How telling is the difficulty of MCQ testlets on the actual exam?

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #201466
    mpd92
    Participant

    I took REG yesterday, and my 3 testlets went from pretty difficult (flagged 7) ,to very difficult (flagged 10), to alarmingly easy (flagged 1). How bad of a sign is this? Does it mean i definintley failed?

Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • #773048
    Stilgoin
    Participant

    There is no way to know for sure. Usually, significant raise in difficulty on the testlet means you did well on the previous testlet, BUT what the AICPA calls difficult is a big mystery. Also, the AICPA grades more points for their chosen difficult questions and less for their easy ones. That still does not mean you can distinguish. I would assume (not sure though) they record every time a question is answered right or wrong and that information comparatively determines how they score each question on your exam. There is really nothing you can do but try to relax and wait for the score.

    Good luck!

    B | 62, 78
    A | 73, 67, 79
    R | 82
    F | 59, 59, Waiting

    Ethics | 93

    "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
    ~Winston Churchill

    “In a world full of critics, be an encourager."

    #773049
    TheHoundThatRides
    Participant

    My AUD questions got harder for me. I convinced myself it was just because I was doing so well but I knew deep down I didn't know the material as well as I should have. I ended up failing.

    On the other hand, I feel all my BEC and FAR questions stayed easy throughout and I passed those exams. These were also exams I was more confident for, despite the fact I was guessing on key material like Government/Finance.

    I wouldn't try and interpret it in any way for now. You'll just drive yourself crazy.

    BEC - 78 (August 2015)
    FAR - 80 (November 2015)
    AUD - 73, 67. (Ok I gotta confess I was even more lazy this time around)
    REG - August 27th, 2016

    #773050
    gigabyte2001
    Participant

    I took AUD saturday and I felt like the first set was the hardest & they got easier & easier. I'm afraid that means I didn't do very well.

    B - 11/11/16
    A - 4/16/16 87!!
    R - 2/17/17
    F - 7/26/16 - Waiting for 8/23

    #773051
    marqzho
    Participant

    There is no way to tell.

    I thought I did not do well in the second testlet, so I had moderate ->Difficult -> Moderate. Turns out I did pretty good in all MCQ.

    REG 90
    FAR 95
    AUD 98
    BEC 84

    #773052
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I've read through the released AICPA questions to get a feel for what's “difficult” vs what's “easy” and realized trying to interpret hard or easy is almost impossible. However, that doesn't stop me from wasting time while I'm taking the test trying to analyze if the questions are getting harder or easier.

    #773053
    Jdn9201
    Participant

    I think it's a waste of time to think too much about the perceived difficulty of your questions. I've also read that getting a difficult vs moderate testlet is an evaluation of the testlet as a whole, which means you can have easier questions peppered in with more difficult ones, and it still be a difficult testlet. AUD messed with my head the most because I couldn't figure out whether the questions were getting harder or easier. When you add in the fact that around 17% of the questions are thrown out, it's really hard to tell.

    BEC - 88 8/29/15
    REG - 82 11/14/15
    AUD - 83 1/8/16
    FAR - 80 2/29/16

    #773054
    CPA2BEE
    Participant

    In my experience, if at least one of the testlets gets harder then you have a good shot. The only times I've failed are when I thought all of the testlets seemed medium. And on all my passes I thought only one testlet was harder while the other two seemed easy. Here is my theory (which means nothing and is just how I think) under the assumption that you at least score “Comparable” under the SIMS:

    – 3 medium testlets = not a good sign
    – 2 medium, 1 hard testlet = good shot at 75-84 range
    – 1 medium, 2 hard testlet = 85 and above depending on performance

    FAR - 80
    AUD - 82
    BEC - 80
    REG - 85

    ETHICS - 90
    EXPERIENCE - COMPLETE
    Application for California license mailed 8/4/2016

    #773055
    MaLoTu
    Participant

    For REG all my testlets seemed the same and I got an 80 and had a similar experience with my AUD exam that I passed, the only reason I assumed that they might have gotten more difficult was because it took longer to answer the questions, I passed. Then I got 74 on BEC and I felt that the questions were consuming more time as I went along.

    I just don't think you can really tell. I didn't notice a big difference in the testlets on this last BEC exam attempt, but I felt like I knew most of what they were asking … we will see what happens.

    #773056
    mpd92
    Participant

    I'm very nervous since this is my last shot at Reg before my Far expires. On my previous tests, it was much more difficult for me to make the call on which testlets were easier or harder

    #773057
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    these “increasing difficulty” theories are completely distorted by our own personal strenghts and weaknesses regarding the material.

    For example, say you are really prepared for GOV/non profit on FAR. the exam in reality gets really hard in those areas they throw all this convoluted gov MCQ questions at you and you are knocking it out of the park. you're thinking well that sucks the exam isn't getting any harder for me. the exam is thinking: wow this guy is really good he's well prepared. all because of your subjective strengths and weaknesses you have now wasted 2 weeks worrying and stressing on something completely unpredictable until score release day. good luck! im sure you passed

    #773058
    monikernc
    Participant

    eesti strikes again!

    FAR 7/25/15 76!
    AUD 10/30/15 93
    BEC 2/27/16 82
    REG 5/23/16 88!
    Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
    and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
    if you want things to change, you have to do something different

Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • The topic ‘How telling is the difficulty of MCQ testlets on the actual exam?’ is closed to new replies.