[jimboace88]

Really about pushed to the brink by Becker right now. I don’t know how I didn’t realize the first time through that these questions are so AMBIGUOUS that they are impossible to solve correctly without sheer luck!

A question asks for basic earnings per share. Gives me information about dividends PAID (not declared) on preferred stock. I couldn’t come up with the right answer for the life of me, so I clicked the closest number. I was “wrong.” However, the way they came up with the answer to the question was by subtracting preferred dividends paid from net income and dividing it by weighted average capital stock outstanding.

I do not need this 3 days before my exam. How am I supposed to review properly when my review materials and the questions that are supposedly based on the materials conflict on how something is calculated?!

Just to be clear, Becker says to calculate income available to shareholders in this way:

Net income

(Dividends DECLARED on non-cumulative preferred stock)

(Dividends accumulated on cumulative preferred stock)

---

Income available to common shareholders

Nowhere in the question does it give the faintest inkling of whether the preferred stock is cumulative or not.

Pretty sure there could be smoke coming from my ears. I am giving a big M.F. to my screen and textbook on a constant basis.

FAR 07/27/11 - 87
AUD 10/01/11 - 85
BEC 11/15/11 - 87
REG 01/03/12 - 92

[KERI0323]

@jimboace88

I seem to remember hearing somewhere in Becker that if the question just states preferred then assume they mean non-cumulative. I know we hate to assume but I swear I remember hearing this somewhere, maybe in the final review software.

BEC 10/11/2010 77
AUD 11/30/2010 81
REG 02/25/2011 78
FAR 11/28/2011 74,68, 83 and DONE!!! NTS LA #460

[jimboace88]

Thanks, recent posters. I'm relieved to see that all of you took this thread in a more positive direction than where it was going. @kb24, you are probably one of my favorite people to read from on here because you DOMINATED this exam and are full of good advice for everyone all the time.

@hillary good luck today. Let me know how it goes! I'm taking your advice and doing some confidence-building areas today–governmental and not for profit. It's coincidence that they were next up in my schedule, but I really like these areas and could see myself wanting to work in them some day. After that it will be progress tests and simulated exams for the duration.

FAR 07/27/11 - 87
AUD 10/01/11 - 85
BEC 11/15/11 - 87
REG 01/03/12 - 92

[IwannaBaCPA]

Just so you realize, I wasn't trying to be negative. I was just trying to remind you you aren't alone and that you need to relax a little or you will really have a hard time on exam day…I really do hope you succeed and am betting you can if you are able to calm down. On exam day, you will fail if you let yourself get worked up about ambiguous questions or questions you know you know but the answer is just not there…it is going to happen, so be prepared to deal with that.

Good luck!

BEC: 79 - April 2011
FAR: 78 - May 2011
AUD: 81 - May 2012
REG: 79 - October 2012
Ethics: Passed - March 2013
I am finally DONE!

[Anonymous]

B3 on Becker is ugly. I agree with the original post. I went through that section on Becker page by page, taking notes, and landed a 59% on the MCQs (like 90 of them, I believe). It hurts the ego, but a good portion of BEC is simple concepts and I know you, or anybody for that matter, can master them.

Good luck! I've also been doing the 6-8 hrs per day on BEC and it is far from fun. I miss auditing 🙁

[thechamp26]

Blake – you have to look at it like this…. what if you were getting like 95% on all of the Becker problems? That would totally give you a false sense of security right? Answering questions incorrectly forces you to study more and think about the solution more, correct? It's to our benefit that the Becker questions are harder than the questions on the exam (for the most part).

[MOMCPA2B]

@el Yankee. Thanks. I try. It's just this whole thing iis exhausting. I see us on here worried, manic, disappointed and exhausted and it makes me want to cuddle you all. It's hard especially went you want something so bad you can taste it. It's awful. I try my best to laugh about it because most of us are on this insane schedule of studying. We give so much of ourselves to this. Who knew that the love of three letters would push us so hard and for some it's a love hate relationship. I have faith in you all. You guys rock!!

