CPA exam before 2011 VS CPA exam after 2011. Reason why people fail the Simulati

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #187748
    Guti
    Participant

    I took the CPA exam back in 2007, and I dint have any problems passing 3 parts in about 10 to 12 months. Because of family issues, I ended up losing my credits, and now I have been struggling to pass FAR. I thought the reason was that I got older, and my life is more complicated. But I was wrong, and the following is the reason why this exam is just harder in comparison to 2011.

    .

    Recall and recognition are the two ways to retrieve information from your memory. The difference is that recognition involves a cue, while recall does not.

    Recognition

    •Recognition is a response to a sensory cue. When you see something, you compare it to information stored in your memory, and if you find a match, you “recognize” it.

    Recall

    •Recall is the retrieval of information from memory without a cue. There is a question, and you must search your memory for the answer.

    For obvious reasons, it is easier to recognize information than to recall it. Because it is cued, recognition is easier than recall. A simple illustration of this is recognizing a familiar face almost instantly, but struggling to come up with the person’s name.

    Before 2011, you only needed to recognize the information as the exam was 70% multiple choice, a memo worth 10%, and 2 simulations worth 20% If you could write a memo, you got 10% of the grade. You could have gotten the other 65% by recognizing the answer to 90 MC questions. In other words, you could have done 3000 MC and read the book twice to pass FAR,REG,And Audit. If your score was not high enough on the MC part or memo, then you only needed to get 30% of the simulations right to pass. And dont forget that there were only two simulations,so you had more time to finish. I don’t understand why they are doing this to us if they need more CPAs. To be able to pass, you need to really master the material or get vey lucky. This is the reason why people score high on MC and failed because of the simulations. I don’t think is fair at all, but now that I have deciphered why I’m failing, let me go back to study. I’m just glad I’m not any dumber than I was 7 years ago, but I do hate myself for not finishing what I started.

    FAR-84
    AUD-
    REG-
    BEC-

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 31 total)
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    Replies
  • #586825
    ahugemistake
    Participant

    I went into the exam hoping to recognize stuff I saw in the MCQs but you're right, with the SIMs being such a big part of the exam now, you really need to be able to recall a lot of the info which is asking alot in FAR since there is so much to remember. Luckily, I found that the exam really drilled into some particular subjects and stuck with it. It wasn't all over the place like I had hoped, so perhaps focusing on things you find important more than others should part of your strategy as well.

    FAR: 78*, 75
    REG: 76*, 85
    BEC: 79*, 76
    AUD: 79*, 93

    All scores expired, let's try this again.

    FAR - 78*
    AUD - 66, 79
    REG - 73, 76
    BEC - 79

    #586826
    krokofilen
    Member

    That being said, would you recommend practising sims, or do MCQs and make sure you know the concepts rather than the questions. My strategy has definately been the latter, i.e. I have not practised hardly any sims for FAR, but done a lot of MCQs and made sure I understand why I got some wrong and the principles/concepts behind the right answer.

    Big 4 Audit Manager from Europe here to pass the CPA in the U.S. of A in 2014! Niiice!

    AUD - 95 / Jul 15 / 130h over 4 weeks
    FAR - 86 / Aug 14 / 240h over 4 weeks
    (11 week break)

    REG - 81 / Nov 14 / 200h over 4 weeks
    BEC - 87 / Nov 17 / 30 h over 2.5 days

    #586827
    Guti
    Participant

    krokofilen,the last time I took FAR, I got comparable and stronger in many areas, but weaker on simulations. This means that instead of 71, I would have gotten 81 back in 2007. I’m working on both MC and simulations now. The simulation tests more in detail, so you might know in theory 90% of a certain topic,but since Becker assumes you already know all the JEs, they dont include that information on their review. You might not recall what to do if the simulation wants you to do all the JEs for a particular topic. I think Becker has not updated their material to reflect this new emphasis on simulations and JEs.

    FAR-84
    AUD-
    REG-
    BEC-

    #586828
    CPA50
    Participant

    Kroko – I have just started doing some SIMS. I have been a little surprised at some of the formats, and did some wrong because I wasn't understanding what to do with some of the blanks. It's probably a good idea for you to do some just to familiarize yourself with possible questions and placements of answers. It wouldn't hurt 🙂

    Best wishes for the 14th!

    AUD - 80
    BEC - 77
    FAR - 80
    REG - 80
    3 years

    + 16 tests

    + 2 expired sections

    = DONE FOREVER!

    AUD 88 (expired), 80 retake
    FAR 64,69,67,73,67,73,73,73, August 3
    REG 75 (expired) September 7
    BEC 72, 77

    The adventure continues...

    #586829
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    @krokofilen

    I think it's worth doing sims the first time through (as you go through chapters, taking notes and doing MCQs) but I didn't bother studying them outside of that. Really, it's more about getting used to the format and styles of questions and difficulty than anything else. Unlike MCQs repetition doesn't really help because of how unlikely it is you'll get a sim even vaguely similar to what you practiced, and it's much easier to learn from MCQs.

    I remember the first sim I ever did while reviewing. I was about 100% sure there was no possibility of me ever passing FAR, or any other section, after that sim. I was ready to break down and cry and quit studying altogether because, hey, it's over, I'm throwing in the towel here. By the end of the review, though, they're long and annoying, but otherwise not too bad.

