[titfray]

Hi All,

So I took BEC on Jan 4th, and after feeling fairly confident leaving the exam, I found out this past Monday I received a 74. I could not believe it, waiting so long for the results only to find I just missed passing has been tough to swallow. I recently graduated this past May, and started working at a Big 4 firm in Boston this past Sept. I have strong self-doubt after hearing so many of my staff colleagues pass BEC, and many saying they hardly studied. I also took 2 months to study, and had a great week of studying right before the exam, or at least I thought. I have always considered myself very proficient in test taking and studying, but now I am having self doubts, especially after failing my first exam.

I am just curious on what some think should be my next move. Should I retake BEC, or move onto another section? I feel like my understanding of BEC is strong, and I could just do MC and review chapters instead of going through the entire study process again. At the same time, I feel diving back into BEC will make me want to pull my hair out and may be discouraging.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone failed BEC then retaken it right away? If so, how did you prepare? Looking forward to hearing some of your suggestions.

Boston CPA Candidate

BEC- 79
FAR- Aug 7th
REG-
AUD-

[Anonymous]

I failed AUD and dreaded jumping back into it to study for a retake, but I did and I passed (raising my score 20 points)! I would definitely suggest retaking BEC before moving on to another section. You are too close to give up on it or push it off. You'll forget a lot of the memorization stuff required for BEC. I don't know how you studied the first time, but my suggestion would be to skip the videos and rereading the book. Get the Ninja Notes and Audio and the WTB. Listen to the audio every chance you get. Incorporate the notes you took for your first test into the Ninja Notes outline and do EVERY question in the Wiley Test Bank at least once. Repeat the areas that you don't do well in until you get above 80% in every section. You should be able to retake at the beginning of April if you do these things. Go over your notes (+ Ninja Notes) several times and rewrite the entire set of notes at least once. I rewrote 74 pages of notes for Audit and it really helped me remember the material for test day.

[Anonymous]

I failed AUD and dreaded jumping back into it to study for a retake, but I did and I passed (raising my score 20 points)! I would definitely suggest retaking BEC before moving on to another section. You are too close to give up on it or push it off. You'll forget a lot of the memorization stuff required for BEC. I don't know how you studied the first time, but my suggestion would be to skip the videos and rereading the book. Get the Ninja Notes and Audio and the WTB. Listen to the audio every chance you get. Incorporate the notes you took for your first test into the Ninja Notes outline and do EVERY question in the Wiley Test Bank at least once. Repeat the areas that you don't do well in until you get above 80% in every section. You should be able to retake at the beginning of April if you do these things. Go over your notes (+ Ninja Notes) several times and rewrite the entire set of notes at least once. I rewrote 74 pages of notes for Audit and it really helped me remember the material for test day.

[rjcpa]

Retake it next. Your close so you just need to fine tune some topics your lacking on. The same thing happened to me. I took 2 months to study and got a 70. Retook it 3 weeks later and got in the 80's. I just went through the material like I had never seen it before except I did not watch the videos again.

FAR - 10/3/12 - 86
BEC - 11/27/12 - 70 1/14/13 - 81
AUD - 4/4/13 - 87
REG - 7/8/13 - 80

[rjcpa]

Retake it next. Your close so you just need to fine tune some topics your lacking on. The same thing happened to me. I took 2 months to study and got a 70. Retook it 3 weeks later and got in the 80's. I just went through the material like I had never seen it before except I did not watch the videos again.

FAR - 10/3/12 - 86
BEC - 11/27/12 - 70 1/14/13 - 81
AUD - 4/4/13 - 87
REG - 7/8/13 - 80

[Anonymous]

@OP I think is no one business if you pass or not at work, don't say anything, just say all was good and thats it. About your coworkers, well.. you know, when you are at work, you never want to feel stupid and you say things that probably are not true. Forget about them.. focus in this one.. and do it as soon as possible.. you are almost there!

Don't allow your selfconfidence be punished by these exams.. you know this is not a matter of inteligence, it is a matter of discipline..

Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

@OP I think is no one business if you pass or not at work, don't say anything, just say all was good and thats it. About your coworkers, well.. you know, when you are at work, you never want to feel stupid and you say things that probably are not true. Forget about them.. focus in this one.. and do it as soon as possible.. you are almost there!

Don't allow your selfconfidence be punished by these exams.. you know this is not a matter of inteligence, it is a matter of discipline..

Good luck!!

[Author]

Replies