[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.

[no.cruncher]

@ Trousers, I AM JUST AS STUNNED, HONESTLY IN DISBELIEF! I know my Economics, Financial, and Cost in and out, but what I got hit with today was anything but! Honestly, of all exams, this has to be the most unfair in regards to testing your knowledge on the overall BEC section! It would be an astronomical miracle to get past this one!

FAR - 7/16/2012 *76 : 2.5mo [Exp. 1/2014]
AUD - 8/31/2012 *82 : 1mo
REG - 11/27/2012 *83 : 2.5mo
BEC - 2/27/2013 *80 : 2.5mo LET'S DO THIS!!!
Ethics - 3/13

[ 2011 Kaplan Self Study - Textbook, MP3s, FlashCards ]

CMA... Hmmm...???

[justincbro]

NEVER in a million years would I have expected half the content that I saw today!! SO bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks for nothing Becker!

BEC DONE
AUD DONE
FAR ???
REG DONE

[thekoreanaccountant]

Nothing really caught me off guard or was something I had never seen before. Time management was my problem. You forget how much time crunching numbers take. I had 15 min left for the written communications. While the topics themselves were easy, I had very short paragraphs. But each of them had the intro, middle, and concluding paragraph. I was typing until the little window popped up and said time's up.

Also, I had enough time on REG and Audit to go back to the questions I flagged and check them again. I couldn't do that for BEC at all.

And I completely agree with @Trousers. Everyone's testing experience is difference. Just because one person didn't get tested on something doesn't mean you won't.

AUD 2/2011 76 (lost credit), 2/2013 71, 7/2013 78
REG 2/2012 82
BEC 2/2013 75
FAR 4/2013 75

5 years in private accounting, < 1 year in public accounting. Runner, mommy, dog and cat lover. SO glad I took the exam before I went to public accounting.

[Anonymous]

I really can't believe how different that test was compared to practice tests and the last time I took it. It was so frustrating! I did ALL the questions in my review program (Yeager + Wiley), knew the material well, scored in the 80's on the practice tears and OMG. The oddest things were tested and mostly “concept” questions. I like others also thought this was not as expected. Very disappointed.

[Meadows30]

Took the exam within the last 2 weeks and I went back and looked at the Financial Management and IT chapters of Becker and only 2 questions out of like 250-300 were close to ones I saw on the test.

Reg 11/26/2012 80
BEC 01/05/2012
Audit
FAR

[lmcuong]

I took the exam on Thursday and ran out of time for the WC. Anybody else had that issue?

B - 79
A - 77
R - 80
F - 05/31/2013

[maw428]

I agree BEC this time was hell. I used Becker and did every multiple choice question and feel defeated. I thought I passed last time with a 71, this time I feel like I got no where near a 71. I hate this crap. Becker did not do me well for BEC this time. Unreal.

[I'm, Ron Burgundy?]

@Imcuong

I also took it on Thursday and nearly ran out of time for the WC portion, I signed my name on the last WC literally as the time ran out. If there is a next time, and I sincerely hope there isn't, I will definitely manage my time better.

As far as Becker goes, I also ran into some of the same problems where a lot of tested material wasn't covered by Becker. I did one thing different this time around and decided to supplement Becker with the Wiley Test Bank. It's a damn good deal as you get a year of access for only $300. I also bought the Wiley books used on Amazon very cheap. Wiley goes into a lot of depth but the MCQ's are where it all comes together. I also made it a point to pound one section a day from Becker during the last two weeks.

I'm hoping I passed, in light of the many questions and theories that were not covered in my review. I also had a super hard 2nd testlet where most of the “non-Becker” material was hit on. I'm hoping that is a good sign that I got a difficult testlet the second time around.

Good luck to you all. Right now:

“The waiting is the hardest part.”

– Tom Petty

"If you're going through hell, keep going"
- Winston Churchill

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed."
- Michael Jordan

BEC: (54), (72), 80 (losing credit on 02/02/15 - nervous)
AUD: 78
REG: (74), 91
FAR: (71)

[Author]

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