[yozdemir27]

I have my first exam (BEC) on the 8th and I am so anxious. I’m worried because of the obvious reason of BEC changing the most, but also because I don’t feel as prepared as I’d like to.

However, I believe having the right mindset in long exams like this one can do wonders and as much as I am trying to be ready for it, I know you guys, previous test takers, probably know best.

Any recommendations before going in?

Thanks a million!

[GinjaNinja]

Read every question like it is the one that will either cause you to pass or fail. You will be very nervous when you first begin the exam, but focus on what the question is asking. Once you choose your answer, reread the question before moving on to the next in order to be sure you understood what the question was asking.

[krstnam]

Tomorrow will mark my 4th time setting foot in the exam center. I passed two, failed one. Tomorrow is my first retake.

Honestly, I never felt good going into the testing center. The best I could say for any exam was “I studied the best I could and I hope it's enough”

I made a routine. I drive to the neighborhood the testing center is in a couple hours before othe test. I have a list of no more than 15 last minute/last hour formulas to memorize. I get my sammich and iced tea (not too much tho) and memorize those last few short things and try to relax. I put on YouTube. Hawaiian Folk Music. It plays a video of the beach with slack key guitar and ukulele songs with no lyrics. It's by WavesDVDcom. My dad usually says a prayer with me too. 🙂 if God isn't your thing then maybe just tell yourself you're going to remember what you learned, focus on reading the questions correctly and that odds will be in your favor and you'll get questions that you know how to quickly answer.

Good luck!

[yozdemir27]

@GinjaNinja thank you! Do you feel that the time allocated to the MCQ is enough to take your time in rereading most questions and answers? I hear that BEC is mostly conceptual, and not so much calculation so I'm guessing the time should be enough?

[yozdemir27]

@krstnam thank you! How about during the exam haha, I can imagine the stress levels rising during maybe MCQ packet 2 and 3 when/hopefully the questions become more difficult because, again hopefully, you did well on the 1st one.

[tygolfer]

I don't agree at all with GingaNinja (great name by the way). Approaching each question like it is the one that will cause you to pass or fail is putting way too much stress on yourself. I also don't think you should reread each question multiple times, this is just going to psych you out. Read each question once, very well, then choose your answer and move on. If you don't feel good about it, flag it and come back after you have finished all the other questions.

For BEC, I found that just hammering as many MCQ's was the best way for me to learn. There is no way you are going to be able to memorize all the COSO and IT stuff, so just do your best to have a good base understanding. Good Luck!

[slackergurl]

As soon as the exam starts, I write my time-split goals at the top of my note boards. I assume 90 seconds per MC question, so for BEC, I would write “2:24, 1:48, 1:12” at the top. That would give me a quick reference at the end of each testlet to see if I'm on track time-wise or not. (So at the end of the first testlet, I should have 2:24 left, end of the second 1:48, etc).

The one time I didn't do this, I ran out of time on the REG Sims and had to leave two blank (and scored a 61. Yikes!)

Anyway, it's a comforting process to me and makes me feel in control. I also go to the restroom before the fingerprinting/sign-in process and look in the mirror and tell myself “you got this” a la Laurie Hernandez. The first time I did that, I finally passed REG on what was my 6th attempt. 🙂

[Ryan – Just Another Dollar]

I always went into the test center with the mindset that I had a definite chance to pass and have one more section complete, but if I fail I'm no worse off and I'll have had the most realistic practice exam for next time. As I worked through the test itself, I would focus more on how many MCQ I'd definitely gotten correct instead of worrying about the ones I wasn't sure of. I would even keep track of how many questions I was 50% or 75% sure of and calculate my own hypothetical weighted average at the end of each MCQ section. Not sure if any of those tactics helped, but I passed in 7 months with 6 attempts. YMMV

B - 88 (2/16)
A - 84 (4/16)
R - 73 (6/16), 82(7/16)
F - 67 (1/16), 84(4/16)

Ethics - 93

Roger course & Ninja MCQ - HiYa!

