2011 CPA vs pre-2011 CPA: Your thoughts appreciated!

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  • September 8, 2011 at 8:25 pm #161610
    Joey J
    Participant

    I am getting the sense that this new 2011 format is quite a bit more challenging and unforgiving than the pre-2011 format. From what I am seeing, it seems like there is not much chance of passing unless all simulations are fairly complete and correct, in addition to doing the MC well. Whereas previously, I read a lot of stories of folks who may have done average to above average on the MC and still left a great deal blank on the SIMS, and still passed.

    Why do you think this is? Is this true, or is this just a feeling we all have? Is it a folie a deux? If true, why is the AICPA starting to take a tougher stance all of a sudden? Perhaps the CPA designation was being viewed as cheapened because so many were passing. Hey, times are tough, people are trying to gain a competitive edge with good designations. I am still waiting for AUD results, my last part. I am much more nervous after reading many of these truthful posts, having passed other sections in 2010. I felt I did well on the MC, but had some struggles and eye-brow raising on some of the SIMS. Maybe good enough to pass in 2010, but not this year.

Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
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  • September 8, 2011 at 8:37 pm #294690
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I took Audit in 2011 and I didn't think it was too bad. Definitely had a couple sims that made me scratch my head for a bit, but ultimately, I walked out feeling like I held my own. I didn't expect to do THAT well…just well enough to pass. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. However, I also took REG in 2011 and I felt like I got murdered by the entire exam. I walked out feeling like I had just been to the dentist, the proctologist, and the DMV all at the same time. I've heard REG and FAR were really the sections that got stepped up in difficulty in '11; I'm sure you did fine.

    September 8, 2011 at 8:41 pm #294691
    Minimorty
    Participant

    Agreed with baseball. I'll add that part of it is luck of the draw as well. If you leave a sim completely blank, but it happens to be a pre-test sim, then you are in good shape. I also think that partial credit goes a long way. Out of six sims, I'd rather score 75% on each tab than get 100, 100, 90, 50, 0, 0. I think the people who run out of time and leave a couple sims blank are finding that they are missing the passing score by a few points.

    September 8, 2011 at 8:43 pm #294692
    Joey J
    Participant

    @BaseballCPA: thanks for the info. just for my knowledge, when you did each MC tab, how well did you think you did on each (how many you marked for review, how many per tab you think you got wrong (best guess), etc.). also, with the 7 SIM tabs, did you finish them all? did you feel you got most of them right, with a lot of confidence, or did you feel that a few of the tabs you did a ‘best guess'? i know it's probably moot asking, but i would love to hear your thoughts. congrats on the great scores and passing by the way! and great score on AUD, that's why i am asking you!

    September 8, 2011 at 8:49 pm #294693
    Joey J
    Participant

    @minimorty: that sounds like good advice. but truthfully, i couldn't tell if i got a 75 or a 50 or a 90 target on each SIM. i know that for the three parts that i have passed, i was strong on a couple of the SIMS, but weak on others. but i never leave a SIM blank. i always give it my best guess using what i know and fill out each blank the best i can. i feel fortunate to have passed the other parts, but that was 2010. taking AUD this year (after dropping it last year) was a different experience. it seemed ‘harder', or more challenging. also, it seems like the scoring is more rigorous (based on most comments on this website) and unforgiving than previously.

    September 8, 2011 at 8:57 pm #294694
    Minimorty
    Participant

    @Joey – I'm actually in the same boat as you right now. On AUD I filled out all seven tabs. I got the research for sure and I was comfortable on four others. Two of my sims were kind of off the wall, but I think I managed to put in some decent answers. I am still kicking myself for missing the same multiple choice question three times. It will be interesting to see scores in the next couple of weeks. Fingers crossed!

    September 8, 2011 at 8:57 pm #294695
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Well, seeing as how it has been about 7 months since I have taken Audit, I don't really remember. What I can tell you is that I never “mark” questions for review. I know this is almost considered blasphemy, but it is just a personal test-taking rule that I always follow. I am extremely meticulous the first time through and I don't move on until I've at least made an educated guess. I find that if I go back through questions on an exam, I begin to doubt myself and then start racking my brain for another viable answer; but what ends up happening is that I start confusing myself and entropy ensues. As far as how many I was doubtful on, I cannot be sure; there were certainly a fair amount of questions (especially on the 2nd and 3rd testlets) that made me think for awhile. I felt pretty confident on 4 of the sims and the research tab; 2 of the sims left me pretty dazed. Hope that helps! Thank you, by the way…I'm sure after this month you'll be well on your way to being done too!

