[Anonymous]

So for those of you that don’t know we have had crazy amount of snow here the last few days – thankfully it’s starting to warm up and melt now, however that wasn’t the case yesterday…

After two days of snow and me being in a hotel both of those days trying to study… I got up yesterday and got ready to go… my test wasn’t until 2:30 so I thought I’d get in some NINJA notes study time before hand. Well the power went out at the hotel right after I was done getting ready (WHEW). Went out to my car to assess the damage that the snow had done (remember it had been sitting there for two days getting pounded on with snow and then freezing into ice at night…) took me an hour to get all the snow and ice off of my car… then had to bring all of my stuff down 4 flights of stairs as the elevators weren’t working. Took 20 minutes to get out of the parking lot as there was tons of snow and ice around my car…. Tried to call the prometric site to see if they were even open… went straight to voicemail saying “sorry we’re unavailable right now please leave a message and we’ll get back to you…” uh? Ok does that mean they’re open? closed? Better drive there to make sure…

Get to the testing site (FINALLY – it’s about 1:30 pm now) – they’re open. Ok look over my NINJA notes and walk in around 2:20.

1st testlet – Pretty decent only needed to double check a couple of questions as I always seem to second guess myself…

2nd testlet – harder but still doable, I do mark about 5 questions to double check before I go to the next screen….

3rd testlet – harder … UM? A couple of questions where I was like WHAT?! But think I did OK

have a little over 2:30 hours for SIMS decide to go out and take a break eat a few grapes get a drink of water… thinking ok time to go back in and see what they throw at me!….

SIMS – OMG!!! Seriously brutal. I’m sorry but if that is what AUD sims are wow… there were a couple where I felt OK with not 100% but OK. The research question I think I got but not completely sure…. as for the other 4… I didn’t not understand them it was more of what are they really asking? And why do I have to completely try to remember FAR stuff right now?!

Overall I think I did OK, but to be honest really think this one I may have to retake. Left the testing site wanting to just burst into tears… was an awful day trying to get there and I am definitely glad it is over! Now if only 2/3 would hurry up!

My review course for BEC starts Monday so I’m taking a few days to clear my head and get back on track. What’s done is done now it’s time to change gears and study for BEC and hope for the best for AUD….

[M2B2twilight]

Oh and by the way Ashleycpa I took breaks as well. I actually took 3! I think it's totally necessary. You come back clear and ready to tackle the next sections. I found SIMs to be really difficult as well. Just know your theory!

FAR 74 (11/11)
AUD (waiting on response_ took 1/18/12
BEC 4/2/12
REG 5/30/12

[M2B2twilight]

Oh and by the way Ashleycpa I took breaks as well. I actually took 3! I think it's totally necessary. You come back clear and ready to tackle the next sections. I found SIMs to be really difficult as well. Just know your theory!

FAR 74 (11/11)
AUD (waiting on response_ took 1/18/12
BEC 4/2/12
REG 5/30/12

[Peanut]

@M2B2twilight, I completely agree–never ever doing a 1pm exam again! Did it once, the anticipation was killing me. I stick to 9am exams now ha

AUD 81 (X4) Previous scores 59, 72, 72
REG 80 (X3) Previous scores 59, 60
FAR 75 (X2) Previous score 67
BEC 79 (X2) Previous score 58

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone – I'm hoping for passing scores for all of us!

My exam was scheduled for 2:30 pm that Thursday and MAN did I need every minute of that time but if there wasn't power outages and snow here it would have absolutely been agonizing to wait to get in!

Scheduled BEC for the 21st so here's to hoping I don't have to redo AUD!

[hopeful_cpa]

@ash

dont even trip.. i took a break after each testlet and still finished with 10 min to spare.

BEC: Done
REG: Done
AUD: Done
FAR: Done

I'M DONE!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[unicmin]

Does anyone know about credit expiration? I have REG exam 5 days before my BEC credit expiry date. Let say, if I pass REG exam, will I still get the BEC credit or I have to take it again only because REG score comes out after my BEC credit is expired?

It would be greatly appreciated if someone can clarify this for me.

Thanks a lot!

[Anonymous]

@ unicmin – I've seen several posts about, and from all the answers to them it looks like as long as you take the exam prior to the expiration date, that is all that matters. It doesn't matter when you get your score.

For those of you who take lots of breaks, did you ever have problems getting right back into the testing area? I took 2 breaks during my first exam, and when I came back from 1 of them I had to wait for someone else to finish checking in. It only took about 3-4 minutes, but it drove me crazy having to wait. I was fuming at the time and had a hard time getting refocused on the exam once I finally got back in.

