[MIA4MYCPA]

Okay I love reading the posts on this website especially debriefs from people after they take a test. So I thought I would contribute and share my experience today….. It sucked!!! I have put in over 100 hours of studying and I know a lot of the material inside and out.I completed the Becker review, Wiley MCQ’s, and studied the NINJA notes. But after the first 15 questions of testlet 1 I was pretty sure I studied for the wrong exam!

Testlet one – HARD!! I know they say that it starts with a medium testlet but I really beg to differ. Lots of calculations and some crazy theory that I am pretty sure they just pulled out of the air!

Testlet two – Medium, still a lot of calculations but I felt semi comforatble with the material.

Testlet three – HAHAHAHAHA! this testlet was basically asking me if I even cracked a book before coming in to take the exam. At this point I pretty much knew I had failed. ( yes I know I won’t know until I get my score but seriously I would be happy w/ a 60 after the test I took). I also thought about exiting at this point but decided that doing the WC would provide good practice for round 2.

WC – 2 of the 3 were pretty manageable, but the third I was unsure about so I typed some BS and had to hurry to get my closing in before the test ended, which it did as soon as I typed the last letter.

Overall – BRUTAL!! I was expecting it to be hard b/c as I’ve said I lurk around this board and read the feedback.

I am in the middle of a crazy tax season and working 60 hours a week, so my plan is to continue lightly studying (about 10 hours a week) until April and then studying hard for a few weeks before my second attempt.

AUD - Oct 2011 - 79
BEC - Feb 2012 - 84 (seriously thought I failed this one)
REG - May 2012 - 84 (hmmm.....do they actually grade the SIMS???)
FAR - Aug 2012 - 80

I must be dreaming.... am I really done!!!

[MIA4MYCPA]

@ Peanut and Red Storm45 Thanks for the words of encouragment. I keep telling myself that I am not going to be anxious on score release day and I am not going to waste an entire day during the busiest time of the year, refreshing NASBA just to find out how miserably I failed. But deep inside I know I am lying to myself b/c there is always that possibilty that the testing Gods are smiling on me and the AICPA threw out 90% of my MCQ and graded me solely on my WC, LOL!

AUD - Oct 2011 - 79
BEC - Feb 2012 - 84 (seriously thought I failed this one)
REG - May 2012 - 84 (hmmm.....do they actually grade the SIMS???)
FAR - Aug 2012 - 80

I must be dreaming.... am I really done!!!

[Nora]

@MIA4MyCPA and others… I had same experience as you, guys, studied a lot with Becker, memorized ALL those variances… On the exam date, 40% of questions were complete surprise.

What shall I do? What study materials? Becker didn't work for me with BEC, I am pretty sure I failed it. Busy at work with tax season now, but in April I want to study hard again for it. Please adivise!

Nora

AUD 87
BEC 69, 81
REG 76
FAR 72, 11/30/12

[Keely]

I am also frustrated. I haven't taken the exam yet (or any of them, but I'm studying for BEC first). I do well on the Becker MCQs, but when I use another software i.e. Wiley, Gleim, or the CPA Review for Free website, I feel like I am very under-prepared. Has anyone felt this way prior to the test? Should you feel 100% prepared before you take it? I feel like I understand the Becker concepts, but I find the other websites' MCQs to be quite hard, or flat-out not covered in Becker. Frustrating.

BEC: (4/2012) 88
AUD: (5/2012) 91
REG: (8/2012) 82
FAR: (1/2013) 78 🙂

VA CPA #42010

[Keely]

What I meant to add is, I hear a lot about “Becker gives you what's going to be on the exam, while other review courses give you more than you need to know.” That would be fine if that's actually the case! I have friends who swear by Becker. I don't want to fill my head with unnecessary information, but it's not good to hear so many people say they studied with Becker and didn't recognize a ton of stuff on exam day.

BEC: (4/2012) 88
AUD: (5/2012) 91
REG: (8/2012) 82
FAR: (1/2013) 78 🙂

VA CPA #42010

[MIA4MYCPA]

@keelydare1 – Don't let anything that you read on this board distract you from your current study path, except for the advice of purchasing an additional test bank for more MCQ practice. Although I started this thread and was truly blindsided by my test, I do NOT think that using a different review courses would have changed the outcome. All of the review courses have pretty much the same info just presented in a different way. As long as you feel like you understand the way the material it is presented in Becker than stick with it. I passed AUD w/ Becker and will continue to study for my probable BEC retake and other exams with it. The test that I had just happened to be heavy on obscure topics that I have not seen in Becker, Wiley, Ninja Notes, or cpareviewforfree.com. I do not blame Becker, I was very prepared for a wide variety of topics and calculations, but definitely not the ones on my exam. BEC was revamped in 2011 and the review programs are fighting to catch up with the changes. Don't let that discourage you, I have 2 co-workers that took the exam the same week as me, and they said that their exams were pretty inline with the review material (one uses Becker and one uses Wiley).

