[Anonymous]

I just finished taking the REG section. I feel like crap. On the bright side, the 1st testlet didn’t come off as horrible. The 2nd one made me want to slash my wrists in the testing center. The 3rd one was almost as rough. I know this usually indicates I was doing well but still…..ugh! I found most of the questions to be ‘feast or famine’ type. I either knew the answer easily or had no clue. There wasn’t alot of working through the problem.

To make things all the more enjoyable, I start the Becker BEC classes on Wednesday. I came home after the test and read the material for that class. The amusing thing is I found one of the answers that made me scratch my head from the REG test there (that should be vague enough to not invoke any disclosure issues right?)

All in I felt worn out after the AUD test but not horrible. Not great, but not horrible. I feel less worn out on this one but more like crap. Given the difficulty on the 2nd and 3rd testlets I feel good about my performance. I won’t say I think I barely passed like I felt with AUD (given that I got a 94 when I felt I barely made it). I will simply say that if I didn’t get it I will be close (70-74). No one I know will listen to me. They all just say “you’re smart I’m sure you did great” or “you said that about the last one and got a 94.” In any event I’ll find out later this month or at the end of March. In the mean time I’ve got 5 BEC classes to get through and a test to take before the end of February so I only get today to sulk.

On another side note, I am really questioning how smart it is to drive myself home after FAR some time in April. I felt bad enough and was distracted enough given the traffic on the way home that I probably should not have been driving. I know I’ve felt “impaired” in my driving two other times in my life that had nothing to do with alcohol. Has anyone else experienced that level of distraction after taking part of the cpa exam or other items (random discussion point!)?

[jeff]

Yeah – walking out of an exam – particularly FAR or REG can leave you exhausted/drained on a weird level.

I know exactly what you're referring to.

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry so much about Reg, I felt the same as you when I walked out. I thought I was in the 65-80 range, basically meaning I had no clue if I passed or not but if I did I thought it would be close. My score came out and I did better than I had on Audit, when I walked out of feeling very confident. So go figure. I think your mood going in, the questions you get, and how stressed you are as time winds down all impact your impression of each exam.

As for BEC, I thought it was an easy section in comparison to Audit and Reg. If you do well with multiple choice and you have some familiarity with the general business and IT topics covered in the section you should be fine. A lot of people seem to get worried about BEC because it has so many topics. Just remember they can't test you in great depth on all the topics. You will simply be tested on a wide range of things. So “know a little about a lot”. Just my 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

I'm actually looking forward to BEC. I know everyone dreads the IT questions, but I'm actually a bit of a computer nerd. I haven't looked at the section that covers the IT stuff, but I don't have any fear of IT like alot do with that material (kindof like alot of people that have a mental block to math). I read the BEC class 1 material after coming home (I'm insane apparently) and the basics of it were covered in REG.

I'm going to relax the rest of the evening and hit everything strong tomorrow. I only have 3.5 weeks until I sit for BEC (then 3 days after that start the FAR classes). Hopefully I get my scores at the end of Feb for REG, but there is nothing I can do to impact that either way.

[strider4216]

dude I didn't even read what you wrote except for the first line…I wanted to let you know that's perfectly normal. Regulation is notorious for making people feel like utter shit after they leave. I personally thought I failed, was convinced I failed, and I'm not one of those people who always thinks he did bad but ends up doing good. I legitimately, rationally concluded that I could not possibly have passed.

I've seen this same emotion come from nearly EVERYONE who takes reg, it just drains you and makes you feel like you failed, but you should remember the test is curved. And I got an 85 thinking I failed, so you surely did better too.

[jeffm]

Dale…I took Reg last Thurs and know exactly what you are talking about (severe depression and the BEC thing). No idea what I got but just praying a 75 comes across. The good news is there is only 2.5 hours of testing to go and all MC. Keep your head up…who knows, everyone may be right (my wife all of my friends tell me this too); your good enough, your smart enough and doggone it you got higher than a 75!

[zacharyT]

I took Reg on Saturday. I left feeling crushed, as well. I think I did really well on the MC questions. I may have missed a few. The simulations were absurd. One tab in my simulation dealt with an IRS issue that was not discussed in my book. I was completely clueless. The writing and research were fine, but the other tabs were complex. I don't think I passed.

[zena]

Keep in mind, ZacharyT, that is possible portions of your simulations could be test items, therefore will not count toward your grade. I'm thinking/hoping that some of these really off the wall topics are just things AICPA is trying out. What material did you use? Good luck!