[MommyCPA]

So, i just took my first test on the 6th but i can say- its taken me awhile just to even be ALLOWED to walk in the testing center. I graduated back in 09- the requirements changed, so I have had to take additional classes, yada yada- but I just took a minute and was like- I'm at least at this point, and gave myself a pat on the back. Some don't even make it as far as the testing center- and some days I felt like that was going to be me- but there I stood- getting finger printed and ID'd and patted down and I was STOKED! Now lets just hope I had enough in my brain to get a passing grade, if not, like others have said it was great to just have the experience (an expensive one) but whatever!

[acardone51]

Just remember that it's totally expected to be nervous lol…take a deep breath before you start. Take a practice test or two before the exam to get your timing straightened out…figure out how much time you'd like ideally to have for the Sims/Writing. Try to stick to that. If you can't don't freak out, but don't fall too far behind.

And my best piece of advice: remember, about one-sixth of the questions are pretest questions, meaning THEY WILL NOT COUNT. Don't beat yourself up about the few questions that you're not sure on. Just take a deep breath, and tell yourself that that was one of the pretest questions and that it didn't count. Who cares if it's the truth or not. It will help you relax. Just stay cool and remember the thousands of posts on here where people thought they did bad and they passed.

Good luck!!

[GinjaNinja]

@Tyler We all have different methods. Just giving the advice that helped me.

OP – there's plenty of time for BEC to read each question twice. I even went back and checked each of my questions before submitting each testlet. Just be sure to leave 1 hour for WC. This means you need to finish each MCQ testlet in 40 min

[krstnam]

I agree with slackergirl with the time clock.

When I first get in the testing room there is a 10 minute timer before the test starts. It may sound silly but I use that time. I put my last minute formulas on the notecard and put my timers on the top left hand side. The 10 min is plenty of time to put in those formulas so I don't waste precious test time. You get two notecards so one is my master copy and the second is for my work. I also have the testing center show me the pens before I go in. The first test I took I had to write huge and wasted time both writing so big and trading notecards in. Never made that mistake again.

I take at least one break. I try to do it before the final part, so for BEC it would be before the written portion. I know it sinks into your time but for me getting up and stretching before the last push helps. I usually bring a granola bar and water too, just in case. For FAR I took two breaks. My testing center lets us go on a patio. I go outside take a few deep breaths and go back in to test.

When I get frustrated which happens at least once per testlet, I close my eyes and take a deep breath then try to refocus. If I come across a question I keep reading over and over and can't get, I make a guess, flag it and return to it. I do the same with questions that are worded strangely.

I dress very comfortably. I had a test today and didn't wear my contacts, wore loose fitting tennis shoes, sweat pants and a very light hoodie. I figure if I'm about to be tortured, might as well be comfy 😀

[yozdemir27]

Thank you everyone! All of your comments are appreciated and I will definitely consider it all tomorrow 🙂

[txtoca]

TOTALLY AGREE WITH @TYLER!!! Definitely don't read every question multiple times and waste time. And, don't think that each question is a pass/fail situation. The best mindset to have is to know that you are NOT going to know everything. Also know that you WILL make stupid mistakes. There will be curve-balls in there, and if you start seeing a lot of them – that's a great thing. Also know that if you answer a harder question right, that scores lot more points than an easy question. I remember in REG, I had 3 questions regarding Gross Income. I had just taken FAR, 3 weeks before and did not review the “gross income” concept in REG. I was like – oh this is so easy, gross income is everything (true for FAR, not for REG). Three super easy questions, I totally lost points on, yet I passed the exam! So, just relax, give yourself a break, and do lots of multiple choice leading up to the exam (my strategy is 100 MC Q's a day & 7-8 simulations a day for 2 weeks before the exam).

[cmcook]

Although I agree reading questions multiple times is excessive, I think there's wisdom to reading the question very slow (I am guilty of burning through questions at a rate of approx 30 seconds only to find out I read them wrong later…), and then re-reading it as soon as you check your answer. Assuming you are a proficient reader, this will add maybe 7-10 seconds to your question time. Also, I found that it took me about 8 questions to warm up on my first testlet. I was so panicked I couldn't even make out what I was reading. I flagged them all, and at the end of the testlet, went back over each one. I only caught one mistake, but it might have been the one to make the difference! Good luck.

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