AUD - Oct 2011 - 79
BEC - Feb 2012 - 84 (seriously thought I failed this one)
REG - May 2012 - 84 (hmmm.....do they actually grade the SIMS???)
FAR - Aug 2012 - 80

I must be dreaming.... am I really done!!!

[Keely]

Thanks for the support 🙂 How are you attacking re-studying? Since you've taken the exam once, do you feel you now know which areas to concentrate more on? I am still plugging along with Becker and I consistently score 70% on the little Wiley MCQ pop quizzes I put together. I am stuck in B1 and after 30+ hours, I'm about to just say to hell with it and go on. I feel like I KNOW how to compute equivalent units, joint cost allocation, the definitions and components of internal control…that's all there was to the chapter, practically, and I still, somehow cannot come up with a passing grade in Wiley. Ughhh.

Anyway, I hope you'll be pleasantly surprised with a passing grade!

BEC: (4/2012) 88
AUD: (5/2012) 91
REG: (8/2012) 82
FAR: (1/2013) 78 🙂

VA CPA #42010

[Anonymous]

I hope you get that 7 and that 5, no more no less 🙂

[Anonymous]

Great post MIA (wondering if that's for Miami or missing in action).

I felt really bad going through my BEC exam and felt like I had so many questions out of left field. I had some IT questions that weren't even addressed anywhere by Mike Potenza or in the book whatsoever. Anyhow, I have the 2011 Becker materials and my first thought is to order the 2012 materials for BEC if I don't pass. Why? Because Becker has been great for me up to this point and I haven't taken an accounting class since 2002. Granted, I have my masters in taxation and work in tax but that didn't stop me from spending almost 3 months preparing for REG. Bottom line, if I need to re-study, I'll buy the 2012 materials, and I will supplement my studying with the Ninja notes and Wiley. I can't afford to fail.

[GVirgiL]

@break out… i sat for BEC in Nov. i only used Becker 2011. i didnt pass, but i didnt really put in the study time either. this time around feb 29, 2012. i didnt even use my becker material, minus the updated free info that they provide .

i used ninja and wiley's 2012 online test bank. i went through every single question. it is time consuming . Actually that was all i did every sat and sun in the month of feb . i avg to about 6- 8 hours a day studying just the questions.

I felt alot more confident walking out of that testthis time. I did lack to study the IT definitions wich i think hurt me and i ran out of time to complete the WC appropriately

also, i called becker and they said that bec 2011 is not much different than becker 2012.

[Anonymous]

Stupid question…but, is the 2012 Wiley Online Test Bank different than the Wiley Test Bank App for the iPhone?

[numbercruncher]

Just wanted to share my experience – I took BEC on 1/22 and i walked out of there and sat in my car for 20 minutes just so upset couldnt bring myself to drive straight home! I had such a bad experience and was convinced that I had failed. Some of the questions just came out of nowhere and then I felt so rattled that I did poorly on questions i knew… also i didnt have a lot of calculations so i thought that was a bad sighn. I even came back and posted about the test, it was so truly horrible..Then the scores came out and mine didnt.. at that point i was so convinced that I failed BUT somehow I got a 79 and now I am done with the exam forever :).. Also want to point out that a lot of people who think they did well on BEC ended up failing. so you just never know. Just stay strong and try your best to stay positive until the score comes out and you know for sure..

best of luck to everyone!

Maryland Candidate:
REG: 73(11/2010) 84 (01/2011)
BEC: 65 (5/11) 01/22: 79!!
AUD: 85 (08/2011) FAR: 81 (11/2011)

[GVirgiL]

@confused in georgia…. it is.. but the online version is similar to the becker practice questions in that it also shows readings from the book on whatever the topic the question is about. i dont think the app has that. But i could be wrong as i dont have the app, i have only looked at the preview of it.

[sneakerhead253]

check your scores because i took the test around the same date as you guys and felt the exact same thing, but score released today and it turned out completely different than what i thought.

[steviepz]

Yep, I was convinced I failed…see my post above. Just checked my score: 84. That was my final test! I'm done!!!

[MIA4MYCPA]

Ok, I bow to those of you who said you never know with these tests and those who think they failed usually passed. I got an 84!!! I am so revlieved and happy!!! Thank you Becker for teaching me things that I didn't even know I knew! Congrats to everyone who passed this score release. Now moving on to REG!!!

AUD - Oct 2011 - 79
BEC - Feb 2012 - 84 (seriously thought I failed this one)
REG - May 2012 - 84 (hmmm.....do they actually grade the SIMS???)
FAR - Aug 2012 - 80

I must be dreaming.... am I really done!!!

[Author]

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