[SeePeeAyy]

I’m usually not one to complain but Super Rant ahead:

I just finished BEC about 2 hours ago. For studying I used Becker and put in close to 90 hours in 4 weeks. I did every chapter 3, yes 3x each. Progress tests, Both final exams, did flash cards, rewrote notes etc. I knew the Becker book like the back of my hand you could ask what page XXX was on and I could tell you. Used the same approach to study and pass FAR.

So I am feeling pretty confident heading into the exam and wasn’t nervous at all. I get to the first McQ testlet and legitimately half of the multiple choice were topics I NEVER saw in becker. You ever read a multiple choice question and then not even know what 3/4 of the answers even mean, let alone the correct answer? That was half of this testlet. So after mostly guessing on half the questions I moved onto the next one expecting a very easy one since I probably bombed this.

Get to the next one and it is INSANELY hard. It was more of the same – questions I did not have a clue how to calculate or the answers were random things I’ve never heard of. I definitely bombed this testlet. At this point I was unbelievably frustrated I almost just walked out of the exam room.

I calmed myself down and just went onto the next one. This was a testlet that had actual BEC stuff I learned which I knew so it was easy. The writing portion was straightforward.

I just dont understand what happened. It was almost as if I signed up for the wrong exam. If I had my becker book in front of me I could not have answered about 10+ questions simply by the fact they weren’t in the study material. There were whole chapters from Becker that I did not see one question on.

Has this happened to anyone? I am not trying to exaggerate either. I would accept it if I half as*ed studied and couldnt figure out the answer. This was not the case, I studied for X and they tested me on Y. It would be an absolute miracle if I passed this exam. The worst part is I don’t even know how to study for the next time.

[JD_CPA]

@seepeeayy

I googled some of the questions i had no clue how to answer and so far i've guessed right on 4 so there's still hope. Also the WCs were easy and i'm hoping to get some points there too.

[Keely]

Wow, I am glad I sat for BEC last year. I prepared with Becker and I had seen everything they asked in Becker somewhere. Granted, some were in the appendices and things they said to “look over once,” but it WAS in there. Are they testing that much of new material?

BEC: (4/2012) 88
AUD: (5/2012) 91
REG: (8/2012) 82
FAR: (1/2013) 78 🙂

VA CPA #42010

[Anonymous]

@SeePeeAyy I took BEC in January 0f 2012 and had a similar experience as you. I was so frustrated that I was literally slamming my pencils down. I wanted to smash that computer monitor so bad. I remember thinking I know I made at least a 2 on the exam as I had the exact same question in two different testlets. After the exam and being so mad, I went and did a little retail therapy and it made me feel better. That exam I passed with a 75.

Sounds like you are in good shape.

Good luck!

[villain]

I sat for BEC exam in Oct 2012, failed it. And I took it again 2 days ago.

The exam I had this time was NOTHING like the exam I had back in October. This time was so much harder than the last one. The last one was a lot more straight forward and it had more computation problems.

I feel like I have to take it again in the next testing window, which sxxks because tax season starts soon and I am not looking forward to it.

FAR: (10/2012) studied for 8 weeks, 81
BEC: (10/2012) studied for 1 day, 58; (1/2013) studied for 3 weeks, 77
AUD:(1/2013) studied for 1 week, 86

[SeePeeAyy]

@ candothis – Haha I can't say I did not think of smashing the monitor multiple times…

[OhioCPA3]

I took the exam in November and received a 74. Then took it again the first part of Jan. and had the same experience as most people that the exam was a lot different than the last quarter. A lot more concepts than calculations.

Reg - 75
Far - 80
Bec - 76
Aud - May 31

[Anonymous]

Hello there, the exact same thing happened to me when I did BEC last August. I wondered where in heavens they got those questions from and like you shortly after the exam I posted about how devastated i was and hours later i was in tears because i could not believe that i studied so hard and they exam was total crap. I also went through the book multiple times and guess what! I passed with 76. so my fingers are crossed that yours is a happy ending!

[GreenMonkey]

Were the topics of the questions that blindsided you not in the CSO? That seems strange.

