[ScruffMcGruff]

I just took my first exam (AUD) last Friday and I just wanted to know, in general, what people thought/felt after leaving the exam room after their first test. In particular, if you passed your first test, did you feel that you were almost 100% certain you passed, or did you still feel (very) nervous?

I feel like I got a high portion of the MC right (I had maybe 4-6 Q’s per testlet that I had to come back to, 20-25+ Qs per testlet I was 99% sure were correct), and almost all of the questions I was unsure about — which I remembered to look up after the test — I also found out were right. As for the sims, I am pretty sure I aced 3-4 of them (I would be suprised if I got less than 100% on 3 of the sims in particular), but I did have quite a bit of trouble with 3 others (I feel like I got at least 50% of the answers/fields correct on these, the rest however was educated guesswork).

Overall, I feel more nervous about failing than confident that I passed, even though I think I performed well overall. Anyhow, is this a normal feeling to have after walking out of your first test (assuming you later find out that you passed it)?

AUD - 85
FAR - 78 (lol@ FAR Sims)
REG - 85
BEC - August

[IwannaBaCPA]

From my own personal experience, I thought for sure I failed BEC after I walked out of the testing center. BEC was my first section and I felt totally blindsided by the actual exam. There were things on there from outer space!! BEC doesn't have any SIMS and the written questions were no problem, but the MCQ were terrible…

Then I took FAR and although most questions originated from earth, I still felt terrible during/after the exam…I felt totally overwhelmed and had terrible test day amnesia…I thought for sure I had failed FAR too…

Turns out I passed both, which I was totally shocked about…you just never know! I really hope you passed I audit, I take that in about a week and a half and am hoping for a better feeling after I leave the testing center…

Good Luck!

BEC: 79 - April 2011
FAR: 78 - May 2011
AUD: 81 - May 2012
REG: 79 - October 2012
Ethics: Passed - March 2013
I am finally DONE!

[Anonymous]

I actually had a very different feeling when I left. When each of those exams stopped, and I walked out of the testing center I had absolutely no feeling at all as to how I did. I knew I had some right, and there were others that I didn't know if I had right. When I've thought I did well, it turned out I failed, and when I thought for sure I'd have to go back in, sometimes it resulted in passing. The end of the day, you have no idea. Whatever your score is, it is. The best advice I can give you is to realize that everyone walks out of those testing centers with different feelings on how they did. What is important is that you continue working on your journey while you wait for scores.

[HazeEastwood]

I took FAR first. Since I wasn't sure how it was graded I thought I might have failed. I got destroyed by the SIMs. I barely had any info on any of them. But I still had a feeling that I might have passed. It was weird. Getting your first passing grade is great, it gives you a rush to continue

FAR-81
BEC-84
AUD-91
REG-89

[Anonymous]

My first exam was terrible, I felt like I had just wasted months studying—I remember kind of thinking to myself that I'd try and retake it within a few months, doubt had already begun to creep into my head whether I even wanted to pursue the CPA anymore, felt like it wasn't healthy to invest so much time into something and still fail. Then I got the passing score and like Haze said it was a rush to keep going. Not to mention I took FAR first, so I couldn't help but feel like “if I can pass that one I can pass any of them!”. Of course—that was until I met Reg. 🙂

[HazeEastwood]

BakedCPA, REG is the new beast. The test is just brutal. I got no real surprises on any of my other exams. REG throws all kinds of crap at you that you wouldn't expect. Yaeger said its a waste of time trying to cover every little aspect of what could be on REG. You won't rememberi t and its so much they could ask. Ugh, thank god its over!!!

FAR-81
BEC-84
AUD-91
REG-89

[kb24]

Haze is right about REG. I came out of the other three confident that I'd passed, but I was completely unsure about REG. As I walked out, I thought it was about 50/50 as to whether I passed or failed. I didn't think about it much until score release began but totally psyched myself into believing I'd failed while I was waiting on my scores. NASBA released REG on Wednesday (I think), but I'm in TX (non-NASBA) so I didn't see my score until Monday. I became so convinced that I was going to have to take it again, I began studying on Sunday. I didn't get a lot done because I kept thinking about how much I really didn't want to do this. Fortunately, I got good news on Monday morning.

FAR 4/1/11 - 89
AUD 4/15/11 - 85
REG 4/29/11 - 80
BEC 5/13/11 - 85

[Author]

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