[Anonymous]

It is as if AICPA was watching my laptop while i was studying…Got heavily hit with obscure topics that becker mentions for few seconds. One particular topic that is only 10 minutes on Becker that i hadn’t paid attention to had like 20 questions on it…and the stuff i killed my self studying was never tested… i was surprised by how few topics were tested.

1st testlet: Difficult, wordy from the get go..i always hear folks say my 1st testlet was easy but this wasn’t easy..the system was automatically set up to throw me the hard ones first….i was rushing as well as i planned on 40 minutes.

2nd testlet: Easier than 1st, of medium complexity, less wordy and mostly theory.

3rd testlet: felt like the second testlet.

SIMS: JE’s, as tough as expected but i think i killed the WC on both and am sure i got 1 research if not both.

Overall, i will be shocked if i pass, this is the first exam that i didn’t even look up one question after i left the test center….Granted i have been borderline on all the other ones i passed,but i gave it my best shot and am just happy to reconnect with my family and at least won’t think about these exams at least for the next four weeks.

Good luck on anyone about to sit for their exams.

[Anonymous]

This exam was unlike the other attempts at FAR for me. I was used to the “meat & potatoes” and the exam I had last week was more like “souffle”.

I haven't heard of anyone on the forum that actually finished the simulations. The multiple choice were insane. There were some gimmies, but mostly really obscure, in-depth questions.

Looks like I will take FAR for a 5th time.

[75 CPA]

CPAWannaBe

Forget about FAR and start studying BEC with Yaeger. Cindy Simpson rocks!

If you have to retake FAR, buy Gleim Online and start using their Test Prep to work on your weak areas in FAR, as evidenced by your individual section scores from the AICPA. I raised by score in AUD 10 points by using this approach.

[SecondTime]

CPAWannabe

You have it right…

In the past I held credit for BEC, REG, and AUD. You study and learn the “Meat and Potatoes” foward and backwards and it carries you through the exam.

However, this time the test seemed heavely weighted towrds obscure items. I agree there were a few “Gimmes” but over overall it was not a nuts and bolts test.

Makes it really tuff to pick the books back up and start again but that is exactly what I'm doing.

BEC:84,exp'd. retest 2/28/2013 (74)
AUD:88
FAR:77
REG:2013

WE HAVE NOT FAILED UNTIL WE QUIT

[FARbehind]

2010Please

I hope you pass. I hopw we all somehow pass. To me this FAR retake was torture beyond belief. I came out of it and I thought I cannot believe I put myself in this situation. I got my books for 2011 and feel bad about it. There is so much new material to learn, it will be almost complete restudy. It makes me feel a little bit less stupid to think that people strong like you also think this exam was weird.

aud,bec,reg-passed
far-->75 Done!!!!!
ethics-100

[LSU_BR]

I am praying really hard for all of you! I know FAR is hard. It's the worst. REG is a very close second (in my opinion). I have heard alot of people this round talking about the difficulty. There should be a nice curve.

Please, please, keep the faith. You studied hard and that's all you can do. And remember, this is the right time of the year for miracles 🙂

AUD 95 (3/5/10); BEC 83 (5/28/10); FAR 71, 72, 74, 82 (10/16/10); REG 65,80(11/23/10)
ALL DONE 🙂

[Anonymous]

I took FAR yesterday and haven't stopped crying since. I took it once without really studying and got a 67. I invested in Yaeger this time and studied my butt off. I felt so prepared, but I focused all my attention into working problems. I got my test and almost all of it was concept questions. I didn't think the questions were extremely difficult, but I just didn't look at the concepts hard enough when studying. My testlets didn't get any harder as I went along, which to me, is a sure sign of failure. I finished all of my simulations and everything with 2 minutes to spare, but I just feel so defeated. I thought for sure I was going to pass. I would be absolutely SHOCKED if I pass. And the worst part is, my audit credit expires 1/11/11 so I will have to get my grade and study the IFRS stuff in about 2 weeks if I have to take it again. I'm just devastated. Ok my pity party is over now.

[sbhissong]

I took my Far Exam 11-30-10, and I thought it was going relatively well… until I got a sugar low! I ended up spending 3 hours on the MC. I cannot believe how many concepts were not tested; especially the topics that many of us were told to know in and out. I was unable to complete the entire exam, as my sugar low put me in a bad position as a huge concentration distractor, which resulted in a loss of time. The simulations were wordy, long, and would require well over a half hour to compelete one. Both simulations focused on several Journal Entries and Cash Flow Stmts. I was only able to complete 1-2 tabs each, as well as the writing section. This is the last section of my CPA exam career, and I started studying for FAR in September. I was well prepared, or so I thought. I am glad I am not the only one who thinks this is ridiuclous. I have spent too much money and time on this test to fail over and over again. I worked so hard on FAR, because I want it gone! I might as well keep looking over my notes until the scores come out!

