[StuckBelow60]

So…I took the beast, lol.

My MCQ was a mix (as per usual), but focused A LOT on Government, NFP, and Acct Changes- more then I was prepared for. A few math questions, but mostly a lot of conceptual. I HIGHLY recommend doing the NINJa video’s and MCQ at least once for these.

Sims were…eh. Definitely look at income taxes, Shareholder’s Equity, and Cash and Cash Equivalents- I wish I had looked at those more. The Authoritative Guidance was used heavily in 2 questions. My BIGGEST recommendation is leave at least 30-40min for the last question. I left 20min and I basically rushed and I have a hail Mary. It’s one that requires a ton of authoritative guidance and math, not hard, but man does it take time.

Overall…eh. I might have passed, but I know that 2 of the Sims in the lats teslet killed me- one for the running out of time. But Overall, not crazy, just FAR.

Let me know if I said too much. Thanks- and Good Luck fellow NINJA’s!

[Jordan]

My experience was very bad. I thought the MCQs were a lot harder in the actual test. Most people say the opposite, but I was getting pretty high grades in the practice tests. Sims were god awful. Out of the 8, I had a research, DRS, and a small other sim, but the 5 others…holy crap. They were extremely long, at least 30 fill-ins, and 6-8 documents each. I did not expect 5 of my sims to be that brutal, maybe 1 or 2. On all of those 5, I didn't finish any of them and just filled in what I could, which was very little. I don't know if it was luck of the draw getting those sims, but my god they were bad. What a demoralizing experience to say the least, especially after doing pretty well in the practice course.

[jd]

Far was my first CPA Exam experience. Just took it on Jan-12. I'm lucky to have made it out alive. I understand Gov't and NFP is a huge part of the exam, but it almost seemed rather excessive. Found it necessary to spend a third of total study time related to those two topics.

[David]

Just took FAR and made an account here to vent LOL. I think in total I spent 200+ hours studying for the exam, and man did that test feel hard – straight up feel like i failed. I thought i was decently prepared on my practice exams from becker because i averaged about an 80. I guess the only thing I can do now is wait. 🙁

[ginny.emmer]

I took FAR on January 9th and got my score on Monday – failed for the 3rd time and only scored one point higher than the last time I took it. I think it was just a really hard exam this quarter. Very frustrating but I'll pass it eventually.

[David]

Just took my exam, and Im still lying around in bed because i cant stop thinking about my exam. I averaged around a 77% on my becker finals, but man did I come out of that thing feeling destroyed. My first testlet felt hard and asked a couple of ambiguous questions. I guess I can only wait now.

[Jordan]

@David I feel like we had the exact same experience. Over 200 hours, doing well on the practice exams / progress tests and expecting to do even better on the actual because everyone says there's like a 10 point increase because the actual exam isn't as detailed. Truthfully i was expecting like one big sim based on a statement that had to reconcile and would take forever. I didn't expect to have 4 of them that were like that though. Same experience on the first testlet too. I wasn't expecting them to be that hard, then the second testlet was a lot easier which means I probably did bad on the first one.

[Jennyycpa]

Same here!!! literally have the exact same feeling.
I took it couple days agao.I had serveral mcqs that I was not sure about and just decided to trust my guts. I was expecting to have more mathmetical problems, which I am good at, but instead I got lots of conceptual questions. I am not saying these questions were hard, instead they were just some tiny detailed questions that becker doesn't really get into. I felt fine with the sims, nothing was challenging and actually becker has similar questions.

I guess at this point we just need to wait patiently while keep praying. The result may be better than we thought. I am trying to move on and start studying REG that i will take on April.

Good luck everyone and remember to keep updated on 26th 🙂

[TerriSilva]

hi guys – I took FAR on January 31st for the FIFTH time, yes you read that right, FIVE. I missed it by a couple points twice now, and failed miserably twice, so I can tell you that there are so many different versions it's a crap shoot as to what you'll get. I was prepared for the lengthy SIMS and finished everything this time, but the research question was way out in left field and I don't know that I actually found it. My first SIM was something I'm very good at and lets just say I know I got it 100% correct, but there were two that I feel could go either way. It's very hard to know because you never get to see the results after the exam. I finished the 2 mcq testiest in 1 hour and 40 minutes so I had 2 hours and 20 minutes for the SIMS…finished right as the clock hit zero. If I passed, I am DONE. If not, BEC expires and I am still on this crazy train!

Here's to us all getting good news!

[Brokenglass]

Mine was a retake after I failed in December. The MCQ were harder than the first time but overall not bad. Finished the first 2 testlets in 2 hours. The sims were a lot easier than the first time. I think the difficulty depends on the version of the test you get, not by quarter. I finished the exam with second left. There were 2 simulations that I felt like I didn’t finish because I was running out of time

[Jordan]

@Brokenglass My sims on this test sound like your sims on your first exam. 4 long statements that had 6 or 7 documents to go with them. I wonder if they grade the exam in relation to the people that took the same version. Like if everyone messed up on the long sims then I wouldn't get penalized as bad, or if mine will be graded together with people that got shorter sims. My only hope in passing is if the majority of people didn't understand those sims as well and they take that into account in the grading, but i don't know how they do it.

[LittleTimmy]

I just got home from my 6th or 7th time taking FAR. The MCQs were not hard, but strange as they didn't cover a wide section of the material, lots of Government stuff, but there were loads of topics(chapters) that were never covered in the MCQs.

The research question was the easiest one ever given to me, the entire reason I failed FAR in December with a 73 was probably because I couldn't even attempt the research question on that exam because the question was so bizarre, but today's research question was the easiest ever.

The SIMs were strange today, they happened to pick on my weakest subjects.

The main sentiment I had when leaving the testing center today is that I have to change my study methodology, I am spending too much time reading the textbook and trying to learn and memorize concepts and attempting difficult MCQs at home, when the MCQs on the actual exam don't require much work/writing. I was able to attempt all 66 MCQs today and only used one side of one laminated-markerboard at the testing center for scratch work. I have to spend more time doing SIMs at home, even though many people claim that spending time practicing SIMs is a waste of time – they say to just do MCQs and that isn't enough for me.

[Author]

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