[Anonymous]

i live in clarksville tennessee and just finished here at the prometric center. It was my first try and first time to ever sit. I feel like i did ok on the mcqs but just hit a wall on the sims. They were not hard just so much to do in such little time. I wasted too much time chasing down the research (mistake) and ended up stuffing numbers where i could as i zipped through the sims. Someone please give me hope doing ok on mcq will be enough. The test really wasnt that bad…

[Anonymous]

I don't know if doing ok on mcqs is enough for someone to pass, but I can tell you that I did not leave myself enough time for the sims and had to zip through them and guess on some…maybe I even left items blank or filled anything in because time was running out and some topics I did not know so well. I came out of the exam feeling so upset and thinking that I really may have failed. I was so frustrated and nervous I would have to put in all that study time again. However, I did pass.

Sometimes people come out feeling sure they did well, and they don't pass, while some are positive they failed and they passed.

Basically, what I am trying to say is that you should not worry and give up hope. You may have passed, so many of us felt like you did and passed. Just go onto the next thing, and when the results come out, be prepared. Don't let how you think you did bother you.

Hopefully you passed!!

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much for replying to my post. I needed something from someone. Believe it or not, your FAR experience sounds exactly like mine. I went through each of them once to see what I had in store and then jumped around trying to make enough calculations to get at least some of the cells correct. I have the feeling they were all wrong and I didn't fill in enough, however, there is always the chance I filled in the right numbers (miraculously). Thanks for the encouragement. So you think I should start studying for my next section even though I know there could be a good chance I failed FAR?

[Anonymous]

Your welcome! Many people have had the same (or similar) experience you had.

In answer to your question: Yes, because there is also the chance, based on many other people's experiences, that you may have passed. If you wouldn't go on to another section, and you would (hopefully) pass, then you will have wasted time studying for the next exam, especially when you're still in “study-mode”. Unless you were anyhow planning on taking a break now, I think you should go on to the next one.

What is your next section?

[Peanut]

@chrispbeck, I'll give you hope! I really think FAR is curved the most out of all of the exams. Okay that's not really hope, but I had to throw that in there— When I took FAR for the first time, I started to get very angry during my MCQs because they were not getting harder, I had 3 easy testlets, so going into the SIMS I was so far passed aggravated that I gave up, didn't finish most of the SIMs, started shoving numbers everywhere. The AICPA probably laughed at me. I gave up, walked out, and still had an hour and 30 minutes (maybe a little more) left on the clock. I scored a 67, scored weaker in MCQ & weaker in SIMs. Tell me the exam isn't severally curved. Okay, maybe that's not giving you hope considering it was a failing score, but the fact that you think you did well on the MCQs is huge! I don't think anyone ever feels good about SIMs on any of these exams. My second try at FAR was kind of a repeat, only I was determined to finish. My MCQ testlets never increased with difficulty, so I was pissed going into the SIMs. Luckily I had studied hard for the SIMs (tons of JE's that sort of thing) I did awesome on my SIMs, but terrible on my MCQs so I barellllly passed. I think if you did good on the MCQs, and you left nothing blank of the SIMs, you have a GREAT chance and don't lose hope! You really never know!

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[Anonymous]

@chrispbeck,

just don't worry about it, there is nothing that you can do now 🙂 however, sounds like your experience was the same as mine and I passed :DDD i too thought i did OK (not super well) on MCQs and just made tons of mistakes on the sims. overall the test was not hard, it was definitely my own fault.

[Anonymous]

In the fourth line of my second post, I by mistake left out the word “not” – “wasted time not studying for the next exam”.

By the way, when I took FAR, aside from my difficulties with the sims, I also felt there were several mcqs on a couple of topics I did not know so well. You feel you knew the mcqs, so you really may have passed!

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. I understand what you are all saying, and am hoping that there actually is a curve and you do get partial credit. Every place I look “officially” states there is no curve and no partial credit on sims, but when you hear testimonials of people not even getting to the first Sim and passing you have to wonder.

To answer Acct, I got what you meant to say, and I was thinking the same thing. This exam is a personal thing for me. I don't know that I'll change jobs or anything (don't work much in public accounting stuff, mainly a small business guy) but I want the respect and the personal satisfaction that I accomplished it along with knowing I will always be able to provide for my family even if I have to move and take an entry level position at a small firm etc. I cannot tell you how much I have learned studying for FAR. Way more than I learned in college. With that said, my next section is REG only because it is tax season and there will be lots of chatter about tax stuff and I hear it is hard so why not get it knocked out?

