[Dushyant]

Hello everyone,
I am a 8 days away from my FAR CPA exam as of today and I am feeling burned out. Should I take today off from studying and unwind a little?
I Have been doing around 130 to 150+ MCQs and 8-10 TBS every day followed by skimming through theory. Two weeks back, I finished working my Becker MCQs and TBSs (have read through the entire textbook 3 times now), also the entire Wiley testbank (of which I got 88% right in 1st attempt). I have finished the following mock exams in the same order:
Wiley Practice exam 1: 77
Becker Sim exam 1: 85
Becker Sim exam 2: 91
Also, during my sim exams, I have observed that I have taken about of 10-20 mins more than the recommended 1 hour and 30 mins for the 2 MCQ sections. I don’t know if I am doing right by taking break today. I plan to keep hammering MCQs and TBSs and also give Becker sim exam 3 and Wiley practice exam 2 till Sunday and take it easy on Monday before my exam on Tuesday.
Thank you.

[Recked]

I highly recommend some down time to recoup.
I did not do any MCQs or SIMs the day before my exams so my brain could recharge. I did skim notes and mnemonics.
Based on your practice exam scores it sounds like you have FAR in the bag, and this should ease your anxiety a great deal.
Stay focused, and try to cut down your MCQs times a bit. The more time you leave yourself for the SIMs the better off you will be, but don't overly rush. You might be one of those people that finishes an hour early. Just keep pushing forward.

[Dushyant]

Thank you so much for the advice.. I did take break that day and I am definitely not going to do any questions on the day before exam. I am doing 70 mcqs (in 1.5 hrs) and 4 sims (sims that have exhibits, DRS & critical topics) at a time and then immediately reviewing each MCQ irrespective I got it right or wrong and would go through the notes where I feel to. I am doing this at least twice daily and I also do 20-30 MCQs in similar way of NFP and Govt. accounting. So around 150+ mcqs and 8 sims. Should I do more?
Thank you so much for the morale boost. Really need it. I just hope to pass this. I lose my sleep if I start thinking of ‘what if on exam' scenarios.
Thank you.

[Amber]

I think you have really set yourself up to do well. Taking breaks is really important to recharge. I've found that I finish the SIM exams on Becker in around 2 hours and 40 minutes and still run out of time on the exam everytime I've taken it which is now 7 lol. Last time I needed about 30 extra minutes. The sims get me every time but I was much more efficient on the multiple choice. Id say if you can get through the multiple choice in an hour and a half you should have plenty of time for sims. More time for those the better at least in my case. Hopefully I was able to squeak by this time because like you, I am VERY burnt out. FAR was my last and I got a 74 in June and Audit expired. I've since gotten two 69 scores with Reg expiring 11/30. Needless to say Im over it haha. Good luck to you! Im sure you will do great.

[Recked]

Remember on the exam you will have some MCQs you can answer quickly, and others that will require calculations and take longer. Your average times per MCQs will always be impacted in your practice exam is heavy on the calculation questions. If you run the calculations and don't see an answer, quickly review to see if you made a mistake and can get the right answer, otherwise move on. Usually if you don't get the answer immediately based on your calculation, you are missing something in the fact pattern or your understanding. It's not worth it to waste time messing with the calculations, you can earn more points elsewhere on the exam.
–
The quantity is not as important as the quality. You will find diminishing results if you keep grinding too hard. I was trying to do 100 MCQs a day, and my brain was spent after that. I was also doing them in 10MCQ sets, which I feel was not good in hindsight as I didn't work myself up to being focused and answering questions for a solid 4 hours in actual exam circumstances.
–
I had a jackhammer running in the parking garage directly out the window of the testing center, got no sleep, and ran out of time on FAR. It's okay to use all the time. You paid for it so you might as well use it all. I think you are overprepared, and I have no doubts you will pass.
Just keep reviewing your notes, and keep doing the MCQs.
Make a paper and pencil request if you haven't done so already.
Hit the AICPA samples if you haven't already.
Your plan is working, and you seem to be very prepared. You will pass.

[Alix]

You are not alone. I take BEC in one week, which is hopefully my last. Over a year of grinding and I am so burnt out. Having trouble focusing this week.