    With that said…I'm good at journal entries. MCQs rarely ask you for journal entries, but if I know the MCQ I can probably get the journal entry, too. And that's important. If I sucked at JEs I am like 90% sure I would've failed FAR due to sims.

    #586830
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I think its always useful to take advantage of the reference material in the Sims. They are a good source if you know how to navigate through them.

    #586831
    Excel14
    Participant

    Looks like from 2009 until 2011 (when IFRS began being tested, etc.), passing rates dropped dramatically. It sure seems that in that 3 year span (for example), already low rates became even lower. I haven't taken any sections yet, so I have no point of reference to make a comparison of difficulty.

    What do they call an accounting person, who only managed a 75 on all four parts of the CPA exam....you got it, CPA!!!

    BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
    FAR (09/10/16)-----
    AUD
    REG

    CIA, CGAP, CFE

    #586832
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Ok so basically what your saying is in order to get a cpa designation which will on average earn you an additional 20k per year for the rest of your life you've got to know your stuff. I think that goes without saying. Simply memorizing mc questions won't get u there and I'm glad. Cpa gives u instant credibility so it has to be like that. I wouldn't want someone doing my businesses taxes that can't pass some reg simulations for example. Just like I wouldn't want a doctor performing surgery on me who is qualified to be a doctor simply by passing a test consisting of memorizing mc questions. Just my opinion.

    #586833
    Guti
    Participant

    I’m just saying the exam is harder now then it was before 2011. You really believe that in practice you applied your knowledge from memory? I bet you get a 90% on FAR this testing window and then you take the same exam without a review at the end of the following window , and you get a 45%. So according to your logic, since you don’t recall all the information, and got a 45%, you should not be a CPA. This is an exam of endurance, and to practice, you should have a good understanding of the basics, and be able to look for information when you need to. Don’t compare yourself to a doctor. They make 300K-450K for a good reason.

    FAR-84
    AUD-
    REG-
    BEC-

    #586834
    impska
    Member

    Well… Having gotten 90s on all of my exams thus far, I can tell you that you're wrong. I score that highly because I have wide breadth of experience and I'm able to relate the knowledge to things I do in real life.

    I suppose if you pass the exam solely due to brute-force memorization and can't apply concepts, then indeed, you may well score 45 a quarter later. But I doubt you'd pull a 90 to begin with.

    Part of my inspiration for becoming a CPA is that I witnessed first hand what a bad CPA can do to someone's business. So don't cry because it's hard and the SIMS force you to think. People trust CPAs. You earn that by doing more than memorizing keywords for MCQ recall.

    REG - 94
    BEC - 92
    FAR - 92
    AUD - 99

    #586835
    Guti
    Participant

    I have not met a single Accountant that can work any Accounting problem from scratch and be able to get a correct answer. This can only be done when you are preparing for the exam. The controller of a one Billion dollar company who happens to also be very smart was not able to help me with pensions last weekend. He did show me how to research the information. Most of the good Accountants I know are the ones that have an understanding of GAAP and know how to research. I guess you are the exception to the rule. You should have studied a medicine.

    FAR-84
    AUD-
    REG-
    BEC-

    #586836
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Oh boy, here we go…

    #586837
    Guti
    Participant

    DebitInkCreditCash,

    I’m not going to start drama with these two nerds, but I don’t like the fact that the second nerd is trying to say basically that if you don’t get 90s on all 4 parts, you are not worthy of becoming a CPA because you have not mastered the material, and you will end up being another mediocre Accountant with a license. This is an insult to everyone who got below 90s and struggle with this exam.

    FAR-84
    AUD-
    REG-
    BEC-

    #586838
    thechapman
    Member

    I got “stronger” on the FAR simulations without studying more than a couple of them during my preparation. If you understand “the big picture” rather than being able to recognize/recall I think it is very beneficial. Maybe I just happened to get lucky enough to score “stronger”, but I think the big picture aspect helps a ton.

    Passed - 2014

    #586839
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I dunno, personally I think a lot of FAR is “learn to think like an accountant would think” more than brute force memorization of anything. obviously there are a lot of things you simply won't know without prior knowledge, and I think pensions are a good example of one of those topics, but I certainly did not memorize every single rule and detail of GAAP to pass the exam.

    part of why FAR studying gets easier the longer you do it is because after 80 hours of learning rules and procedures you understand the accounting process, how transactions affect accounts, how to prepare a journal entry just by seeing what accounts are changed by what amounts, etc. you are thinking like an accountant thinks, you are understanding the so-called “big picture” of accounting.

    I'm not saying you can pass FAR if you have the “mindset” of a “good” accountant – studying is certainly a requirement, no matter who you are. I just think that getting into that mindset of an accountant is almost half the battle with FAR.

    and I really think that's what sims are testing you on, particularly because journal entries are such solid proof that you understand accounting. deriving entries for problems you might not have studied the entries to prior to the exam but otherwise should understand. sure, in real life you can just look up those transactions, but if you don't understand what you're looking up or why you're doing what you're doing, you aren't a “professional”, you're a guy with an internet connection. doctors aren't people who look up symptoms on webmd, after all…

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 31 total)
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