[Anonymous]

This exam is horrible. The wait is ridiculous. After coming out of the BEC exam (which I was confident before entering) I was seriously considering quitting. I stopped reading the questions halfway through the third testlet. I got an 84. Thus, the exam has a sick curve. Granted I'm accustomed to knowing everything on exams (college exams) but the CPA does not call for perfection. You just need study a lot so you will be able to answer some questions.

I'm currently waiting for FAR. (I would pay $100 to escape another week of waiting) The first testlet was amazingly easy. The 2nd and 3rd were much harder but I definetely believe I put together enough to pass those. The Sims came out of left field. I'm a VERY slow writer, thus time was a huge issue. I'm curious to as how much you need to write and how strictly graded are the written communications. (A readable memo should be sufficient.. since the exam is testing if you can protect the public .. i mean you don't need to write amazingly to detect fraud or be an adequate accountant) Overall, I wanted to quit again after leaving that exam. (I felt raped) I didn't answer all the sims and research components but now feel optimistic because you don't have to be "that" good to pass. There's still hope even after you think you undoubtedly failed. Does anyone agree with me about still having a shot at passing despite not answering all sims? .. Also, someone posted they budget 30min for each sim and that is sufficient. Good bless you! I wish I could do that. I need to think before I go at it. I'm a ridiculously slow reader as well .. kills me during the whole test. Good luck to everyone. Hopefully we pass so we can call ourselves CPAs and go to parties where we'll be known as people who can fill out a tax return.

[hopefullydone]

Just took the exam today, and it was horrible…again. I started the CPA exam back in April, and passed my first 3 parts with an 82 on each of them. Then took FAR in August and got a 73. I studied for a solid 3 weeks the second time around, most of which was just review, and I feel pretty much the same, maybe a little worse than I did the first time I took FAR.

How is this possible!? It's such a demoralizing test. I was so confident going into the test. I had studied for 3 extra weeks, and had to get just 2% higher than I did on it last time. I just felt like half the questions I got, there was some sort of twist in the problem that I had never seen before(i have done all the Wiley questions, and about 90% of the Gleim questions).

I also had a question on the exam on a certain topic that I will not name, and there was a little twist to the problem I had not seen before. I looked up the answer in my book after the test and there was one sentence regarding that little twist. ONE SENTENCE!! One eight word sentence caused me to get a question wrong. Very frustrating.

[pankitp]

Hey Patrick,

I understand your frustration,…but here's the best solution.

Log on to cpareviewforfree.com

select the FAR–> consolidation exam and run through the 16 questions in order. Take notes as you go, read the explanations whether you get them right or wrong.

I had the same problem and was really frustrated….but now because of that review….i know consolidations like the back of my hand…

hope it helps…

[Patrick909]

Thanks – but hopefully I will not need to review Consolidations ever again.

What questions I actually did get on consolidations this past Monday, it felt like my meager understanding of the topic was enough to carry me through. That wasn't the topic the exam seemed to want to kick my butt with.

It's weird…I've taken 3 of these exams now, and each time, they have always seemed to want to try to nail you with a disproportionate # of questions on a particular topic…and it's always a topic I wasn't really expecting to get nailed on, either. I have to think that some of those are most likely pre-test questions.

Moving on to AUD 11/30 and hopefully the end of this nightmare. I have to assume that I passed FAR, or else my motivation will be lacking.

[Author]

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