[Anonymous]

@chrispbeck, I gave up trying to figure out how this test is graded. Like Peanut said…it's definitely a curve. I don't care what “they” say.

My retake earlier this week went similar to yours. I came to a screetching halt when I got to them sims. I took a deep breath and got to it. I left laughing. They were ridiculous. I left one somewhat blank and started filling in stuff that were most likely wrong. But knowing this test, I could have scored anywhere from a 9 to a 99. Who knows.

The sims on my first test in November were manageable but I spent to much time on the m/c and didn't leave time to finish them. On that test I scored a 74 and got “Weaker” in Sims and “Stronger” in MC. Funny thing is, even though I left a whole sim blank, I thought I did worse on the m/c and better on the sims. I was actually pretty happy to get a 74 then once it sunk in, I was sad that I didn't get that 75. 🙂

Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

@cosmo – it is so interesting how we had such a similar experience. I cannot wait to see what I score. I feel like I could score a 52 or an 82 based on what I am hearing in this forum. I know I wouldn't give myself a passing score for what I did. I mean, I totally was throwing numbers up in those cells that did not belong, then taking them out, then putting them back in, then jumping to another sim all together and busting out some digits, just all over the place. At the end I told myself I should have just chilled out and taken my time even on the sims even though I was running out of time. I sure learned a lesson about time management, but I am wondering if it even makes a difference. I could try to manage time but doesn't make a difference if you are just having a hard time getting through the stuff.

[Mrs 300]

@chrispbeck – I truly hope that you did well on FAR. I, like you, keep telling myself that I am doing this for me. I'm not doing this for my accounting firm or for anyone else. It's for my own personal satisfactory. You WILL pass the CPA exam if you work at it hard enough! I have 2 small children, work part-time and I am the worst test-taker ever. Granted, I have no idea how anyone does this working full-time either. I really have to work at this. So if I can do it and have success, so can you!

And most of the people that I have heard say FAR is difficult and that the sims were bad, scored in the 90s! I hope that's your case!

I am taking it on Monday and I am extremely overwhelmed. I hope that all of you send your FAR brain waves to me at 12:30 CST. 🙂

REG - 80 (Becker only)
BEC - 76 (Becker only)
AUD - 71, 76 (Becker only)
FAR - 65, 74, 81! (Becker, Wiley Test Bank, Ninja notes & Audio)

CPA Class of 2012 🙂

[katiekanton]

Chrispy (did you do that on purpose? I like it.),

Yes, “they” say the exam isn't curved, but they tell you right there when you get your score that it isn't a percentage of correct points, it's a number they assign you. Now whether it's assigned based on the percentile you fell in, or a minimum score they think you need to get correct to pass, they don't and probably will never tell us. I am sure that somehow in their minds they have rationalized how they can score the way they do while denying that the exam is curved, but I think it's a picky technicality.

When WE candidates ask if it's curved, what we're really asking is, “Is it a straight percentage correct of available points?” I believe they say, “no the exam is not curved” and mean that they don't literally take the highest score in the country, add enough points to get that person to a 99, and add the same points to everyone testing in the same window. Of course they don't do that, and I don't think any candidate thinks that IS what's happening. When you get your score you will see there's ABSOLUTELY NO WAY it's a straight “percentage correct of available points”. I might have gotten a little over half of the available points right. I know I did really well on the MCQs, I couldn't possibly have missed more than 10 although I know for sure I missed 3. But the SIMS…. oh. my. gosh. I know I didn't get even half the available points on the sims. They were completely ridiculous and as far as I can tell were way harder than what most other people were given in other windows, and even in the same window. And yet I walked out with a score around 88.

FYI, there's been a lot of discussion about this. I actually believe that they are handling it the “fairest” way they could, which is to take a percentile. Taking the top 35% or whatever of scores compensates for irregularities in questions and non-comparability from year to year, window to window, and wave to wave. The top 35% is going to be a pretty consistent group.

Anyway the bottom line is don't lose hope until you get that score. You never know. I think most people walk out thinking they bombed it.

AUD - 88
FAR - 90
REG - 85
BEC - 88

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. It lookslike I have found some great friends here. You all are so encouraging.

[Anonymous]

@chrispbeck

In response to your post from yesterday, aside from it being tax season, there is some overlap between FAR and REG (and FAR and AUD…), so REG should be good to get over with next…

Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

Great. What will be even sweeter is that far passing score

[Anonymous]

Hey y'all, to your best guess, what percentage of your 90 MCQ's were not calculation-based? Thanks.

[Author]

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