[Dushyant]

Thank you for your valuable feedbacks Amber, Recked & Alix. I have literally noted them down on my daily mantra page that I read before starting my daily practice.
Reading all of your response has made one things clear that I must keep my focus on time management and attitude of not giving up no matter what and also keeping my mental health up. I was down with covid like symptoms (though I am vaccinated :/ ), so to avoid any risk I pushed my exam day two days ahead on 11th. Fortunately test came back negative, it was just a viral flu and my symptoms were gone yesterday. I still lost one entire day because of running fever for almost entire day. May be I was pushing too hard, dunno.. But I gave my Becker's 3rd Sim Exam today. I was able to finish it in 3 hrs and 8 mins. But I did take 1 hr 34 mins for finishing MCQs (not happy with this at all). Scored 93. Reviewed my mistakes and did another 35 MCQs and called it a day as I am still not feeling 100%. One thing I am sure that sims on exam are going to take me for a ride in hell. Sims on becker mock test are pretty similar, if not identical, as they were in their rest of the curriculum. So I am not sure if they have prepared me for sims on exams. As Recked adviced, while solving MCQs I didn't try to get each and every MCQ right, but to be done with them in time and not to second guess myself. I was trying to finish them in 1 hr 15 mins, but couldn't. Hoping it would be better on exam. I have one more Wiley testbank's practice exam left, which I will do on Monday and from tomorrow like my usual routine, will keep hammering about 150+ MCQs, critical sims and practice test on AICPA website till 9th and on 10th will relax and just brush up on mnemonics and my notes. Hopefully, everything works out and clearing FAR will give me the much needed boost to prepare with enthusiasm for the remaining sections.

[Dushyant]

So sorry, I addressed you with your user name without checking your name in signature. I feel so stupid.
Have a you shared your experience working as CPA in any forum or somewhere? I would love to read it.

Once again thank you for your guidance.

[Amber]

You're going to do great. Update us when you get your score! GOOD LUCK!

[Amber]

@dushyant Had to check back and see how it went?!? Was hoping the best for you!

[Dushyant]

@Amber. Hi, its seems that there has been an issue with my score. I haven't received it yet, which I should have on 23rd November. As per my phone conversation with a NASBA representative, my exam attendance was not submitted by prometric to NASBA but exam would have been submitted to AICPA, thus their system didn't show it as attended and I didn't receive my score. I had been sending emails to NASBA since 21st November and calling at all available contact numbers 2-3 times a day. Today I was able to get a direct email contact of someone who handles such situation and have sent her all my details and documents including a copy of my Confirmation of Attendance that I received from prometric after exam. I am an international candidate and it costs me over $650 to schedule an exam and it has cost me nearly $100 to make international calls to NASBA and I haven't received a single response yet as to how or when will this issue be resolved or even a single reply stating this is being worked upon. I haven't been able to sleep or eat since and frankly I now doubt outcome would be any reliable. I really expected some accountability from organization which is built on accountability. And now with thanks giving holidays, I don't think I'll be hearing back from them soon.
I am sorry for the rant. But to anyone who is seeing this and can give some information or guidance on how to get such issues resolved, please let me know..

[Recked]

I would send an email to candidate care as well, they might offer some assistance of some kind.
Sorry all this has happened to you.
I was really hoping to see a passing score when I clicked on this thread.
Sounds like a nightmare.

candidatecare@nasba.org

[Dushyant]

Hi, I have sent email to candidate care too. I also contacted prometric and AICPA and provided all the details. Few hours back I received an email from AICPA which said their exam team has confirmed that my score was sent to NASBA on 11/22 and I need to contact NASBA. But NASBA is now closed for thanks giving holidays. I never thought I would have to face such problem in exam. I am not able to focus on my preparation for AUD.. Wasting days..

[Recked]

Hopefully you received some news now that the holiday/holiday weekend is over.
How did you do? So anxious to know.

[Dushyant]

No response yet. Not able to reach anyone over the phone either. I only have confirmation from AICPA exam team that they had sent my score to nasba on 22nd Nov and I will have to wait for response from NASBA. Its nearly 3 AM here and I have been glued to NASBA candidate portal and my phone..

[Dushyant]

I guess I've passed. I received a Response yesterday that they have uploaded my score NASBA's candidate portal, but it's not showing there. But when I logged in on cpaentral my profile is showing FAR score as 90.. I hope this to be true..

[Author]

Replies