[Anonymous]

FAR was my last part. I passed the other three the first time. I spent literally 2 months studying for this exam. I walked into the exam thinking I knew what was what and that I would walk out pretty confident I was done. But I had no freaking clue on the majority of the Multiple Choice. My testlets didn’t get hard. They were equally brutual. But I was determined to have 45 minutes for each simulation and I did just that. I spent 35 minutes on the first, 45 minutes on the second and 55 third (or something like that). Took a 10 minute break to suck down a cigarette. I spent 45 minutes on the first simulation and the remainder on the second. The simulations tabs weren’t hard at all compared to the MCQ’s. They were actually ok…which makes me nervous in case they are adaptive. The memos were ok. Didn’t really know the topics all that well, but I tried to write something that looked good and not get too technical.

It was hard not to cry during this exam. Thank God I had scheduled a vacation and went right to the airport after the exam to fly to Vegas. On the others, I felt confident that I had passed and did. This one, I am so praying praying praying for a huge curve or something. I probably got a majority of the points for the simulation, but I think I realy messed up the MCQ’s. =(

Everytime I think about my experience, I want to go home and crawl in my bed and cry. I worked so hard for these exams and I don’t want to disappoint everyone, including myself, if I get that failing score. Everyone rolls their eyes when I tell them I think I failed because I have gotten two scores in the 90’s. I don’t know. I’m just so depressed right now! I don’t want to study anymore. My brain is fried.

[Anonymous]

Almost There, no worries. I too felt the same way after FAR and I scored an 89. It's completely normal to feel like a complete and utter failure afterward. LOL! The SIMS are not adaptive per my understanding so I'm guessing you did great! Enjoy Vegas!

[Anonymous]

I hope so! My heart skips three beats everytime I even think about sitting down and looking at that NASBA site in three weeks. I need this miracle!

[Anonymous]

Almost there, it is frustrating when people don't listen to what you are saying. I had alot of fears of failing FAR before I took it based on my perfomance on the final exams. Everyone I would talk to would say the same thing, you will be fine, you will pass like you always do. While it is nice to know people think that well of you, it almost makes it harder if you do fail because you feel like you let everyone down. I”m with you on the test though, I didn't notice the MCQ's getting harder, but know there were some difficult questions. (but I didn't know the test was adaptive so just may not have noticed) the sims were pretty straight forward for me. Both memo's were topics I felt I could write well on, the research was on point. Here's to passing grades to all of us.

[Anonymous]

Almost There,

You have a right to feel like a train wreck right now. After 2 months of studying, it all came down to this last test. I think a lot of us feel that given the time and effort we put in to The Beast, we should feel good about it. The examiners won't let that happen.

You can only do so much and you can't beat yourself up. You probably remembered way more than you think. Remember some questions get tossed anyway. Hopefully the ones you didn't know. Good luck!

[Patrick909]

You may have passed. If you pulled 91 and 92 on REG and AUD, I doubt you failed FAR. I throw BEC out because it's such a grab bag.

But, I know how you feel. People were just assuming I'd pass FAR, since that's the one actually corresponds to what I do for a living. While of course, I wasn't so sure. It would have been shameful to go back to my boss and tell him I failed FAR, whereas with something like REG or BEC, I would have had more of an excuse.

What they don't know is, FAR is a beast. If you find that you passed FAR, you'll feel like you just slayed a dragon.

[No Life Now]

Almost There – I just got got back from taking the FAR exam (my last as well), and I too wanted to just walk out after about twenty questions. I studied so much and so hard, and it seemed as if I was trying to read Russian. I'm exhausted.

The first testlet was one I was expecting to be easy, but it was hard. The second was absolutely ridiculous, and the third was moderate, but better than the second. Some of the minutia they choose to test on makes me sick. I consider myself a reasonably intelligent individual with years of accounting experience. It didn't matter. The memo tabs weren't bad, although the subject matter of one seemed unrelated to accounting. But the MCQ were really hard, and every possible exception or reason to second guess your knowledge was written into them.

I would gladly take a 75, but unless the grading system is curved to the nth degree, I suspect I will be back in January or February. The only saving grace is that I shouldn't have to wait long if I get my score on December 21. What an awful Christmas if I failed. Good luck to all the other candidates who were subjected to the material of the masochists….

REG - 86 (5/18/09)
BEC - 79 (7/06/09)
AUD - 81 (8/24/09)

[Patrick909]

The first testlet was one I was expecting to be easy, but it was hard. The second was absolutely ridiculous, and the third was moderate, but better than the second. Some of the minutia they choose to test on makes me sick. I consider myself a reasonably intelligent individual with years of accounting experience. It didn't matter. The memo tabs weren't bad, although the subject matter of one seemed unrelated to accounting. But the MCQ were really hard, and every possible exception or reason to second guess your knowledge was written into them.”