[undeniabletwins2]

I only took one test so far but i could never take a break during a test I just want to go in and do what i came to do and get out. Secondly, they search you when you are going back it and depending on the testing centre you at their might be other test takers taking breaks and you might have to wait longer to get back it. Everyone is different though but that is just me.

AUD - 58, 62, 56, OCT 2015
BEC - August 22,2015
FAR - TBD
REG - TBD

BECKER LIVE CLASSES, BECKER TEXTBOOKS,FINAL REVIEW, FLASHCARDS/NINJA MCQS, NOTES AND AUDIO/WILEY FOCUS NOTES.

IF U TRY AND U DONT SUCEED, TRY AND TRY AGAIN...GIVING UP IS NOT AN OPTION.

[katiekanton]

@apbandj

YES! When I sat for AUD in November, it was my first experience, and I took a break between the MCQs and the sims, just because I didn't know how long I would be sitting there (I had 3 hours for the SIMS), and I didn't want to be distracted by my bladder. I was gone LESS THAN 60 seconds (yes I washed my hands), but had to wait about 5 minutes to get checked back in because a person arrived to begin testing right when I came out. I decided that I will be more careful about what I drink on exam day from now on and plan not to go to the bathroom at all, but if I do, I may ask whoever has just arrived if they'd mind waiting 45 seconds for me to use the bathroom before they start checking in. I don't expect them to say yes, but you never know. I do wish the center monitors were more aware of that.

AUD - 88
FAR - 90
REG - 85
BEC - 88

[Anonymous]

Wow. Huge controversy on bathroom breaks. I say to each his own. I always take them after MC and befor the SIMs. I think it's good to have a quick break before your beat-down on the SIMs.

I have taken each exam multiple times and the only exam where I was really short on time was REG and I think I was close on BEC. I can't remember now, I've blocked it out of memory. I vaugely remember my prep instructor saying there was way too much time allotted for AUD and not enough for BEC and REG.

Sometimes I can't believe I've been at these for YEARS now. Why am I doing this to myself? My friends are even sick of me talking/studying and are all currently shunning me so that I study and pass the remaining exams already. *SIGH*

Good luck to all!

B 65, 66, 70, 77 (yahoo!, but lose on 8/23)

A 62, 78(lost), scheduled 2/14

R 40, 42 (Who am I kidding, I should have never sat for these), TBD

F 64, 54, 73, 79 (yahoo!)

[katiekanton]

I have nothing to add to the discussion but I love your name, DesperatelySeekingChupacabra.

AUD - 88
FAR - 90
REG - 85
BEC - 88

[Anonymous]

@ katie – Can't believe you had a similar experience! Prometric really needs to have an employee dedicated just to checking people back in from breaks. I debated about contacting the AICPA about that. Did you?

[rgibson3rd]

I tried to avoid taking breaks but I took a break for FAR & Aud. For AUD, I was gone maybe 45 seconds and the proctor went on break…I had to wait for the other proctor to come over and sign me back in…wasted 5 minutes..so annoying.

For FAR, there was a crazy man who needed to go to the bathroom but the proctor was with someone else. He totally lost it and was going on and on about losing time. He finally declared “I will pee at my desk” and went back into the testing area. Can't make this stuff up. He then came out a few minutes later and continued argiung with the ladies at Prometric, went to the bathroom and was back arguing. He went in finished his exam and then wanted to make a complaint and continued yelling for about 30 minutes. I was in a “private” office right outside the check-in area so I was bale to hear the entire confrontation. I took a break after the mcq's to clear my head.

They should add an optional 5 minute break after the MCQ's for FAR & AUD to alleviate these problems.

BEC (11/10) 77 (Bisk)
FAR 7/2 - 63 11/5 - 80 (Yeager - Fail, Becker - Pass)
Reg (08/11) - 78 (Yeager)
Aud - 11/29 - 78(Yeager)

[RedRage00]

I never took a break. I did not want to walk away from that dinosaur computer and have it crash out while I was on break. I wasn't risking it LOL

Texas CPA
Licensed, March 2012

[Tebowwwww]

I guess breaks depend on the testing center, I've never had to wait more than a minute to get checked in. There are also two rooms and therefore two check-in stations, so the other guy can check your pockets and ID if the first person is checking another tester in.

I'll agree that finding time for a break on REG is hard, but for the other exams I was easily able to take breaks because I budgeted my time and knew how much I should take for each testlet. This helped me from wasting too much time on one or two questions I wasn't sure on and the breaks definitely helped my sanity. I also take all my exams at 8:30 in the morning so by 10:30 or 11 I'm pretty hungry and also want a drink of water and I feel better after doing that in a break.

REG (7/7/11) 75
FAR (7/28/11) 76
BEC (8/27/11) 81
AUD (10/15/11, 1/20/12) 63, 91

DONE!!!

[Author]

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