    September 8, 2011 at 9:13 pm #294696
    Joey J
    Participant

    @baseball: no, it's not blasphemy. i also did that several times. i try to be confident as well and move on. but a couple i do mark sometimes. i truly felt that i only got 3-4 maybe wrong per each MC testlet (same as i did for FAR, which i did very well on). but the SIMS made me frown a bit for sure. they were fair, and made my apply some FAR into AUD, but still i was not expecting it and i think i best guessed on 3-4 of the SIMS. that may be where my downfall might be, especially since so many people do so well on AUD.

    @minimorty: ha ha ha! you got that same question three times too! my goodness, i had my hands over my face, shaking my head as i had just reviewed that exact question 20 minutes prior to entering the exam center, but did not have confidence between two choices. mercifully, i did pick the right answer. but, i was thinking about hedging my options and choosing a different answer the last time i saw the question. faith overruled my impulsiveness! but that was funny when i saw that same question for the third time. i was looking around to see if someone was pranking me. hey, btw, for AUD, how many per MC tab did you think you missed (best guess)? also on the sims, what do you think you ‘scored' (best guess) on each tab (scale of 0-100), given your feeling of each? i know it's a lot, but it helps me more than just giving me a good feeling. rather, it's just good to know what other people feel about each part relative to the others.

    September 8, 2011 at 9:21 pm #294697
    Minimorty
    Participant

    Geez, let's see. I probably missed 5 on the first testlet and 8 on each of the next two. On the sims I probably got, 100, 100, 75, 75, 50, 50, 50.

    I am hoping a lot of the ones I missed were pre-test. Also, I am hoping that the AICPA grading system (cough CURVE cough) helps me out.

    September 8, 2011 at 9:44 pm #294698
    Joey J
    Participant

    @minimorty: thanks for the detailed description. what do you think differentiates pre-test questions from regular graded questions? also, do you think you did/felt better or worse on AUD after leaving the testing center as compared to FAR? do you feel you did about the same in terms of the ‘scoring' you delineated above for AUD as compared to your FAR? a lot of folks swear that AUD is easy and they feel supremely confident leaving the room, at least about MC. but that was mostly last year. i am hearing this year it's a little more perplexing. thanks in advance, this is helping me gauge things a bit.

    September 8, 2011 at 9:54 pm #294699
    Minimorty
    Participant

    I don't think the pre-test are necessarily any more challenging than regular questions. I believe the pre-test questions are ones that the AICPA has recently begun using and is in the process of collecting data to assign a level of difficulty.

    FAR was my first test and it was hard. I probably did similarly in terms of number of questions answered correctly between FAR and AUD. I had no idea what to expect in terms of score. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. I know that everyone says AUD is the easiest, but I felt better walking out of REG. Who knows, maybe I bombed both of them.

    You can try to gauge how you did all day long, but until scores come out we really have no clue.

    September 8, 2011 at 10:07 pm #294700
    Joey J
    Participant

    Yeah, I hear you. Trying to gauge is moot. But, it does help me in some direction assess my own feelings about the test. So far, I have felt good taking all of the tests I passed, except this 2011 AUD one. I actually haven't thought about it that much since I took it late July, but since I logged onto this post today, I thought I would ask. It's cool that you were pleasantly surprised with FAR. I haven't really been surprised on any score to date. When I took FAR, REG and BEC all last year, I felt I did very well. The scores reflected that. Perhaps I also got some benefit from ‘curves' or such, but I am not sure. I did feel that I was not ready for AUD last year, and it showed when I took the test. It's not my forte, and I was unprepared. I felt I probably got around a 65-70, and that's exactly what I did! I felt I had missed about 8-10 per section on the MC, and definitely stunk up the SIMS, maybe guessing on more than 2/3 of the tabs. Sad I know…This time around, I felt I did much better with the exception on a few of the SIMS, but like you said, you just never know. Oh well, I am going to enjoy the Thursday Night Football Game tonight regardless. Thanks for all your help and candor. I hope you did very well on the other sections as well. It's great that you were pleasantly surprised on FAR, although you may have been excessively critical of your own performance (which is a-okay) and did better than you thought. Apparently, yes! I love when that happens. Hope it rings true for the rest. Cheers.

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