FAR 86 | BEC 94 | AUD 90 | REG 85
All done! used Becker

[Anonymous]

I just got home from taking REG. I am trying to evaluate my perfornance and it is confusing at best. I am not sure if the testlets seem to get harder but I am trying to convince myself that they did. I remember Jeff saying that if they seem wordy, more calculations and more thought that kind of meant they were getting harder. My testlets seem to follow that pattern. The first testlet kinda of flew by in about 25 minutes, 2nd and 3rd testlets in about 30-35 minutes which left with about 1 1/2 hours for the simulations. Felt pretty good at this moment with about 45 minutes for each simulation since many individuals ran out of time for this exam. The first simulation was not something I expected but doable. Written communication and research tab went off pretty good. Each tab was kind of individual so like that. Those simulations where all the tabs are related can be a real bear. Finished first simulation with about 50 minutes left. Second simulation was also doable. Written communications and research tabl was not to bad. Thought I do pretty good on the them in both simulations. The tabs were not overly difficult if you knew what you were doing but did not know everything so made some educated guesses. I finished with about 5-10 minutes left and try to use the research tab to work some of the answers that I was not sure of. For me this was a BIG mistake. First because I was not sure in the first place and the more I thought about the more I second guessed my answers plus I really never found anything that helped.

I can see me pass or failing this exam. I would be very surprised if I bombed this exam (Below 65) since I felt very good about the multiple choice questions. Now the waiting game. Hope I will see my score in Wave 1 since if I fail I can start restudying for next window since this is my last exam. One note, I worked every simulation in Becker and I think this helped me, not that the material was the same but to not be overwhelmed with the simulations I did receive. Good Luck to everyone taking REG.

[Anonymous]

Well Lee you seem to have done far better than I did! That is good! I left feeling pretty beaten up…and the more I think about it, the more questions I realize I missed! I really hope I did enough to pass…I have hope that several people have said they were convinced of failure then they ended up surprised. I sure hope that applies to incomplete simulations!

[gmb]

I took REG last testing window and was POSITIVE that I had failed. I felt like I did pretty well on the MCQ's but I completely bombed the simulations. I had an hour and a half to complete the SIMS but did not even come close to finishing the second one. I probably left about 2 or 3 tabs completely blank and wrote a one-liner for the second written communication As a percentage I would guess that I probably got about 20% correct on the SIMS.

Regardless of what the AICPA says, they grade these tests on some sort of curve. So don't get down on yourselves too quickly, if the majority of others were struggling as well it was probably just a really hard test and it will be taken into consideration during the scoring process.

FAR-88, AUD-94, BEC-87, REG-90

[Anonymous]

cmb2009 – Like gmb said, you never really know. I kinda feel like I did when I took AUD the first time and failed. I thought I did pretty good but could score anywhere between 60-85. These test are put on a curve and maybe your exam questions were more difficult and worth more points. We will really never know how these exam are graded and frankly I do not really think I want to. All I know is that I need to do better than half the people on average taking the exam and you will pass whether you got 70% or 80% of the questions right. Good Luck cmb2009 on your score as the waiting game begins.

[Anonymous]

Lee – You are right…you just never know til you see that slip of paper. Good luck to you too! Here's hoping for a 75!!

[TXnewbie]

Dale, I'm in the same position – just took REG Monday, scheduling BEC for latest possible February timeframe.

I have mixed feelings about REG; I could definitely see the testlets getting harder and somewhat ‘wordier,' but a lot of questions seemed to encompass rather obscure topics or numbers, not ‘meat and potatoes' tax calculations.

The sims were from a different galaxy. It took me 20 minutes of staring to begin to deduce what the **** it was asking for.

Only word of advice I can give (also referenced above) – don't use the research tab to help complete other tabs in the sim. It was a complete waste of time; I ran out of time by spending too long trying to find the right section to reference in the communication, as opposed to composing a flowing memo that I could've done from scratch.

Time to start hitting BEC tomorrow – 24-25 days from test day!

FAR - 75 (11/09) LOST credit
REG - 79 (06/10) LOST credit
BEC - 73 (05/03/10), 83 01/14/11 LOST credit
AUD - 74 (02/28/11) 74!!! (05/30/11)

2014
BEC - 77 (02/18/14)
AUD - April
REG - May
FAR - Later

[WhoDatCpa]

I got destroyed on REG yesterday. I studied the exact same way for REG as I did the other 3 exams. The MC asked several questions that were not covered in Becker. The SIMS were ridiculous, asking very minute detailed questions. Even my communications were a nightmare. Becker was great for the other 3 exams, but defenitly not good for REG. Pretty Bumbed over this way:(

[Anonymous]

I had a single topic on 3 MC questions that wasn't even mentioned in Becker. The sims were goofy, but, in my limited experience, they typically are.

[Author]

Replies