I completely agree. I think I've proven over the years that I'm a skilled test-taker. Yet during FAR, moreso than any other, the questions in the 2nd and 3rd testlets were starting to get to me. Seriously, I had to take my shoes off, because my feet were starting to sweat profusely. It was just one after the other….very few seemed straightforward; there was always some little twist that caused me to question myself. I stuck to my guns and did not change my answers, though….I didn't even go back and review; I never have. No point in changing a proven successful test-taking strategy at that point, after all.

[Anonymous]

“The memo tabs weren't bad, although the subject matter of one seemed unrelated to accounting.” – No Life Now – this made me laugh so hard!!!

It's just how I felt about some tabs for Auditing in August and Regulation today:-))

I'm not sure, but i think they mix and match sims for FAR, REG and AUD and just throw them in, no matter which particular part you're taking at the moment:))

Anyway, CPA exam normally leaves you feeling weird… I pretty much always left testing center not sure if i passed. Best of luck!!!

[Anonymous]

That is what I'm worried about. I was so rushed on the MCQ I didn't even have time to think about the exceptions. My questions may have been “easy” compared to someone else.

The other problem was that I did Yaegar Home Study. I used Becker previously for all the other parts and did every single question in their test bank. For FAR, I just did the questions on the list from the Wiley book and none of the questions even looked similar. ARGH. I ran out of time and got sick and tired of studying and I have heard over and over and over again that the ones tested in Wiley are harder then usual CPA questions (I think that is accurate for the other 3, but not FAR).

Also, in the Home Study, the professor kind of skipped over Stock Options. Well, I should have paid attention and maybe I could have gotten 4 or 5 questions right. The other questions are fuzzy, but like I said I don't remember any exceptions from the test where I was like, WOW THAT'S TRICKY. I dunno. =( I go through periods of having hope and then saying to myself, I should start studying again.

[Anonymous]

Anna,

I agree with you completely on the SIMS. For REG, I had something related to AUD. For AUD, I had something related to FAR. And for FAR, I had a memo on something so completely stupid it kinda made me chuckle to myself.

I think the only questions I got right was on Gov't/NFP and I had one calculation on Basic EPS that worked out. LOL.

[Anonymous]

On my REG exam, I had a simulation on a subject Becker covered in FAR. It actually is a cross-over topic, but seemed more appropriate for FAR. The more I read about this exam, the more I think it is just a crap shoot.

[Anonymous]

You know, simulations are ALWAYS weird. Or too difficult. My main concern with REG today is that I usually aced my memos; pretty much guessed all the rest of simulations. But memos are 10 points – so i mostly cared about them. And today even memos were weird and I couldn't find answer to them in research tab… ugh… all I have is wait i guess:)

[Scruff McGruff]

I've talked to people who have cried/wanted to jump out of windows after FAR and passed w/ 92, 88, 95, etc. I'm pretty sure this section is designed to make us hate our lives. Chances are you probably did better than you think. FAR is such a beast, I don't think anyone feels “good” about it.

[MadamJ]

I took FAR on Sat and didn't notice that my testlets were getting extremely difficult. Maybe a little bit, the second testlet had some harder questions as well as the third. The sim's were pretty straight forward but the research was a little strange- couldn't find the answer to one of them. This is my second time talking it and I also studied with Yeager for over 2 months. 2 months the first time as well. I'm hoping I passed but i'm not sure, there is no way of really telling. It all depends on how well you can guess. It's funny the look you get from people who have never taken the cpa exam when you tell them that people have failed this section numerous times before passing. They look at you like you are an idiot. Hopefully in 3 weeks we all find out we passed. Good luck to everyone!

[Anonymous]

I agree with all of you….FAR makes me sick too. I took it yesterday, delayed the exam until the very last day of the testing window (11/30). I was so nervous that I almost threw up on the test administrator at Prometric (he he)! The first testlet was pretty easy, and the second and third testlets were definitely difficult. I got to the sims with 80 minutes remaining. One of the research tabs was weird and I couldn't find the answer, and I didn't fill in an entire tab in each of the simulations, but made sure to write good memos…..so I guess we'll see what happens!! This was my third time taking FAR and I will lose credit for AUD if I didn't pass this time….which would really suck.

During Thanksgiving dinner, my boyfriend's mom said that she can't understand why I can't pass FAR. She said “maybe it's just too much math for you.” LOL

[Author]

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