[rsg149]

I need some advice…

Long story short, I failed BEC in Q1 with a 69. Just got my score back last night from Q2, and it was a 72. My Becker is expiring in 9 days and I’m not sure if its worth it to get the extension ($299 for 3 months).

I’ve heard a lot of success stories on here about people pairing Becker with Ninja MCQ’s. I just can’t seem to get over the hump on BEC.

I have passed AUD and FAR and currently awaiting REG score in September.

Feeling really down in the dumps right now because I put soooo much time and effort into BEC and still no results to show. I’m no where near giving up, but I feel like i need to reevaluate my strategy at this point.

Planning a retake for the 1st of October, or possibly September 10.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, congrats to everyone who passed.

ALSO: Can anyone tell me how to change my signature???? It keeps giving me the error message “you are not allowed to access this page” when I click the link!

[rsg149]

Just got my score report back with my score of 72:

I. Corporate Governance (17 – 27%) – Weaker
II. Economic Concepts and Analysis (17 – Stronger
27%)
III. Financial Management (11 – 21%) – Comparable
IV. Information Technology (15 – 25%) – Comparable
V. Operations Management (15 – 25%) – Weaker

Multiple Choice (50%) – Weaker
Simulation (35%) – Weaker
Written Communication (15%) – Comparable

[Anonymous]

BEC has become almost as hard as FAR I think. I took it (BEC) a few weeks ago and I got cremated. The SIMs were abominable. I only did well on one of them, maybe two, and the rest just stunk.
The MCQ were on stuff that I didn't study much on (including about 10-15 FAR and AUD questions). The WC's were the only easy thing about the exam. I barely finished at 4 hours, whereas with FAR and AUD I had time left on the clock. I wouldn't feel too badly about a second fail. BEC is the exam that has changed the most – and my theory is that it's because the AICPA was “graduating” too many new CPAs. They want the pass rates to drop a bit. BEC used to have a 56% pass rate and with the SIMs, it's going to drop I'm sure, and that's the way they want it. Keep studying. If you throw enough **** at the wall, some of it will actually stay there!!

[shawn in VA]

RSG-
I can sympahtize with you . I got 2- 74's in a row on BEC. I just took BEC a couple days ago (result comes out mid sept) , and actually feel good about it but not going to give my hopes up. I am sorry to say that with the breakdown you posted above there is no way that can be a pass, actually I am surprised you got a 72 given that breakdown. Hang in there! BEC is underestimated exam.

CrazyLeon-
You really got unlucky in the test you got. 10-15 AUD and FAR questions, with the SIMS being a nightmare is a cruel joke. I actually took the exam a couple days ago and for the 1st time I can say that I was issued a “fair” exam. I have been thrown with AUD and FAR topics for my WC in the past, but this time I got all BEC topics for WC. I have NEVER gotten any AUD or FAR MCQ's but have gotten finance type calcs which were never in my review materials.

In general I have to agree that AICPA is trying to make this one hard b/c 56% passing is high (for them). There was a couple years like 2008-2010 when I was in public and MANY of my friends were taken the CPA exam and passing the 1st time. Must have been like 30 people I knew in those 2 years period that passed and let me tell you they were NOT the sharpest people out there actually kind of on the airhead side. This was firm of 400 people (national firm). I should have taken the exam then….

[Anonymous]

@Shawn – I used Gleim (textbook only) for BEC. I would have done better on it if Roger had been an OK review course and I'd practiced about twice as many MCQ and SIMs. But it wasn't/isn't, and I had to go in another direction. I did not study variance analysis at all due to lack of time (work) and let me just say that there were tons of questions on it. I went into the exam with no artillery, basically. But, that not withstanding, I definitely got a bad version of the test. The things I did study a lot on were not even tested, and there were all these surprise FAR and AUD questions….WTF?! I was just kinda laughing to myself at how ridiculous some of the SIMs were. One of them was so warped that I didn't even answer it. I got the WARNING alert before hitting the testlet submit button telling me “You haven't answered one of the questions, do you want to submit anyway?” and I clicked ‘SUBMIT'. Terrible. I felt like the worst student in the world. My NTS was expiring the next day so I had no other choice but to take it. I will definitely be going a completely different route for the retake and next time it will definitely be better. I'm sure the main reason for their making BEC harder was because a lot of people had been passing it on the first try and they didn't want that to keep happening. And, like you, I know a few bonehead CPAs who don't know very much. I also know a few who, although intelligent, have admitted to me that they could not pass it today unless they studied A LOT.

