[rahee]

How do you mentally overcome that?

[Recked]

Perhaps I am a pessimist, but I did not feel overly confident on any of the exams I took.
I would have never told someone that I thought I passed any exam for sure.
The only one I truly would have been disappointed in myself for failing would be REG, because I'm a tax guy with 15 years on the job.

[Anonymous]

You just hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I thought I passed AUD and I actually failed in Q2. I kept on studying for the next section (REG), then started studying for AUD and took the exam again. Now back to the “hope for the best, prepare for the worst” part.

[Pork Flavored Bacon]

You just need to take a step back and regroup. I know it's disheartening when you see that failing grade but you will either be persistent or give up. I see you already passed BEC so that tells me you are willing and able to put in the time and effort to study for the exam.
I failed FAR four times. A couple of those times I thought I nailed the crap out of the test only to score in the 60's. I took stock of my deficiencies and about a week off from books.
Once you realize you did not know as much as you thought, you'll be able to get back to hitting the books.

FAR - 75 | REG - 87 | AUD - 82 | LAW - 81

[SuperAccountingGod]

Damm I didn't feel like I failed FAR when I took it last week. But I also didn't feel like I passed either lawl. But that seems to be the general consensus around here: you pass when you think you fail and you fail when you think you passed. I'm in the middle so who knows what'll happen to me lawl.

[Kat]

I always tell myself that I failed so that I can be ready for it when I do fail and be pleasantly surprised when I pass. It's a defense mechanism that has worked wonders for me and kept me sane and motivated. That being said, despite having never come out of any one of these exams thinking that I for SURE passed, I did come out of both REG and AUD thinking “there's a possibility I could border on passing that time.” And I did end up passing those. The other times I took those sections (took REG three times and AUD twice), I told myself “there is NO chance I passed”, and I failed. I have the same “border on passing” feeling with BEC that I just took and I'm waiting on the score so I'm reallyyyyy hoping it will be a pass this time (I HATE BEC!!!) – but, again, I still expect to border the passing score. So getting a 73 or 74 wouldn't surprise me. But if I get way worse than that, yeah, I'll be shocked and probably devastated.

Also, I've never gotten a lower score yet. Took REG three times, AUD twice and BEC three times so far and I've managed to pull off higher scores each time until finally passing. I got a 73 on my last try of BEC. So getting lower would kill my getting higher scores each time streak too… It would be double the devastation for me then lol.

[cottonkandi]

I'm waiting for my FAR and AUD score. When I took FAR the first time, it was busy season and took off 10 days and studied only 8 days, got a 63 (one of my managers demanded I finish something for her and I had to use two of my off days to complete something she wanted- I still despise her for doing that to me because she knew I was trying to study for the exam). I didn't feel bad after taking that test and I failed with weak on both MCQ's and the SIMs. The second time I took it, I studied for 2 months but I was 8 months pregnant (not working) and I could barely concentrate on the material or even sit 30 minutes at a time, that time I got a 68. When I looked at the MCQ's the second time, they seemed much easier than the first time I took it, ended up getting moderate on the MCQ's and weak on the SIMs. This time when I took FAR, I definitely felt I had a good grasp on all of the material, I knew the calculations well enough. I didn't cover government and NFP like I would have liked to and it may have cost me the exam. On the Becker Mock, I got a 67%. When I took the test, I didn't feel like the MCQ's were easy like the second time for either testlet. I kept on double guessing myself. On the SIMs the last two time, I didn't feel like I understood the SIMs well, but this time I knew at least 2 out the 8 SIMS. I can say 2 I got 70 – 100%, 3 I got 50/50, and I left 1.5 completely blank, could not get an answer, and the research I definitely got wrong. So coming out of the exam I felt like I failed and would be very surprised if I got a passing grade. For the MCQ's, the first time I took the test, I kept on getting the same couple of topics, second time the topics were even, and the third time the topics were even as well.

I took Audit as well, came out feeling like I did with BEC, that it wasn't as hard as I expected and if I fail it's going to be close, around 3-5 points, so I'm expecting a 70-78. I did score a 68 on the mock and on MCQ's, I couldn't tell if it was getting harder or not, just like BEC. On the Becker Mock I got a 68% and people use to report 10 points higher on the real thing but lately, those results have not held true.

