[socloseyetsofar]

The subject is pretty self-explanatory. I took the exam in early January and had major technical difficulties while taking the exam. The screen would lag when I hit “next” to go to the next question, throwing me off my rhythm; eventually, the whole computer froze, and I was moved to a different monitor. I had written in the end-of-exam evaluation that I experienced computer issues, thinking that was the appropriate location to vent my concerns (it wasn’t).

As things would have it, I received a 74 about four weeks later, and, after being led there by the Illinois board, I e-mailed NASBA about the difficulties I experienced during the test. They replied to me with an e-mail quashing any sort of discussion, stating my problems were invalid since (many more than) 5 days have elapsed from my exam date.

I have two main problems/questions, and I wanted to know if I was by myself here or if others shared the same thoughts. 1) I don’t feel like NASBA made it clear enough that formal notification of technical difficulties needed to occur within 5 business days. It was surprising to me, and others around my workplace didn’t know of this rule either. It wouldn’t hurt to put that explicitly in the end-of-exam evaluation, would it? 2) Why does NASBA use 5 days as the amount of time for notification here? It’s not like the issues go away after 5 days, and I don’t see how the integrity of the exam gets affected if I notify them within one week or two weeks or a month.

Lastly, anyone know if there’s any possibility or prior example of contacting NASBA after this 5-day period and getting a retake of the exam free of cost or some other satisfactory solution? Thanks.

BEC- Jul '14 - 82
REG- Aug '14 - 82
AUD- Aug '14 - 56; Jan '15- 74; April '15- 96
FAR- Oct '14 - 87

[soyanks]

I wasn't aware of any 5 day rule either but I am not sure if NASBA will budge.

When I took one of my exams, the computer started shutting down all by itself and restarted, logging me out of the computer after the exam started. Prometric staff then moved me to another PC and when I was logged back on, it had saved all my answers from the other PC. I continued and finished the exam, and I don't think it had any impact on my score.

FAR - 86
REG - 85
BEC - 90
AUD - 84

[socloseyetsofar]

Thanks for the reply. If nothing else, I want people to know that if they had technological problems, they need to notify NASBA within 5 days, as arbitrary as that may seem. I almost wish your situation had happened to me, rather than answer about 15 questions with varying and unpredictable degrees of lag. When I hit “next,” the screen would go blank for two seconds, then eight, then four, and so on until it just stopped working. I don't expect anything to come of this, but just wanted to see if folks had any ideas.

BEC- Jul '14 - 82
REG- Aug '14 - 82
AUD- Aug '14 - 56; Jan '15- 74; April '15- 96
FAR- Oct '14 - 87

[Anonymous]

Interesting. I had no idea about this rule. I had a few technical difficulties as well. As I took Audit, I moved on to the simulations portion and my computer completely froze, and the screen went black. The Prometric staff had to reboot my computer and it picked up where I left off. Luckily, I had plenty of time left and wasn't in a crunch, but I can see it being an issue on one of the shorter exams.

[juuustin]

Five days is definitely arbitrary, but they reason they must have a hard-and-fast rule is so that after people fail, they don't get inundated with people saying they experience technical difficulties. I am not doubting your problems at all, but think if everyone could call weeks later and say they experienced issues.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[Anonymous]

When I took BEC, my foot caught on the power cord and unplugged the computer. They moved me to another station where I was able to resume my test. I don't know if my clock was still running during that time. It was between testlets, so I don't know if it would have kicked me out of the testlet either.

[Kimboroni]

I don't have one handy, but I'm pretty sure the 5 day rule is explained on the paper they give you when you leave the exam. juuustin is probably correct on the reason.

But I feel for you– a 74 is horrible any way you look at it.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[socloseyetsofar]

@juuustin I'm probably being naive, but I don't think they'd be flooded with calls. My problem has more to do with test-takers not knowing, and then being somewhat misled that the end-of-exam evaluation is apparently meaningless. Ideally, I'd just have Prometric contact NASBA when the test-taker experiences a technology problem.

@kimboroni interesting. I was told that was just a receipt and indicates my completion of the exam. Wish I had one around as well.

BEC- Jul '14 - 82
REG- Aug '14 - 82
AUD- Aug '14 - 56; Jan '15- 74; April '15- 96
FAR- Oct '14 - 87

[juuustin]

“NASBA’s Candidate Care Department acts as an advocate for CPA candidates. If there are any lingering concerns about difficulties that may have occurred during your test, contact the Candidate Care Department within five days of taking the Exam in order for a thorough investigation to be conducted.”

From NASBA. Again, not saying that they were correct in how they presented this information, but it is there.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[Allergic2CPA]

@OP

I do remember reading the 5 day rule but don't recall it being too obvious. The other factor is that if someone takes their time reporting the issues, they may have lost whatever technical trail that would be indicative of such issues. I'm no techie but I did stay at a Holiday Inn :).

FAR 46*, 77
AUD 70, 79
BEC 67, 82
REG 75

Texas License July 2013

Used Yaeger lectures based on Wiley textbooks

*Studied less than two weeks, forgot I had purchased NTS.

[saucesah]

I will say I have experienced problems at our testing center which is not a prometric testing center, but an authorized proctor for exams managed through prometric with prometric issued computers. The issues we were having were not as bad as @socloseyetsofar, but nontheless it delayed the examination by an avg of 1+hrs for a handful of candidates. I specifically had to wait a little over 2hrs to get the exam loaded. The testing center doesn't allow study material in the area, so I couldn't use the time to cram more junk in my head. In all cases, none of us reported this to NASBA in the 5-days. So, we contacted our State Board and had them fight this battle for us. The computers with issues were eventually fixed and as far as I know the problem has been resolved.

Today, I became a cool kid.

AUD - Passed
REG - Passed
BEC - Passed
FAR - Passed

[spartancpa15]

I'm pretty sure that NASBA makes it clear that you should read the AICPA's Candidate Bulletin, which talks about the 5 day rule.

FAR - Aug '14 - 90
AUD - Jan '15 - 91
REG - May '15 - 93
BEC - July '15 - 85

Used CPAexcel exclusively
Master of Science in Accounting (focus in Tax) May '15

[y_u_no_pass]

I'm sorry you got a 74 that is really frustrating. Yeah. I have seen this in a few places. I think it is in the beginning or end of the exam and as someone else mentioned the candidate bulletin. There is a reason they make you read all of that stuff.

Florida CPA!
Took final exam 2/25/15.
Sent in Application 3/12/15.
Issued License 3/20/15.
Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

[Author]

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