[Anonymous]

And I’m so glad that’s over with. All this nervous energy I’ll have while waiting for next week’s score release will be helpful in preparing for Christmas and giving my house a good cleaning!

My nerves got the best of me in the beginning and throughout the first couple of testlets. My heart was racing and I had to read each question a couple of times to make sure I was reading it right. I think next time I’m going to have to drink a glass of wine or do something going into the exam. That feeling definitely worked against me. I also slept for maybe 2 hours last night. I feel asleep quickly but then woke up and never could go back to sleep. For the next test, I’m definitely taking something to help me sleep. There is a large psychological piece to this exam puzzle that I never even really thought about before.

I honestly can’t tell if the testlets got harder. I’m hoping that’s not a bad sign. Is there anyone who doesn’t know if their testlets got harder but still passed?

In the MCQ’s, there was one question that was a duplicate but was asked in a slightly different way (but calculation was the same). I saw 1 or 2 that were almost verbatim from the Wiley book or testbank.

I had 1 1/2 hours for SIMS which was great and I still barely finished. I know I got the research question right and that only took about 5 minutes. I don’t think I got any of the other SIMS completely right, but feel I got at least 50-75% of each of them right.

I would have never known to watch my timing had I not read that on here. There were a few MCQ’s I wish I would have had more time to play around with, but I just took an educated guess and moved on.

The thing that surprised me the most about the exam was the lack of material that was tested. I got several questions on just a few areas and not one question on several areas. In fact, there were entire modules in Wiley that I didn’t get 1 question on. I know that it’s a lot of material to be tested in 4 hours, but it looks like they would try to touch on each topic. The other thing that surprised me was how quickly those 4 hours went by!

Overall, I have no idea how I did. I’m obviously hoping to squeeze by, but am facing a very real possibility of having a rematch in the next testing window. I’m just hoping for no 74 – that is the the worst score ever.

Looking back, I should have done a lot more MCQ’s. I had planned on doing tons of them, but ran out of time. Also, I will never take another exam right after a major holiday. Being out of the routine with Thanksgiving really threw me off my study plan. We went out of town and I was planning on doing a lot of review but ended up chit-chatting with family members instead.

Good luck to everyone that has an exam tomorrow or Wednesday. I’ll see you guys here next week for score release!

[Peanut]

What are you using for a review program? If you need extra questions, I'd suggest Wiley. Very affordable. I totally feel your pain with the anxiety. At least you stayed and finished! My first FAR take got the best of me. To be honest, I think FAR is curved the most out of any of these exams!

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]

I'm using Yaeger/Wiley. Most of what I saw on the test was covered in the review program. There were a few questions from left field but I expected to see some like that. If I don't pass, it will definitely be my fault and not a deficiency with Yaeger/Wiley. There were a few calculations that I just had a familiarity with, but didn't practice them enough to be able to proficiently do them on the exam. I also skipped over some of the basics in my review due to time constraints b/c they were just that – basic. But that was definitely a mistake!

Does the anxiety get better after the first exam? I attributed part of my nervousness to the fact this was my first one, but I don't want to go into another one feeling the same way I did yesterday. I am still nervous today and at this point, it's nothing I can even do about. I guess it is hard to get back to a normal life after studying so much. And to think I have to go through this a minimum of 3 more times is depressing!

[VetTechToCPA]

Apbandj,

I was very nervous during my first exam (FAR) and had a similar experience to you of having to reread the questions because I was so nervous and not really understanding them the first read through. I took my second exam last week (REG) and it went much smoother. I think this was because I didn't have first-time jitters and I also scheduled it for later in the day so I was able to get more sleep the night before. Before FAR I barely got any sleep because I was nervous and knew I had to get up early, which always makes it harder for me to settle down and get to sleep. My FAR exam was a lot like yours in that several topics were heavily tested and others not at all. I guess it's really just luck of the draw which questions you get. So, anyway, my point is that it will get better the second time you test.

FAR - 80
REG - 82
AUD - 92
BEC - 81
Ethics - 100

[Author]

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