I cant wait for this to be over.
AUD-7/25/11-77
BEC-11/27/11-Failed(UGH)Back to the drawing board
REG-2/27/12
FAR- Aug 2012

[MOMCPA2B]

@ Iwanna I agree. You can get yourself so worked up that you can fail or have a hard time concentrating. Breath and put on some chakra music. Burn some sage and let it sink in. You know more than you realize.

I cant wait for this to be over.
AUD-7/25/11-77
BEC-11/27/11-Failed(UGH)Back to the drawing board
REG-2/27/12
FAR- Aug 2012

[jimboace88]

Thanks @MOMCPA2B. My family doesn't understand why I'm studying so much and keeps asking me to do things that I wish I could be doing!

In a way this place is like a sanctuary where everyone “gets it.” My confidence is way up today because today was my F8/F9 review which I did quite well on. Tomorrow will be practice exams out the wazoo…I was going to do them tonight, but I don't much like the idea of an exam that could go until 2:00 AM, so I think I will put it off for the time being. Didn't get as much review in today as I would have liked because today was my mom's birthday, but some things are more important.

As I really have only a single day left between FAR and me, I'm much more relaxed. At this point there are no miracles to be worked–I know as much as I'm probably going to know on the 27th, and hopefully that will be good enough.

FAR 07/27/11 - 87
AUD 10/01/11 - 85
BEC 11/15/11 - 87
REG 01/03/12 - 92

[hilaryh_88]

Well jimboace88, it is over for me. I laughed, I cried, blah blah blah. I actually did neither of those. My 2nd testlet of MCQ certainly got harder than they first and the 3rd got easier. I used to think that was a bad sign, but the 2nd testlet was so long in terms of the level of difficulty that I'm not sure it is a bad thing. Even if I did well on the 2nd testlet, there is no way they could have given me a 3rd that was just as difficult because I never would have had enough time for that.

The Sims? Well, they were SIMS. I realize you haven't faced these yet, but you'll understand. They just take on a life of their own. Just make sure to save yourself enough time for them! I leave for vacation tomorrow evening, but GOOD LUCK Wednesday!

AUD - 82 Becker
BEC - 75 Becker
REG - 71, 82 Becker
FAR - 66,61,71,74,70 and #6 80!!!! FINALLY DONE!!! 9/20/12
Yaeger and Yaeger CRAM for the final battle!

[jimboace88]

Thanks for the report hilary. I hope you really nailed it this time and have a great vacation! I know I will enjoy my little vacation after FAR is done.

FAR 07/27/11 - 87
AUD 10/01/11 - 85
BEC 11/15/11 - 87
REG 01/03/12 - 92

[Anonymous]

@jimboace88- If you think this is tough, wait until you start studying for REG. It only gets uglier. Relax and take it easy! People who are able to pass FAR feel angry and frustrated just like you. And no matter how much you study, you will never feel prepared. The material is just too much. When I was practicing with the Gleim software and doing practice questions for FAR, I was freaking out, but I did ok on my test. Relax! You can do this!! You don't need to know everything to get a 75.

[hilaryh_88]

I think it is amazing to see how each person, if they have any kind of trouble, don't necessarily all have trouble on the same test. For me the other three tests were just completely different than this crazy FAR. I didn't have to study nearly as much for them as I did for this one. I think each person is just different in terms of what skills they bring to the table.

AUD - 82 Becker
BEC - 75 Becker
REG - 71, 82 Becker
FAR - 66,61,71,74,70 and #6 80!!!! FINALLY DONE!!! 9/20/12
Yaeger and Yaeger CRAM for the final battle!

[yankeeaccountant]

Hilary,

I think you said it well. Everybody has their own “beast”. I am pulling for you on what I hope is your last exam! Best wishes for you…come on passing scores!!!

[Author]

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