[jcw1503]

Why is it that the tests you think you do so well on are the ones you do the worst on. My first time taking FAR I swore I had passed, and I ended up with a 70. The next was AUD, I thought I had done horrible but I passed. The next was FAR again and I swore I bombed it, I mean BOMBED tit, but I passed. Then Reglation and even though I didn’t spen as much time on the simulations, I felt like I did well enough to pass, and ended up with a 73. Then there was BEC and that test was the one I felt the most confident about after taking it. I just knew that I not only passed it but aced it, but I ended up with a 71. Why is the CPA Exam like that? Why is it the ones you believe you do well on, you do bad and the ones you think you did bad on, you end up doing well? Why?

FAR - Attempt 1-(70)...Attempt 2 (Passed Baby)-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.
AUD- Attempt 1-Passed!!!!!!!!! )-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.
REG-Attempt 1-(73)...Attempt 2 (Passed Baby)-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.
BEC-Attempt 1-(71)...Attempt 2 (Passed Baby)-Praise the Lord-Couldn't have done it without him.

****What is one Golden Rule for Passing the Exam? 1) Read the question properly. and 2) Leave yourself enough time to answer all of the....
****Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They makes mistakes, but they don't quit.
****Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

[Anonymous]

It wasn't that way for me. I left FAR wondering “Is that really it?” but generally feeling optimistic. I passed. I left AUD sure that I failed because the questions didn't get longer or harder. I passed too.

[Noct]

I've only taken two exams so far, but I've got to say I agree completely. I walked out of FAR with an ominous feeling of doom over my head. I had been concentrating so hard for so long that I felt mentally numb. I was certain I had failed… got a 79. Then I took AUD and it was exactly the opposite. The answers were coming to me readily and quickly. Only marked 2-3 questions per testlet. Even the simulations seemed easy. I walked out sure that I had passed. Imagine my surprise and dismay when I got my score of 65…

I'm honestly thinking that confidence in the exam room has no correlation with the results. After all, there are a lot of factors that go into the score. For example, I could have answered 80% of the questions correctly, but of those, 16% could have been “pretest questions” which don't count. Additionally, they apply a mysterious “weighting scale” to questions based on their difficulty which can dramatically affect the final score.

It even says on the AICPA website that “The difficulties of the questions are accounted for during scoring. Therefore, it does not mean that it is easier to get a higher score simply because you receive easier questions.”

FAR - 79 - 07/2012
AUD - 65, 78 - 11/2012
BEC - 76 - 11/2012
REG - 78 - 01/2013
ETH - 98 - 01/2013

Material: Wiley books

[Author]

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