56 on FAR…Not sure where to go from here

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  • December 11, 2018 at 12:15 pm #2109636
    animalwithin
    Participant

    Got a 56 on FAR, first time taking it.

    I wish they gave you a break down of your score as I don’t know where I messed up. I thought the MCQ’s were very fair and I got lots of Gov/Non-prof which I actually like. My weakest subjects were not really tested fortunately. Not sure how I did on SIM’s though. Two were easy, the rest I’m not sure how I did on. From my practice exams, SIM’s are definitely a very weak point of mine.

    I’m in the middle of studying for AUD which I take in a month. Do I stop and schedule FAR? I’m almost out of new questions for FAR…I finished Roger and I’m 3/4 of the way through NINJA. How do I study if I’m going to most likely do repeat questions? How long do I study for a retake? I studied for five months (way too long), not sure how much more time I need to increase my score.

    Ugh 🙁

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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  • December 11, 2018 at 12:20 pm #2109645
    turo9992000
    Participant

    They do give you a very generic breakdown of how you did. They say weaker, comparable or stronger.

    I got like 40 something on my first exam. I went in not expecting it to be like that, and after I learned what was required to pass, I completely changed my study habits and passed.

    What I would suggest is you cut your study time down. Instead of 5 months try studying for FAR in 2 months. It keeps everything fresh in your head. Also if you get through everything in 2 months by the time you get to the exam, you would have been living nothing but CPA exam going in.

    December 11, 2018 at 12:20 pm #2109657
    CH89
    Participant

    If I was in your position, I would probably just stick with FAR and try re-taking that exam. Within the next couple days you should be able to access your Candidate Performance Report, which will break down everything for you, and give you a better idea of where you were weak. https://www.aicpa.org/becomeacpa/cpaexam/psychometricsandscoring/candidateperformancereport.html , this goes a bit into detail and provides an example of this report.

    December 11, 2018 at 12:30 pm #2109672
    YouCanDoIt
    Participant

    I would continue with AUD as scheduled. This also gives you a break from FAR to come back and re-visit. Sometimes, information just clicks better on second time around. Also, personally if I studied 5 months for a subject, I couldn't retain very well. These exams to me are more like a 2-2.5 month thing. That's just my personal experience and opinion.

    FAR: 76
    REG: Currently studying
    AUD:
    BEC:

    December 11, 2018 at 12:37 pm #2109708
    animalwithin
    Participant

    Thanks for the tips everyone. I definitely agree that 5 months is WAY TOO LONG, it was just bad timing and decisions on my part. I'm on par for 2 months for AUD right now, have a month left.

    They do give a rough score breakdown, my mistake. Here is what I got:

    I. Conceptual Framework, Standard-Setting and Financial Reporting (25–35%): Weaker

    II. Select Financial Statement Accounts (30–40%): Weaker

    III. Select Transactions (20–30%): Comparable

    IV. State and Local Governments (5–15%): Stronger

    Multiple Choice (50%): Weaker

    Simulations (50%): Weaker

    December 11, 2018 at 12:47 pm #2109750
    Jgabbay
    Participant

    I originally got a 55 on my first FAR exam, first exam ever. What worked for me the second time around is that I really started from scratch; ditched the lectures and went straight for the annotated notebook. Took notes from those notes and created flashcards. Then used the flashcards to learn the material as I hammered away at mcq. The key is repetition and review.

    You can do this.

    December 11, 2018 at 1:12 pm #2109825
    Pork Flavored Bacon
    Participant

    Do not rely on the Content Type section to determine whether you did well in a section or not. That part of the performance report is complete bullsh–. I just looked at it on the AICPA website and I see they are still doing the same stupid crap as they did back when I took the exam a few years ago.

    This is what it says: “First, each content area contains fewer questions than the total exam, so the results on a single content area are much less reliable than the total exam score. Second, candidates are administered a different set of items and a different number of items that cover different aspects of the content areas. Consequently, the content area performance should not be used to interpret areas of importance or emphasis when retaking a section.”

    What that means is they only take a sample of questions from each content area to give your score. For example, let's use your report as an example: I. Conceptual Framework, Standard-Setting and Financial Reporting (25–35%): Weaker

    Just from these two sections, it indicates you scored “weaker”. But here is how it works. Let's say you had 20 questions in each of those two sections. They might take seven questions from each of those sections, determine if you got those seven questions right or wrong, and then determine your strength in that area. So out of those 25 questions, let's say you got 20 of them right. By chance, they chose the five questions you got wrong and three you got right for your performance report. Yea, you got five out of eight wrong in that sameple so they might say you are “weaker” but in reality, you got 80% of them right.

    That is about as unreliable as any report can be since they don't use all of the questions in the exam. I do appreciate their disclaimer at the end of that paragraph, though, and I agree. Study everything again, not just the parts which indicate “weaker” or “comparable” because for all you know, it can be opposite for all content areas on that report.

    FAR - 75 | REG - 87 | AUD - 82 | LAW - 81

    December 11, 2018 at 1:22 pm #2109840
    animalwithin
    Participant

    Pork, I agree, not the greatest score breakdown and will not rely on it.

    Jgabbay, thanks for the tips. What's the annotated notebook you used? I'll try flash cards, online cards helped and I might go for tangible cards this time, good way to get through a lot of material.

    December 11, 2018 at 4:37 pm #2110227
    Jgabbay
    Participant

    the becker annotated textbook. when you do the mcq and notice a topic come up more than once, make a flash card of that too

    December 11, 2018 at 9:16 pm #2110713
    animalwithin
    Participant

    I see. And how long did you take to study before retesting?

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