[gateway3601]

Hi all, I will be taking my FAR (1st of the 4 exams) in April 2010, I am just curious as to how the exams are being graded by AICPA? Do you get one point for each MC question you answer correctly? Do you get penalized for wrong answers or leave it blank? How long does it usually take before you get the exam score back? What’s the difference between wave one and wave two? Any input is greatly appreciated.

FAR(61,73,73,74,76) REG-81 AUD(61,64,58) BEC(71,77)

[Anonymous]

There is no penalty for guessing. If you get it wrong you just don't get any points for it.

The MC questions are 70%

The Simulations are 20%

The Written is 10%.

That is the best guidance we really have as far as raw score.

Jeff has a great video in the first post on the main page right now that goes over the score release process. The short answer is if you take it in the before the end of the first week of the second month you have a good shot at getting your scores by the end of the second month, otherwise the 3rd or 4th week of the 3rd month is when you'd get them. Watch the video though as it is detailed and easy to follow.

[Anonymous]

And to just follow up on the above.

With the exception of Reg I think, the other 3 sections are 3 testlets of 30MC each for a total of 90 MC. Those 90

questions are 70% of the exam, and not all 90 count, as some are ‘test' questions for future exams. So although nobody knows for sure, you can sorta figure out that some are worth more than 1 point, and maybe some worth less? But again, no one knows for certain.

[Anonymous]

To add to the post, FAR, REG & AUD multiple choice testlets are adaptive. The testlets are assigned a difficult level either medium diffiuclt or difficutly. Everyone starts out in testlet 1 with a medium difficult and if you do well then testlet 2 will be a difficult, usually questions are more wordy and more calculations. Also, these questions are worth more points. The last think your score does not represent a percentage correct it is just a score based on the ACIPA cutoff for passing scores. Remember in any given window only approximately 50% of the candidates for each exam will pass. Your goal is to do better than half the candidates taking the exam during your window. For BEC that might require getting 80% of the questions correct whereas FAR might require getting 70% of the questions correct. Basically the grading is curved to get the approximately 50% pass rate.

[Author]

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