[Will]

I took FAR in September and got a 74.

I took it again today (11/6).

I don’t think I’ve felt this disgusted in a decade. The TBS were SO difficult. I wanted to scream when I saw the line-up. And they just kept getting worse.

Like most people who study hard, I did really well on the MCQ. I got harder questions on the 2nd set and I still feel like I was able to crush most of it. Up to this point I was attacking this test like someone on their second attempt should. And then I got to the TBS…They were so difficult. I would say twice as bad as my first attempt — well, the regular research question is always relatively easy, but the rest…

I can’t really disclose what the TBS included, but it was pretty much every person’s least favorite topics on repeat. I wanted to throw the computer out the 6th story window.

For crushing the first half of the test the second half was really disheartening.

Scores are released in about 8 weeks so I’ll have time to forget how bad I feel…find renewed confidence that I did better than I thought I did… and then get a non-passing grade in time for the holidays.

Anyway, we all move on. I just wanted to share my disgust and anger at how the test can go with other people in hopes that if you felt that way then it must be normal. I wish everyone else the best of luck on their exams.

[Ana]

Hey Will, so so sorry about your exam. I'm sure you know, but you're not alone! Felt the same way you did on attempt 3, and got 73 and lost BEC. Obviously I was pissed and sad AF. But if you fail just take it in and start again. Also, make good use of the FAR SIMS blueprint thread on the forum, I'm sure it saved my butt the 4th time. Hopefully you passed though!

[Wannafree]

@will , you missed last time for 1 mark , so sorry to know that. My max score was 68 in FAR and I still cry saying I wish I would have found the answer for research question and here you all are with 73 and 74 . I can feel for it.I surprised that after getting 74 in Q3 you feel it was worst than Q3. Many on this forum said it was comparable to FAR 3 . I would pray for your pass .

[PNS2CLT]

The good news is that that the AICPA adjusts each exam for difficulty, so while you might've had sales-laseback, derivatives and government cash flows but the guy next to you had bank rec and reconciliation of A/P, the bar for you passing should be much lower than him.

[dory]

Does each test really have different questions? My test is in two days and these posts about the SIMs have me really scared.

[Ana]

each test has different questions and sims, also can go from medium to hard or stay at medium level.

[r00shine]

First time taking FAR, I thought the TBS were pretty easy and I got a 73. Then I thought I bombed the test and got a 77. Just goes to show sometimes you think you did worse than you actually did. You might have crushed it for all you know so just stay positive. Good luck!

[dory]

@Will I have totally been there. There is no worse feeling than walking out of an exam feeling like it was designed for you to fail. Keep your head up! Like @Ana told me, just learn from what you can and keep studying. To give up or lose faith in yourself would only dishonor all of the incredibly hard work you have already done. We will ALL pass this GD test, and I hope that this time around turned out well for you. KEEP FIGHTING.

[Anonymous]

@Will – you probably passed. If you did as well as you said you did on the MCQ, and were able to see all those correct answers on the screen and click them, you were about two-thirds of the way towards a 75. Even though the SIMs may have been harder, you probably didn't need to do as well on them if you aced the MCQ. I think they're probably more forgiving on the scoring of those really hard SIMs. They look at the performance of all the questions, rest assured, and if people are just bombing the crap out of them, they will factor it in I'm sure. While there is only one official non-graded SIM, there just may be more than one that they don't weight heavily beacuse of its difficulty. It seems like most people who walk out pissed off passed. Just look at my signature line below. And, most people come up on repeated attempts, they usually don't go backwards.

I wish I'd repeated FAR right after taking it. I did it in January, the last window of the old format with 90 MCQ and 7 SIMs. I got 62. I should have gone back and cleaned up what I wasn't strong on, but foolishly I moved on to AUD. Maybe because I was so sick of that thick FAR textbook. So you did the right thing with retaking the (arguably) hardest section right after getting your non-pass score.

[cmcook]

If it's any consolation, I was confident on two of my FAR sims…for the others, I attempted to use AL (I say attempted because it didn't really help). In fact, there were points where I was truly guessing/filling in blanks only by intuition. I was positive I bombed. As you can see by my score, I eked by. Keep hope – I think there is truly a chance you passed.

[Lentilcounter]

@cmcook

did you pass FAR in Q3?

BEC = 72 (6/08/16)
FAR = ?
REG = ?
AUD = ?

[cmcook]

@lentilcounter – yes, Q3

[fxbinbin]

@Will sounds like a Pass to me too. Good luck for 12/19

[kdcpa]

@Will I can totally relate to you as I had taken my second attempt of FAR this quarter. I had taken FAR in Q1 and got 70. This time I feel exactly the way you have written as difficult TBS and MCQ going difficult in the second testlet. I am also stressed while waiting for the results because I have already given considerable time preparing for FAR.

[bubbleboy]

Relatively long time lurker, first time poster.


@WILL I feel your pain. I took the exam on 11/6. I thought everything was going well, the second mcq testlet was definitely more difficult. It was doable, but much wordier. Then came the sims. I had a couple of easy ones that made sense once I realized what they were asking for. I swear sometimes it takes longer to decipher the question than answer it. The last two sims testlets were a different story. Without revealing anything, I will say I was pretty shocked by two of the sims. Having taken the exam in Q3 and ran out of time (left last 3 sims blank and only did half of another) failed with a 60, I was expecting similar sims or at least the same topics. I was wrong. Two of my simulations were so obscure I swore they must have messed up and put two pretest sims in there. Hoping I did well enough on everything else. From what I have read on here, if you feel like you don't know if you passed, then you passed. Hoping that is true for us. Finished the exam with 3 minutes left. Waiting till the end of December is going to take forever, hoping I get 3 passing scores come 12/19.

[mad max]

From what I have read on here, if you feel like you don't know if you passed, then you passed.

I mean… I walked out of all four exams thinking I didn't pass, but I went 4:4. Still, in general, I tend to be a nervous wreck, and would have probably felt the same when I left whether I would have ended up with a 50, a 75, or a 99. The months of delay waiting for score release from beginning of Apr thru Aug 22nd was a nightmare.

[Author]

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