[p_prince5]

Just took FAR and i feel all testlets were equal, Lots of tricky questions , never seen on BECKER. Sims were easy.

Anybody got the same ?

the more important question, anybody got the same and passed ?

Reg 93- BEC 81- AUD 88- FAR- 68 / 80 !!
I am DONE !

[spqr105]

I agree that question classification is subjective. You're either familiar or not familiar with the material. However, it would be nice to know the types of questions that the AICPA considers to be difficult. I don't think it's as simple as calculation or no calculation questions. Unfortunately I know of 8 multiple choice questions that I definitely got wrong. However, these were all questions I had marked so hopefully those were most/all of the questions I got wrong. Anyone think there's still a shot if one got, let's say 15 multiple choice questions wrong assuming mediocre simulation performance?

[Anonymous]

For FAR, my book says that 15 out of the 90 questions are pre- test. If you think you've got at the most 15 wrong, I think that's not bad at all, and hopefully some of those were pretest!

With the classification I think if it's a relatively “easy” calculation but involves some hard core analysing or understanding of the material it falls in the hard category.

[spqr105]

I appreciate the insight. I think I ultimately got somewhere in the 15-20 questions wrong range. I'm unable to tell if the difficulty really changed during the testlets. I flew through my first one in 30 minutes and my second and third ones took about 45-50 minutes each so I don't know if it's because they were more difficult or if I was getting burnt out. I know that there were definitely more in depth calculations in the second testlet than the first. In addition, I had several questions in the second that consisted of 2-3 part responses (e.g. Something that would ask about the effects of a particular transaction on Assets, Liabilities, and Revenues).

Note: The aforementioned example is specifically for presentation purposes, it was not a question on my examination.

[tcpa85]

Ok. A lot of people seem to claim that the only way that a question can be difficult is if you get long drawn out calculations or two-step calculations. Even though I agree that those can be classified as difficult they are not the ONLY ways for a question to be difficult. I actually went to the AICPA website shortly after I took the FAR Exam because I was worried that the testlets were not getting more difficult and wanted to know more about how they determine difficulty. It turns out that ‘difficult' is defined as questions that CPA candidates miss on a regular basis. In my opinion that goes for concept questions and calculcations. If you end up with a primarily conceptual exam don't assume you're failing. There are ranges of difficulty for concept questions as well as calculcations.

Now, this is not to be confused with someone finishing every testlet in 15 minutes and then thinking the exam was a piece of cake. If that happens then you might want to question how you did on the first testlet. However, if you breeze through testlet 1 and then feel like the difficulty did not change all that much because you are getting short questions, take a look at the clock. If it's taking you longer than the first testlet then it's probably safe to assume that it is harder (although, if you are having equal trouble with all sections it could be hard to tell). Please don't freak out about testlet difficulty, because I spent 3-4 days stressing about it and it was 3-4 days too many. I breezed through the first testlet and then felt disheartened when the second did not seem to have super long wordy problems and when the third also was not super wordy I was cursing the AICPA because why not just tell me I failed after the second one and let me go home. We'll have to see how I actually did, but if I pass then I'm an example of the fact that the definition of difficult is not always wordy.

FAR- 89
AUD- Oct. 2nd
BEC- Nov. 20th
REG- 2011

[FARbehind]

I agree that the wordiness or calculations by itself do not make the question difficult. I personally had some very short, half line questions that were extremely difficult and I still don't know how to answer them now. On the contrary, some very wordy questions are very easy when you take the time and read them properly. The many words are just shells that cover very simple core. I also consider myself a math person and I generally enjoy calculation. And the calculations on the CPA exam come down to simple math. All I meant is on average, the calculation questions take more time to read, sort through useful and unuseful information, solve and not fall in the traps of the wrong answers…. With conceptual questions it is more of that you either know it or don't know it and move forward… You don't spend the time… Just on average, no absolute terms….just an opinion…

aud,bec,reg-passed
far-->75 Done!!!!!
ethics-100

[tcpa85]

Yeah, didn't mean to sound accusatory. I actually completely agree with you, my post was directed more towards the original poster who was worried. I just don't think it's really worth worrying about since it's not always easy to gauge difficulty if your test doesn't have a lot of calculations. He or she still might have passed even it the testlets felt about the same. I'm hoping we all do!

FAR- 89
AUD- Oct. 2nd
BEC- Nov. 20th
REG- 2011

[jeff]

Up to 20% can be pretest, so FAR could have 18 pretest questions.

[spqr105]

That's good to know. I was always under the assumption that it was 5 per testlet. Is there partial credit on the simulations? I know I bombed a few tabs. I commend anyone who has gone through this process and especially those who have taken parts multiple times. My biggest fear at this point in time is that I will move onto AUD and forget most of FAR and then have to retake that portion. My hat goes off to you that have had to deal with this. Unfortunately people in my predicament are severely pressed for time considering the upcomming changes in the exam. Most of my 2010 study materials will essentially be rendered obsolete.

[joohj1187]

Yeah I was also wondering if there is partial credit on simulations. I really hope there is.

Also, how big is a mis-spelled word in the communications tab? I forgot to click the “spell check” button, so I'm kind of wondering if one mis-spelled word would take away a lot from a relatively good answer…thanks all.

FAR: 8/5/2010 - 89
AUD: 8/24/2010 - 92
REG: 10/11/2010 - 94!!
BEC: 11/30/2010

[gabe1475]

I think a difficult question will give you more characteristics of the theory they are testing for example treatment of a Capital Lease. They could give you a lease list the lease term, payment, bargain purchase option and you have to pick if this is direct financing lease, operating lease, or capital lease…

With an easy question they may just say which of the following is a capital lease and give you 4 choices. You have to know the rules much better in the first question. With the easy question just looking at the 4 choices may jog your memory.

If I had to guess they probably would not deduct more than a point for spelling. I actually forgot to put a heading and a signature, which I am not sure if we had to.

FAR - 95
AUD - 82
REG - 94
BEC - 84

[tcpa85]

I thought all my testlets were similar in difficulty and was terrified I had failed. I passed FAR with an 89! Others have said this, but I would recommend not worrying about testlet difficulty. I blew through the first testlet in about 20 minutes and thought I was off to a good start, but became disheartened when the 2nd testlet didn't seem all that difficult. I had no long, drawn out, complex calculations and had 2 hours and 45 minutes left to work on sims. I don't think I did all that well on the sims but I do think that I did well on the MCQs and the written communication.

FAR- 89
AUD- Oct. 2nd
BEC- Nov. 20th
REG- 2011

[whitesoxfancpa]

I've taken AUD and FAR and haven't noticed any increased difficulty in the MC testlets.

AUD 96 FAR 95 REG 94 BEC 88

[Florida_Candidate]

I didn't notice any difference in my FAR testlets AND passed….

for AUD I definitely noticed the 2nd two were harder than the first one….

FAR-91 (7/29)
AUD-99 (8/23)
BEC-90 (10/1)
REG-99 (11/3)

[Anonymous]

I took FAR a few weeks ago and did not feel like the difficulty of the questions changed very much, and I was also not getting any long, calculations questions…and so I have been stressing over it a lot.

This thread has made me feel a lot better. Thanks to those who posted on their experience with the exam and being able to pass despite not getting your typical “hard” questions!

[Author]

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