REG- 91
AUD- 97
BEC- 91
FAR- May

[Anonymous]

https://www.another71.com/cpa-exam-forum/topic/bec-after-exam-shock

Above is the link to my post last year when I walked out from the exam room. Exact same happned to me last year Q3. I failed with 69….!!! a quarter later-Q4, I sat for exam again and passed with 80. The questions I got for Q4 are more doable than Q3 (SUPER RANDOM)

What I noticed is that some Quarter is harder than another, do you guys notice that? or it is just me…

[Anonymous]

I hear you CPA88888. When I failed BEC in December with a 73, I couldn't help but feel bitterness and speculate that the pass rates are being controlled by the examiners. I started to feel like I shouldn't have postponed my exam and maybe my variation of the exam would have been different. Overall, the detail of the topics for my particular exam just seemed to be so much more than led on by AICPA released questions which made the feeling to be unfair. I felt very confident in my preparation since it worked out for the other 3 sections I passed. Then I reminded myself that my auditing exam experience was much lighter than what I prepared for and some other candidate probably got a raw deal on their exam. This time I am using supplemental materials and trying to prepare myself with additional scenarios and approaches that can be taken by the examiners.

[thistooshallpass]

@OP, yep, same experience. I was so mad when I left the exam, it was my last one and I was sure I failed. I said the same thing, even if I had my Becker book sitting in front of me during the exam I felt there were questions that were in no way covered. I would say I was not overwhelmed by the # of MCQ's that seemed that way, my issue was much more with SIMS, but regardless I ended up passing. I think if you studied well, truly and honestly, you will pass. And I don't mean that specifically directed at you, but imo if you put in the time you pass, so try not to stress too much between now and grade release. 😉

AUD 85 (2/12) Using Becker
FAR 81 (5/12)
BEC 79 (7/13)
REG 85 (10/1)

"It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."

[Anonymous]

In regards to the original post, one thing to consider is the structure of the testlets. Apparently the first testlet is set to medium difficulty and if you do well on it then the 2nd testlet will be a harder difficulty. So it is possible that you did better than you think.

I was overconfident and studied for BEC for a week and a half. I logged probably 40 hours max on it, as I was very confident on all the conceptual questions throughout. I got to the day before the exam and really wasn't grasping a great deal of the cost material in review though, because I had rushed through the homework one night after work. I just memorized what was on my flashcards and went to bed early, nervous as all get out.

Test day I thought I failed bad. I guessed on virtually all the Cost questions and only finished 2 of the 3 written communication exercises (BSing the two I finished entirely). When the results came in December I had passed.

The CPA exam scoring is beyond reason. I failed REG after putting in 100+ hours. Don't get too down on yourself.

[nbad311]

If I don't pass BEC this time around I might have to take some sort of extended break. I studied REALLY freaking hard since finding out I failed the first time (around Thanksgiving) and went in there feeling 99% confident. I felt good about my testlets, although I didn't notice a significant increase in testlet difficulty (didn't really notice any when I passed REG with an 80). I had enough time for the MCs and WCs.

If the extent of studying I put in doesn't yield a passing grade this time, I just don't think its possible for me. I still have a job to go to 40 hours a week and still need to get 5-6 hours of sleep a night, and unfortunately those things are more important to me than the CPA exam.

REG - 65, 70, 80!
BEC - 35, 62, 79!
AUD - 73, 75!
FAR - 65, 73, 70, 75! DONE.

[Anonymous]

If you fail, my advice would be to get the Wiley Test bank.

Last year I failed BEC and felt there were a ton of stuff Becker never covered.

Second time I took it, ran through all the Wiley questions, and improved my score by like 15. It helped a lot, there's just some stuff Becker doesn't cover.

[TDKR]

OP, I just took my exam today walking out of the testing center feeling exactly like you. I wondered where on earth do the testmakers get these questions from. Sometimes I wonder if the testmakers recently watched the Hunger Games and decided to become the “gamemakers”

I major in Finance with a minor in Econ so I felt very comfortable with those two topics, didn't help. One chapter in particular, even if you give me the book, I don't think I would be able to answer them correctly. On WC, 2 were straightforward, the 3rd one require some work (it might've been a pre-test question as it wasn't very direct). For the past 4 days, I spent about 36 hours worth of studying time so I'm really frustrated as I'm not sure how to properly prepared for it again the next time.

REG - 72, 72, 81
BEC - 77
FAR - 70, 81
AUD - 74 "so that's what it feels like." Round 2: 79

Passing the exam is not impossible task. GIVING UP is the only way YOU can make it impossible!

[Author]

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