[ABTX411]

I keep seeing all these posts from people who are attempting to assess the difficulty level of each of their testlets. I can tell you with 100% certainty (from personal experience) that it is IMPOSSIBLE to accurately assess this, and there is nothing positive that can come from this assessment. For instance, you think “my testlets didn’t get any harder, I must have failed.” But in reality, you just really knew your shit, so it didn’t FEEL any harder. Then you get your score, and you actually got a 90. Yay! But you just spent the last 3 weeks totally bummed out and less productive than you should have been because you thought you failed a section. Or… you think, “Woo hoo! My second and third testlets were KILLER!!! I must’ve done really well.” When in reality, you totally bombed it, and it only felt harder because the test had a bunch of easy questions over a topic that you just didn’t fully understand. Then, when you get your score, you feel even more defeated because you thought you did so well.

And the absolute WORST case scenario – during your test, you get to the second testlet, and it doesn’t feel any harder. In reality, it’s a testlet that has material that the AICPA considers “difficult,” but you’re super familiar with the stuff, and you think it’s easy. You start to freak out because you think you’re not doing well, and then you psych yourself out, and you start performing poorly on questions that you otherwise would have aced.

I repeat, There is NO WAY TO KNOW until you get that score.

So take your test. Take a deep breath. Drink a beer. You’re allowed to take 24 hours to flip the f***k out, then move on. Keep your head up, and tell yourself that no matter what happened, there’s always next time if needed. The next test is around the bend. That should be your focus. Keep plodding forward, and conquer the beast.

BEC - 90 - 2/04/2016
AUD - 97 - 2/29/2016
FAR - 92 - 4/19/2016
REG - 88 - 5/19/2016

[thederek]

What OP said needed to be said. There are people that will not study for the next section because they think they had easy testlets and failed. When I was studying, there were people literally saying things on here like “The second testlet is the only one that matters” based on their assumption about their scores and corresponding testlet difficulty.

There are only a couple review programs I know of that provide the released questions, and im sure a small number who have access actually go through them, so a lot of people really don't know any better. But I've seen bad habits and downright wrong advice on here from people who think they can gauge the difficulty.

BEC - 10/05/15 - 83
FAR - 11/09/15 - 79
AUD - 11/30/15 - 84
REG - 02/14/16 - 82

[monikernc]

right on, biff. right on!

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

[ABTX411]

Perhaps I should clarify the intent of my original post – support!!! I was absolutely not telling people to stop whining. This is a difficult, emotionally and physically exhausting process, especially for those of us with kids and full-time jobs. Sometimes you need a place to go where you can vent and have people fully understand what your going through.

My intention here was to tell people simply that you can't predict your outcome until you get your score, so try to not to worry, and stay focused on your next exam. Or even more importantly, don't try to predict your outcome DURING your exam, because it is very likely to throw you off your game while you are testing. This was a strategy post, not a “stop whining” post.

For those who don't want to hear people whine, don't click on the posts.

For those who think there should be a place for people to go to whine after they sit, there already is. There is a separate thread for each exam titled “___ Exam Experience” Perhaps these threads should be pinned to the top just like the study groups are, which, by the way, seem to be the best threads to go to for getting answers to practice questions. And since the study groups also exist, for those of you who think posts like this one (which, in my opinion, is totally relevant to testing strategy for any candidate) should be excluded from the board, what exactly would you prefer to fill the rest of the space with? Pictures of our kids and animals? Oh wait, that's called Facebook. 😉

What it comes down to is this – loosen up, and support each other in this quest. We are all here to accomplish the same goal. All of us will have a different experience. All of us will deal with it and vent about it differently. If you have some wisdom or tips on how to come out on the other side of this with your sanity still in tact, then share it. If you just want to be an ass and put other people down for trying to help, well… then may the AICPA testing gods have mercy on your soul. Karma can be a bitch.

BEC - 90 - 2/04/2016
AUD - 97 - 2/29/2016
FAR - 92 - 4/19/2016
REG - 88 - 5/19/2016

[CPA2BEE]

Hahah @Biff @spikesrd you guys are epic. Fully agree with you guys. If you want to whine, whine. If you don't want to see it, don't read it. Then everyone is happy!

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

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

[jeff]

The irony here is that there is a greater chance of people cracking the code to their test by posting about the difficulty than there is of getting people to stop posting about it by posting a “don't post that” thread 🙂

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

[Jdn9201]

Nice lively discussion here. 🙂 I agree with those above that no one forces anyone to read any post. If something is annoying, don't read it. I admit that when I began this process last August, I would think “Wow, these people need to take anxiety meds and/or get a life – it's just an exam..” but as I proceeded through the process, I joined them to a certain extent. People need an outlet – this is a very stressful process. I think it's normal to feel anxious and question how you did, but when it gets to the point where you are consumed by it and not able to prepare for your next exam, that's a problem. Beyond thinking about how the exam can help you adjust your study routine to better prepare for the next one, it's counter-productive. Once someone clicks submit, there's nothing you can do to change the outcome. Looking back – I liken the CPA exam process to training for a marathon. Yes, you do have to have a baseline in either mental or physical strength, but so much of both is mental. Also, if you've done the preparation and training, all you should have to do on exam or race day is show up. The hardest part is not exam day – it's all of the days before where you've sacrificed and studied or ran in order to prepare.

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

[Pete]

I've actually found that I COULD tell the difficulty on multiple choice sections getting more difficult, every single time i've taken the test. Harder does not mean wordier though; it just means trickier or more calculation intensive. I've failed, while the questions were getting more difficult as well, but I KNOW I scored well from the score report. Each time I failed, happened because of the damn simulations, not the multiple choice (based on the score report and the fact I couldn't get 4/7 simulations) . Gauging the difficulty of the questions, can lead you to your performance on the multiple choice.

I tend to do fairly well on multiple choice test and you can definitely see more traps/tricks in the questions, when you're doing well; this is assuming you've studied, which I imagine you did, if the questions are getting more difficult. Unfortunately for me, despite how well you do on the mc, you'll likely fail, if you bomb the sims. Because of this fact, it remains in your best interest to keep trying your best. Despite the fact you might be performing poorly on the mc, you can certainly come back on the SIMs, so you want accumulate as many points as you can on the MCs.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[Anonymous]

I couldn't tell how hard my testlet's were.

There did seem to be a shift between the first and the latter 2, but I can't be sure if that was just a case of the latter two just covering different topics than the first.

They didn't seem any harder, in fact they seemed easier, but the test doesn't go down in difficulty after the first one, so I have no idea.

[Author]

Replies