[ILCPACANDIDATE]

To those who are upset about their BEC/FAR scores or repeated 74s, just know this: I’ve taken that section 6 times now and this was a 74 for me. In the past I’ve gotten a 68, 70, 71, 72, and 73. Tried all sorts of review, from Wiley on its own to Northern Illinois to Yaeger CRAM to Becker this time. I’ve been trying to pass the test for 3 years and haven’t yet passed one section. I’ve come so close, but still so far.

As for this round – I’ll honestly admit that it probably boiled down to not being 100% clear on B3 and that may have been what killed me. When I took my final exam for Becker, I got a 60 average on both. I think that should have been a clear warning sign. You gotta be honest with yourself.

I know what I’ll be spending my winter break doing, and it sucks (just submitted my request to get the free updated software for Becker and I’m downloading some Gleim when I get home). But oh well. I actually enjoy writing as a hobby, so maybe that might be the game changer when I take this on 1/3/2011.

Waiting for REG which I also took earlier this window – we’ll see what happened there as that was also using Becker for the first time but I felt surprisingly comfortable doing the MCs…it’s the sims that might be my undoing. But who knows??

Bottom line: I’ve been trying to pass any of these sections for 3 years (yes, I’m 0 for 15 when you combine all my attempts (approx)). If I’m still trying, and haven’t given up, then you shouldn’t either.

Just keep trying (provided you have the funds). My best regards to everyone.

Starting fresh in 2010 w/Becker!
BEC: 74,80 (expired), 78 - FAR: 64, 60, 74, 68, 76 - REG: 70,60,75 - AUD: 74,78
Can't change the past but I CAN make the future.
DONE - 6/8/13. After 6 LONG YEARS.

[Anonymous]

Did you get your score today?? I'm in IL and waiting to see if my score is going to be online.. totally scared!!

How long does ILOE take to update? Is there a certain time?

[Sandra]

@ILCPACANDIDATE,

I completely understand how you feel. I've been tempted here lately to just throw in the towel, but I know for me that professionally that would not be a smart move as I work in a CPA firm and would like to one day open up my own shop. I'm in the same boat as you and I'm working on round 5. I'll keep at it until I pass. Good luck to you.

AUD 58, 59, 61, 70 (8/31/11)
BEC 51, 58, 59, 57 (7/11/11)
FAR 51, 63, 64, 65, 61 (10/31/11)
REG 55, 63, 74, 68, 65, 71, 69 (4/21/11-waiting)

[GApeach]

I agree! Just keep telling yourself “never give up, never give up,” cause one day it will happen…and it will be one of the BEST days of your life :).

“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.” – Henry Ford AUD- 70, 67
FAR- 66, 63
REG- 65
BEC- 51

[75 CPA]

ILCPACANDIDATE and Sandra

Desperate times calls for desperate measures! I would start all over again as if I had never taken FAR. Take 6 months to study FAR. That is what I did, and I still managed to pass all 4 exams in the 18 month window.

Resign yourself to the fact that you have to do a MINIMUM of 2,000 multiple choice questions. I had to do 3,000 multiple choice questions to pass AUD.

You got a taste of Yaeger with their FAR Cram. Now buy their 2011 Yaeger Home Study for FAR. Wiley is the best book out there and Yaeger uses it. When using Yaeger, stop the DVD when they get to a question and answer the question BEFORE Yaeger explains the correct and incorrect answers.

Buy Bisk Hot Spots with Bob Monette as the teacher for any subject where you are weak. If you are weak in bonds, buy the Bisk Hot Spot on bonds. Always be sure that Bob Monette is the teacher. He is the best teacher at Bisk. However, wait until the Bisk Hot Spots go on sale and wait until the Hot Spots have the 2011 material. Bisk is not adverse to selling you out-of-date material!

AFTER you have done all this and AFTER you have done ALL of the questions in the Wiley book, buy Gleim Online which also includes the very valuable Gleim Test Prep. You will have 20 chapters of multiple choice questions and simulations to answer. You also will be able to design your own tests, based on your individual subject test scores from the AICPA.

IF you follow my advice and IF you do a minimum of 3,000 questions, I will eat grass if you do not pass!

[75 or bust]

For FAR, I will throw my recommendation out there. Go through the entire Becker course twice. You read it correctly, twice. Don't blow off the required reading. I read each and every textbook cover to cover before I started the lectures. Spend two months going through it slowly the first time, highlight this, write that in the margin etc… Do ALL of the MCQs including supplementary. Mark EVERY question you get wrong and go back to each one until you have it nailed down. Not memorized, nailed down. Read and re-read the explanations until you can sit back and say, “OK, I get it… that makes sense.” Talk through it out loud to yourself until you do get it. At two weeks before exam day, go through the entire course again, one module per day but take your own notes by hand. Pause the video if you have to. For me it was an additional 8 hours per day for 9 straight days. You will really need support from family on this one. I have a serious (>40 hrs) job in financial reporting and an 8 month old at home and I did it. You can do it if you put your mind to it. I planned it out so that I would have a light day (<6 hours) on the day before the exam to finally review my weakest areas. I have the same routine for each exam. I spend the night at my wife's aunt's house, go to bed by 8 PM, and take the exam around noon the next day. I schedule my exams on Monday so I can get the most out of the last weekend. I spent about 170 hours on REG, 130 on AUD, & >220 on FAR. Worth every minute. I'm in the thick of BEC and I'm taking a bit of a different approach on this one because it is entirely different material. Jeff helped me with the BEC strategy. I will still keep my routine as I feel it has been helpful for me. Everyone is different of course, but I'll condense what Peter Olinto says best when I say that passing grades are correlated with complete and utter pain and suffering and passing is negatively correlated with fun. I would go as far as saying that if you plot the simple demand line on a graph where the y axis is fun and the x axis is your score, the slope is definitely NEGATIVE.

NOVEMBER 2003 - AUD 69 - LPR 62 - FARE 66 - ARE 57
WORK, MARRIAGE, CHILD
2010 - REG (90) - AUD (91) - FAR (93) - BEC (89)

[Sandra]

75CPA & 75 or Bust,

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep it in mind if I have to retake FAR again. Good luck to both you.

AUD 58, 59, 61, 70 (8/31/11)
BEC 51, 58, 59, 57 (7/11/11)
FAR 51, 63, 64, 65, 61 (10/31/11)
REG 55, 63, 74, 68, 65, 71, 69 (4/21/11-waiting)

[nolifecpa]

count me in too!!!

i've also been at this for the past 3 years w/out a victory. i just found out i got a 71 on BEC (4th attempt), not happy but not really down about it. i feel so much better that i'm not alone and that there are others in my same situation.

i'm going to try yaeger to see if that will make the difference, been using becker this whole time

also waiting on REG, hopefully this will be my 1st!!! (fingers crossed)

REG-65,71,74,73,70,74,79
BEC-60's,60's,69,71,76*,78
FAR-67,66,65,79
AUD-54,60's,65,83*,69,80
*expired

DONE

[Author]

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