OP – those score reports are useless. And they even admit to as much – because the form of the test you get on your re-take will have different percentages of different kinds of questions so it's not like studying the “weaker” areas harder will make any difference the next time around. To compare people who failed with those who “just passed, with scores of 75-80” is not even meaningful.

[shawn in VA]

Crazy-

When did you take the BEC exam? Mine was AUG 22. The exam I took before that was back in April (4 months of no exams). I had an emotional breakdown after 2 – 74's on BEC in a row and thought about quitting . I had to go to doctor and was given anti anxiety meds. They actually worked I was a little nervous in the beginning a couple days back when I took the exam but went away fast. Before I was nervous the whole exam and could not think straight and messed up my performance. Just something about Prometric freaked me out. That was not the case 2 days ago. Either the 4 months off AND/OR the meds helped

[shawn in VA]

there was a guy 1st year staff who prepared financial statements on behalf of a client for a bank, and assets did not equal liabilities plus equity. YET HE HAD JUST PASSED the CPA EXAM!!! Coincidentally these types passed in the the recession (2008-2010ish)

[LiveMic]

Hello, I took BEC 4 times before I passed all 4 exams. Don't give up..

REG 80, 72
AUD 82, 64
FAR 75, 51
BEC 75, 73, 75, 72

[Anonymous]

@Shawn – I took BEC on August 12. Pulling two 74's is crazy and it makes me wonder why they wouldn't give you that one more point.

[Anonymous]

Hard to believe that there are people who passed the exam not knowing that A = L + E but let it never be said that the exams don't get harder and harder every year.

[shawn in VA]

I did not get that 1 extra point b/c the AICPA wants my extra $250 to take the exam . It happened twice so they got a cool $500 out of me. I have a family to support (wife does not work) and 2 kids so that 3 weeks of groceries.

AICPA is a business like any other–to earn profits.

[Anonymous]

@palmetto No I haven't seen anything of Yeager's. That's one program I know nothing about!!

[PalmettoMoon]

@crazyleon Not sure why my post got deleted. I didn't do it. Weird.

[PalmettoMoon]

@crazyleon Since it got deleted somehow, here's the link again in case you wanted to check it out — Yaeger CPA Review
I was part of the pilot test for it before it got released last week and it really did help me feel more confident (mentally) going into the exam.

[Anonymous]

@shawn – yes, the AICPA and their CPA exams kick the crap out of people. I am not quite at the point where I have a lot of battle scars, but it seems to be heading in that direction.
I really don't understand the methodology of being 1 point away from a pass. 74 is the equivalent of zero to the AICPA. Did someone mis-spell a word or have a run-on sentence in one of their WC's and that pushed them down by a point? We can only guess and there's no point questioning it. I don't know if you took it more than those two times but hopefully time 3 will be a charm.
At this point, I am having a really hard time seeing the road ahead for myself with the whole thing. I just keep telling myself over and over “there is no reason why you can't pass them.” I know I am not stupid – at least, outside of CPA Land. Major hurdles to get over, no doubt about it.

[Anonymous]

@palm Yes it disappeared! I saw it this morning and now it's not there. Do you like Yeager? I guess you must or you wouldn't have posted that. I don't know of anyone – other than you i guess? – who has passed all 4 on Yeager. It seems not to be a much-discussed review course nowadays but long ago I know it was more popular. I'll check out the link, thanks for reposting.

[Author]

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