[Capps1227]

So I took FAR for the first time today and I’m about 99% sure I failed my exam. I felt decent after the multiple choice as there were only a handful of questions I was unsure of. I also didn’t feel that my second testlet of multiple choice was harder at all than the first so I’m not sure if that means I messed up the first one.
Once I got to the sims my confidence tanked since they were pretty difficult and I wasn’t even sure what to do for about 2 of them. I also didn’t end up leaving much time to complete the sims so I didn’t get to even work on one of them. I just filled in certain numbers to give myself at least some chance of getting points. One of my sims was also on derivatives and I totally blanked so I definitely lost points on that. Overall, I feel that there was about 3 sims that I totally screwed up.
I saw a few posts on here about people with similar experiences with the old format of the exam that ended up passing, but I haven’t see any that reflects this new format and grading. Has anyone had an experience like this and still ended up passing? I’m hoping for a miracle at this point since I have to pass 3 exams before March so I don’t lose my BEC exam. The fact that I have to wait until December for a score release is killing me!

[Chandler]

On each of the 3 sections I've passed, FAR included, there have been at least 2 sims that I felt really weak on. When I took FAR, there were 3 sims I had to mostly guess on. I came out with a 75. It all depends on how you did on the MCQ's, the research sims, etc. It's also possible that (1 or 2) sims you knew nothing about were thrown out anyway. Don't lose hope but it's good to have a backup plan just in case you did fail. 🙂 In the event you have to retake FAR or another section, don't underestimate the authoritative literature! I have found answers/help on many sims through the AL. Hope you passed!

[Wannafree]

Yes

[hopingtogetFAR]

I passed. MCQs felt great. My second testlet felt harder, but still felt good about it. Felt okay on the first two testlets of SIMS, but the third testlet had so much information. I don't think I answered anything on one of them. The second one I answered maybe 20% of and the third I felt terrible about, so there is hope/

[Ana]

If by luck the one that is a pre-test was left blank then it's possible to pass. However, like you said I don't know if passing with blank sims is possible under the new format.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Especially if you are right that you did as well as you think in the MCQ

[CS]

Yes. I took it on August 31st under the new format. I miscalculated my time strategy (overshot) by a huge margin, leaving me with 2 hours for the SIMs. After testlet 3, I was looking at an hour and a half (with 6 SIMs to go). One of the SIMs in the 4th testlet had about 30 blanks to fill in, I literally laughed and skipped it entirely. Got a research question in the last testlet which I saved for last, and of course in the “fog” of the exam and anxiety, saw the actual answer in the AL in the last 15 seconds, so I deleted my entry, and barely got a digit in when my test timed out, so my research was essentially blank so had to be wrong, and I left a huge SIM blank, and got an 81, anything's possible.

[Anonymous]

You can't leave as many of them blank as you could in the past.

There were some people on here about a year ago – one in particular comes to mind, but I'm sure he was lying – who reported leaving 4 SIMs blank and still passing with scores in the low 80s. That's a *lot* of material to leave blank on a test and still walk out with a pass. But, they must've knocked it out of the park on the MCQ, that's about all I can guess. But, I think that was happening a lot, and the AICPA did something about it…they changed the format of the exam and adjusted the score weighting.

If you do leave 2 blank, you can still pass if you have done well on the rest of the test. It's just harder to pass nowadays if you do leave more than one blank unless one of the blank ones is a non-graded pre-tested SIM. I think the research SIM is not pre-tested though. That one counts for everybody. Luckily, those questions are easy.

I don't know much about the new version of FAR because I took and failed it during the last window of the old format. Two of the seven SIMs were abominably hard and would've taken me an hour to do each one. I filled in ‘ZERO” for all the blanks on them. There were another two easy ones which I am sure I got correct. Then there were another two which were just weird and I probably got about 50% on them. And, last but not least, the research one, which is the only one that I nailed….which most people do anyway so no great accomplishment there.

[Ana]

@sbn can you share your test results? strong on mcq and on how many of the topics? also what did you get on sims?

[Anonymous]

someone on this forum accidentally skipped a sim testlet on FAR and passed. so its possible

[CS]

@ Ana

My score report doesn't show my breakdown so I have no clue, although I am definitely curious.

I am pretty certain my second testlet of MCQs hit a higher difficulty level because that's where my time screwed up. I finished my the first testlet in 45 min or so, which means my second testlet took me an hour and fifteen minutes, which is terrible time management and I hadn't realized until I was finishing up and panicked a bit.

For the SIMs, I am sure the AL counted which I definitely got wrong (wasn't even filled in), and the SIM I left blank (completely, no zeroes, no “No Entry” nothing) may have been pretest but that would be a surprise because it wasn't difficult, just incredibly extensive with tons of documents but very relatable to what is commonly studied for FAR. I also know of a few MCQ I definitely got wrong. Those combined factors are what led to be certain that I failed when I left right up until score release, as other posters here wrote about how they had x amount of time left, checked their work etc. and I didn't even come close to finishing the exam itself.

That being said, I am not so sure when someone receives a 74, that another MCQ or 2 correct would relate to a “Pass”. Logically, one would assume so, but just seeing how my exam went and the results I have even less of an idea how it's scored, and nothing anyone has written on this board seems to shed any actual light, which is how I guess it's supposed to be.

[Anonymous]

How do you “accidentally” skip a SIM testlet? And still pass? “Pics or it didn't happen.”

[PNS2CLT]

The first testlet has 2 sims, the next two have 3. A co-worker told me that he spent so much time on the second sim testlet, that when he completed the second sim he submitted his testlet, thinking he was done. He later realized his mistake and ended up with a 74. Not sure if it's true, but he's not a B.S.er

[Anonymous]

I would almost be inclined to think that if someone submits a blank testlet, the controls built into the exam would count it as a red flag that would be investigated. What if the testlet didn't display on the screen or something?? But, by default, the candidate would not get a passing score as a result of not entering any data on a testlet. Isnt' there a tech support hotline that you can call after you're done with the test if you did have problems? If that had been me, I'd have reported the issue.

[Author]

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