/8/11
AUD 97 11/22/11
BEC 96 2/4/12

CPA 3/15/13

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the information, a lot of pre-test questions though, I thought it was less than that. No wonder why nobody can tell how they did on those exams until one sees the scores. I just pray the unrecognizable/ridiculousness long mcq were pre-test.

[PistolPete]

To those saying question/topics came out of left field. Were you able to go back to your study materials and at least have a reference of that topic, or nothing at all was even remotely mentioned anywhere?

FAR - 68, 79
AUD - 82
REG - 71, 71, 80
BEC - 76

CMA
Part 1: October 2013
Part 2: January 2014

[Author]

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