I have taken BEC once, FAR 3 times, and AUD once and I could never tell whether the testlets were getting hard or not. On a side note, I'm currently not working and plan not to go back to work until I'm done with these exams. Wishing everyone luck out there.

[Kat]

@cottonkandi – I passed AUD and REG and the testlets never got harder for me or I either just sucked at being able to notice the difference. I think that maybe you will only notice if you score really high like upper 80s or 90s. People who borderline passed probably got medium testlets throughout and did just well enough on all of the medium testlets to pass. To be honest, the whole “the testlets get harder if you're doing well” thing kind of discouraged me because I never felt like they got harder during the exam so I would get discouraged while actually taking it, but I still managed to pull off two passes, so I really don't store much faith in that theory now.

[rahee]

Thanks for all the responses everyone! @cottonkandi and @superaccountinggod, I think i am on the same boat as you both. I seriously cant tell how i did on my exam. I think my score will be very borderline unfortunately. However, I think I am going to continue with studying for my upcoming exam and worry about the prior exam when scores come out. When I came out of the testing center, I felt okay–better than the other exams ive taken, but now im seriously psyching myself out…………….

[Cheeks Malone]

I thought I passed REG the first time I took the exam (I had AUD completed at the time). I did not earn a passing score and really took the news really hard – I thought I was going to quit. I took a month off from studying, allowed myself enough time to study all of REG again (knowing I would lose AUD before being able to complete all four sections), sat for the exam again, felt as if I probably would take it a third time, but thankfully earned a passing score in Q4 2017. I have since re-passed AUD in Q2 2018, sat for FAR in July 2018 and will sit BEC on 9/7/2018.

Hopefully I have put in sufficient effort to absorb enough of the material to say that I am done with tests, but I know that if I haven't earned passing scores yet, I have made tremendous and positive gains since I began this process. A little more studying is all that it will take to pass, I haven't lost the knowledge from my first attempts.

Keep your head up! This is about effort, not intelligence.

[Rainbow Butterfly]

Thus far, every time I thought I did well, I failed. Every time I thought I failed, I passed. I did eventually pass audit, but I almost gave up half a dozen times. Just got to keep on keeping on.

[Anonymous]

Although my situation isn't what the title of this thread is, I do want to point out that it's so hard to gauge whether you passed or failed based on how you felt.

I finished BEC at least 1.5 hours early (been a while since I took the test), felt I got no less than a 90, and snuck by with a 79.
For FAR, I was convinced I got no higher than a 60, yet passed with a 77.
Two point differential, yet my feelings after each test were wildly different.

You never, ever know.

[Anonymous]

This game we play about how we feel vs. how we did, is a losing battle…I always preferred to think I failed, and was pleasantly surprised with the first 3 that I took…..Then came FAR, and I don't know whether it was the sheer exhaustion of taking it last, but I was kind of elated when it was over, sure that I was done…I scored a 69….It was the worst feeling in the world, indescribable…But I always preferred to convince myself I had failed just in case…. the way you feel after exam has nothing to do with how you actually end up doing… So if you can focus on studying for other sections, it's the best thing to take your mind off the guessing..

[rahee]

Yea, I guess you can never tell how you do based on how you feel. Failing sucks, but failing when you thought you did well hurts so much more. But theres no point in overthinking it i guess–whatever happens, happens. Hopefully I can use this frustration towards studying even harder.

[Anonymous]

I agree it's a losing battle to try and figure out if you passed. I felt horrible after FAR, thought there was no way I passed, and ended up getting a 95.

There's no way to know if you got more “hard” or “easy” questions, or which one were pre-tested.

[MaLoTu]

The first time I took audit I thought I passed because I did so well on my practice material and I failed more miserably than any of the other exams. From that day forward I never walked out of the testing center feeling like I passed.

I will say that every time I passed I walked out of the testing center knowing that did as much as I humanly could and there was no way I could have been more prepared.

[Author]

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