[suzzette1]

I took FAR last night and I felt relieved that it was over.I spend 35 mins in first testlet, 40 mins in second testlet and 50 mins in the 3rd testlet. I really did not notice any difficulty in each one but the questions are getting wordier and longer. I have 2 weird very long questions that I know by heart but I could not find the right answer to it. I was thinking that it should be proper if they put it in sim portion because by reading alone the question, it would take you almost 1 min. to do it. It did really mess my head! I have 1 hour and 55 mins. left for my sims. The WC are manageable in each of the sims.However, questions in each tabs are longer and it is really very time consuming just to read the questions and the directions are pretty vague. I saw a lot of obsure topics that are not really touched in Becker but Yaeger did a good job in explaining it. The JE is manageable as long as you have the time thanks to Cindy and Phil!. I kept telling myself that everything is ok while I am taking my exam or else I could not focus. I am praying hard for this one and I hope this is my last exam. I have some issue with my calculator that does not work during my exam and I have to bear with it. It did really ruin my concentration. Over all, my exam experience is tough but I leave it to God and keep on praying to get a 75.

I am pulling for all the 4th Quarter 2010 batch! We have done our best! I keep praying for all you guys! I hope this is the end of our journey. My husband says last night “Welcome back my wife” Now I can be a full-time housewife again!

BEC 2/8/10 - 75 (studied hard & prayed less)
REG 5/15/10 - 88 (studied less but prayed hard)
AUDITING 8/9/10 - 79 (studied hard and prayed hard)
FAR 11/30/10 - 79 (studied hard and prayed hard) Thanks GOD! I'm DONE

[adman0214]

I just took FAR last night and I felt there was not much difference between the test-lets. I did have quite a few questions I had not see before. I spend a little too much time on the MC questions and thought they were very difficult. One topic Becker emphasized was not as prevalent as I though it would be, and I got a ton of wordy calculation questions. I got to the simulation with about 1 hour 20 minutes left, which I though would be enough time. Unfortunately my calculations were off and I left half a simulation blank. I just hope that I can get a passing score and just move on.

Audit is next, and hopefully the last test I will have to take. The next 20 – 25 days is gonna kill me!

REG: Passed,(expired 4/30/11), Passed - 87 (2/29/12)
BEC: Passed,(expired 2/29/12), Scheduled May 2012
FAR: 72,74,74(C'MON!), (Schedule 4/20/12)
AUD: Passed

[Anonymous]

I felt like all the stuff that was really emphasized in Yaeger and Becker was not very tested on my exam. It was all off the wall stuff. Like I wasted my time.

[ykalinin]

Reading all these posts I feel significantly better about how terrible I felt walking out of the exam yesterday morning/afternoon.

I feel like things that should have been important and heavily tested weren't even mentioned while random topics dominated the overwhelming majority of my exam. At least the SIMs were pretty straight-forwardish but maybe my brain was so happy to see something reasonable looking that I fudged those too.

[NYCPA1]

OMG! I felt exactly the same way as everyone else! At least 1/3 to 1/2 of the MC questions were tricky and not straight forward. I dedicated 160hours for this exam and felt really comfortable walking into the testing center. As soon as the first question appeared I started to panic. I had to guess on at least 1/3 of the MC questions. I guessed on 80% of the materials on the first simulation and didn't even get the chance to finish the second simulation. Although, I think I did pretty well on the WC. I hope we all passed!

REG - 88
AUD - 86
BEC - 77
FAR - 83

[Kookie]

@LSU_BR,

Your comment made me smile–I needed to read it!! As you mentioned, this time of year is just right for miracles–not to mention, miracles happen everyday. I will requote your words–as it helped ease my thoughts even more: “Please, please, keep the faith. You studied hard and that's all you can do. And remember, this is the right time of the year for miracles”

[SecondTime]

I keep coming back to this thread because I'm having trouble processing what happened.

I have Post Traumatic Test Syndrome.

I have to get past this feeling and keep moving. I keep telling myself to just move the ball down field, eventually I’ll score.

BEC:84,exp'd. retest 2/28/2013 (74)
AUD:88
FAR:77
REG:2013

WE HAVE NOT FAILED UNTIL WE QUIT

[LSU_BR]

@ Kookie – I'm so glad it made you smile. Sometimes that's difficult to do during this process.

@ Second Time – I have that too! It was worse, much worse, a few days ago. I'm trying to let go and let GOD.

I keep hanging out in FAR threads because I was here so long, I feel lost without it. AND I have some “family” waiting on FAR grades. I have to keep checking in on them ;).

The REG threads depress me and make me anxious,lol.

AUD 95 (3/5/10); BEC 83 (5/28/10); FAR 71, 72, 74, 82 (10/16/10); REG 65,80(11/23/10)
ALL DONE 🙂

[Author]

Replies