How should I allocate the exam time…

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  • #159478
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I took the FAR in Nov and didn’t finish the test. I scored higher than the passing candidate on every section except one, which I scored extremely low on and I just missed it. I’m convinced that this relates to only completing the WC and research on my 2nd sim b/c I wasn’t really considerably weak in any area.

    Should I plan 40 mins for each 30 question MC testlet and 2 hours for the 7 sims?

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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  • #267852
    Words-O-Wisdom
    Participant

    It's hard to say with the new format. I'm planning on taking no more than 2.5 hours on the 90 M/C. I am a bit worried about only leaving 1.5 hours for the 7 sims, but I can't imagine being able to get through 90 M/C in less than 2.5 hours… I'm sure it all goes out the window around question 60 when I have no clue what's going on…

    -- Formerly known as 'PeterOlinto' --

    AUD - 82 (Expires 1/31/11); REG - 79 (Expires 5/31/12)
    BEC - 85 (Expires 5/31/12); FAR - 85 (Sat 1/4/11) DONE!!!!

    #267853
    Liz317
    Participant

    It's tough to know. I know for REG I'm planning on 1.25 hours on the sim, which makes me nervous, because that's less than 10 minutes/part but considering it's 40% of the score, I should probably spent about that much of my time on it.

    FAR - 92 --- AUD - 87 --- REG - 80 --- BEC - 87
    A licensed CPA in Louisiana!!!

    Dear CPA Exam, You are a beast. But you WILL be defeated!

    #267854
    Words-O-Wisdom
    Participant

    @Liz317

    Good luck with REG and a quick note. From Kindergarten through grad school I've never struggled to finish a test in the allotted time. That all ended when I took REG. I completed the 72 m/c and left approximately an hour and 15 min to complete the simulations. I understand the format has completely changed, but the 1.25 hours wasn't nearly enough. My first simulation was an absolute beast. It wasn't that the subject matter and questions were difficult, but endless. I had to hard-key no less than 75 numbers after struggling with the awful copy/paste feature. Thankfully I'm quick on the 10-key, but as we know the exam's spreadsheet ergonomics are atrocious. I completed the first simulation and felt I'd written an excellent response for the essay portion (NA for 2011) and correctly answered 90% of the other tabs.

    On to the second simulation…

    It was longer and more beastly; I couldn't believe it. I remember looking up at my time, “0:14 Remaining”, and down at the 7 tabs that needed to be completed. I flew through the written response, skipped the research tab (good? bad?), and started plugging away at the first tab. I'd estimate the second simulation had 300 empty cells to complete. I got through about 10% of the 300 and my time expired.

    I don't feel I did exceptionally well on the 72 m/c questions, and I never felt like the questions were getting ‘harder'. With that said, I think the test was intentionally set up to create panic toward the end. Is this true? Why would they do this? We'll never know. I was so confident I'd failed I didn't even bother checking my score; I forgot all about it (and that is NOT at all like me). On a whim, I check NASBA at work and couldn't believe I'd passed with a 79.

    Sorry for being so verbose. Summary: I'd leave more time for the task-based simulations and really try to keep your pace up.

    Good luck!

    -- Formerly known as 'PeterOlinto' --

    AUD - 82 (Expires 1/31/11); REG - 79 (Expires 5/31/12)
    BEC - 85 (Expires 5/31/12); FAR - 85 (Sat 1/4/11) DONE!!!!

    #267855
    Liz317
    Participant

    @Words-O-Wisdom

    Thanks for the advice. I struggled with time on FAR. I only had 20 minutes left on the last sim. But I've always been a slow test-taker, but that just makes me all the more nervous for REG and the new & mysterious sim format.

    FAR - 92 --- AUD - 87 --- REG - 80 --- BEC - 87
    A licensed CPA in Louisiana!!!

    Dear CPA Exam, You are a beast. But you WILL be defeated!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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